VIDA computer requirements

Post by **scot850** » 11 Jan 2015, 17:02

I have an old laptop (currently with Vista) and an old ASUS notebook running XP SP3.

I have ordered a genuine copy of Windows 7 Pro and will install on one of the above machines. Question is which?

My concern is although both machines will run Windows 7 Pro ok, the Notebook is handier to work with around the car as it is much smaller, but the downside is the machine has only 2GB of RAM (Max. it can take). As Windows says 7 Pro needs about 1GB of RAM to operate, is 1GB of remaining RAM sufficient for running VIDA software (I'm guessing it will be 2102A or 2013 that need Windows 7 Pro).

If RAM is an issue (other than making the machine slow) I will use the old PC as it has 3GB of RAM (I'll need to check if it can be increased if needed).

Suggestions/advice much appreciated!

Neil.

Post by **scot850** » 11 Jan 2015, 17:13

Quick update, checked the computer spec on line, and as it is an older machine, it sates 4GB RAM max (2 x 2GB in 2 slots). As I am not a computer techie person, why is a max of 4GB of RAM a max? The type of RAM the system currently uses is DDR2-667/PC2-5300. I believe one of the RAM sticks is a 1GB (original) and the added was a 2GB. Is the RAM limitation a system capability, or possibly because when the machine was made there were not 4GB RAM sticks available as there are now?

Thanks,

Neil.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 12 Jan 2015, 13:46

scot850 wrote:Is the RAM limitation a system capability, or possibly because when the machine was made there were not 4GB RAM sticks available as there are now?

Usually it is due to the buss architecture but on some you can reflash the BIOS with a later version and it can then address more RAM or different RAM configurations. Check the BIOS version in setup and then see if the manufacturer has an updated version. They are pretty good about detailing what the BIOS update will do. It is fairly important to have the machine plugged in to the charger when you update the BIOS or you can brick it.

I think you can get around most of the hardware limitations if you install the VMWare version of VIDA though. It may be slower than normal, which is slow to begin with, but it will run.

...Lee

Post by **scot850** » 21 Jan 2015, 14:16

Sorry for the tardy response Lee.

Looked into the possibility of updating the RAM, and it is difficult/expensive for that computer, and I've read several articles that strongly advise updating the BIOS software, in particular the version my laptop motherboard uses. Worst case it locked the Bios and made the computer un-usable.

Took the easy way out and bought a cheap used laptop with easy up-grade to 8GB RAM and Windows 7 PRO installed.

Thanks,

Neil.

Liliflower · Post by **Liliflower** » 18 Mar 2015, 01:03

If i am correct, VIDA 2012, 2013A or D version software should be installed on Win XP or Virtual machine. But 2014A and new 2014D requires Win 7 O/S ONLY. that's a huge development for VIDA DiCE kit. Leave alone WIN xp or VirtualBox

freedomgli · Post by **freedomgli** » 27 Aug 2015, 08:54

At least one user reports success with VIDA 2014A on a virtual machine.

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread ... t-BootCamp

Liliflower · Post by **Liliflower** » 10 Dec 2015, 23:56

If you have the Volvo DiCE clone unit, then your laptop had to meets following requirements to load VIDA 2014D without playing with Virtual machine

1. It must be windows 7 professional (32bit)
2. Internet Explorer 8
3. over 3GRAM
4. C:// must have 40GB space
5. Software must install on C://
6. It must be NTFS format

see other info. http://www.obd365.com/wholesale/volvo-v ... rsion.html
and i had free win 7 link for whose who has installation troubles http://www.chinaautodiag.com/html/win7- ... 19514.html

Post by **regent** » 11 Dec 2015, 11:16

Liliflower wrote:If you have the Volvo DiCE clone unit, then your laptop had to meets following requirements to load VIDA 2014D without playing with Virtual machine

1. It must be windows 7 professional (32bit)
2. Internet Explorer 8
3. over 3GRAM
4. C:// must have 40GB space
5. Software must install on C://
6. It must be NTFS format

see other info. http://www.obd365.com/wholesale/volvo-v ... rsion.html
and i had free win 7 link for whose who has installation troubles http://www.chinaautodiag.com/html/win7- ... 19514.html

On any 32-bit Windows machine, RAM in excess of 3 GB will be unrecognized by the OS

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 12 Dec 2015, 00:06

You can edit the compinfo.ini file to make it work on a lesser machine but it will be even slower. On my '99s it is really slow anyway on a machine that has 4 gig of ram and Windows 7 Ultimate. As I understand it the DICE scans are much faster on the later model cars though.

...Lee

Post by **precopster** » 31 May 2017, 07:24

Current Win 7 32 bit OS discs have IE11 as default.

Microsoft no longer provides downloads of IE8 or IE9 for Win 7 32 bit

This makes Vida installation almost impossible now. The only solution is to find an old Win 7 install disc that has IE8 as the default browser.