Windows Vista Installing Vista, get ACPI-compliant error

I am running 2000 Professional and am trying to upgrade to Vista. The only thing standing in my way is this error of being ACPI compliant!!! I know that it is the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface and controls the power side of the computer through the OS, but don't know how I go about updating mine to be compliant.... Do I need to buy a new driver of some sort? Or is there a simple download? I can't run the Vista Upgrade Advisor program to see what it says because I am not running XP and it only runs on XP...PLEASE HELP!!!!!

 

There IS a simple download, but not without risks, albeit a small risk.
You probably need to visit the motherboards site and look for any newer BIOS for your EXACT motherboard model. In the BIOS bootup screen you will see the revision of your current BIOS, so you can check for later versions on the vendors site, and there should be info on what has been fixed/improved. You should be able to flash straight to the latest version if there are a few updates, but check the documentation on this. There are various ways to update your BIOS depending on the motherboard, so you will have to research the update procedure and note any warnings. Although I've updated BIOS on various computers without issue.

 

I searched the website for a BIOS update and turned up with nothing that helps. I don't exactly know what I'm searching for. Can anyone help out?

My motherboard is a Tyan S1854.... ROM PCI/ISA BIOS (TYAN1854) is at the top of the BIOS page in the setup menu on startup...

 

Hi seventhdaybass,
Thanks for the PM, but you should keep this post in the public domain, as others may have a similar motherboard and will probably be more useful than me.
I had a quick look at the Tyan s1854 board which is known as a Trinity 400 and I have to tell you, it's rather OLD for Vista, and there may be more than BIOS issues to contend with. It's a socket 370 board, so only supports Celeron, Pentium 2 or 3 chips.
You will be pushing things to even run Vista with any satisfaction on a P3 chip.
What are the rest of your system specs. I.E. processor, RAM and Graphics card? You will need at least 512MB of RAM to run just Vista Basic, and a fairly new graphics card if you want to run any version other than Basic for the Aero desktop graphics. Plus 1GB+ of system RAM. To much system RAM is wasted on slower systems.
On the face of it you would be better off running XP with 512MB RAM. Much more may be a waste unless it's lying around.
Here are the Minimum requirements as specified by Microsoft. Note minimum doesn't mean recommended!

The latest BIOS for your board is still 7 years old. Not looking promising.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/systemrequirements.mspx

 

Thank You very much for doing all of that research. I know NOTHING about sockets and I figured it was an old motherboard since it came from work and I couldn't find any updates for it... I'll just end up getting a new motherboard.
Any suggestions for motherboards?? My video and sound cards are both new, I'm sitting at my desk at work, so dont know exacts but they aren't the highest of grades of cards. I have 80Gb worth of Hard drive space. (Would that hard drive be of any use to a up-to-date motherboard? Or am I gonna have to replace that too?)
I don't need anything spectacular, just something to surf the net and let my lady play a couple little games like tetris. I like my music, and we use the computer as the primary source for music, but other than that no hardcore games with the latest and greatest graphics are being played. I use the wonderful XBOX 360 for that. Now, I have noticed that you can connect the PC with the XBOX and would like to learn more about that.

Are there any good motherboards that would be suitable for my likings?

Thanks again for all your help Paul, You've saved me a lot of heartache