Getting Vista Ultimate 64-bit and.....
- Thread starter SIMP
- Start date
For the most part you could run any edition of Vista there since you have already met the basics with a fast enough cpu and having 2gb of memory installed. The differences between the 32bit and 64bit editions have more to do with the platform not the hardware requirements between editions if both for instance are the Ultimate or Home Premium editions.
Have any doubts? You can run MS's own upgrade adviser you download from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pr...pgradeadvisor.mspx?wt_svl=20409a&mg_id=20409b But you already have more the 512mb minimum memory wise.
The largest problem seen at this time is seeing what programs will run on the 64bit edtitions as well as finding the 3rd party drivers needed. Support has definitely improved over what was seen for XP Pro 64bit however.
Have any doubts? You can run MS's own upgrade adviser you download from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pr...pgradeadvisor.mspx?wt_svl=20409a&mg_id=20409b But you already have more the 512mb minimum memory wise.
The largest problem seen at this time is seeing what programs will run on the 64bit edtitions as well as finding the 3rd party drivers needed. Support has definitely improved over what was seen for XP Pro 64bit however.
Kodiak kid
New Member
I run Vista ultimate on my current system. 64bit of course...and I have never had an issue in relationship to running apps or getting drivers.
Eventually all versions of Windows following the next will be 64bit. Microsoft announced plans to abandon 32bit releases in one article seen lately. The eventual move to 64bit is taking far longer then seen when simply jumping from the 16bit versions of 3.1, 3.11 for networking, and 95 to first see NT 3.1 and then 98 being the 32bit versions then.
The market currently is still remaining 32bit for the most part while far more driver support is now being seen for Vista over the initial XP Pro edition saw. Stability with good driver sets will be what gives the 64bit versions the advantages like 32 saw over 16bit then. Plus foloowing 98 you could run more memory on a Windows machine.
The market currently is still remaining 32bit for the most part while far more driver support is now being seen for Vista over the initial XP Pro edition saw. Stability with good driver sets will be what gives the 64bit versions the advantages like 32 saw over 16bit then. Plus foloowing 98 you could run more memory on a Windows machine.
The Pentium D has EM64T, so yeah, it will run. The only advantage is for the extra 64 bit registers...the biggest thing you'll notice is the ability to use more RAM. The unfortunate side-effect, though, is software support for it. Driver support for 64 bit is especially pathetic. If I was you I'd go 32 bit unless you were running a server or something.
Motoxrdude
Active Member
You sure you aren't thinking of xp 64bit? Vista 64bit is widely supported.
Motoxrdude
Active Member
Uh, ok; wow, surprised you went for a low blow, especially for someone your age. Anyways, what things are unsopprted specifically in vista 64 over vista 32?
I didn't mean it to come out as a "low blow"... It's just that most people around here play video games all day.. Which there's nothing wrong with that IMO, but one can't exactly make a good call on the functionality of an operating system with such a narrow view of the computing spectrum. 
Hopefully that makes a little more sense and doesn't come across quite as badly.
Hopefully that makes a little more sense and doesn't come across quite as badly.
SIMP
Member
You guys make some very interesting points and I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my thread. I think I'm going to use that 64-bit seeing how I plan on buying more memory and really don't do much other than surf the net and play games once in a while. By the way, I will be using a separate hard drive for the install so my XP can stay intact.
As a second OS you will probably want to unplus the XP drive to avoid the newer version's placement of the new boot loader and adding XP as an option until deciding which will be the default OS. If you later decide to remove the 64bit edition you won't be forced to reinstall XP all over along with programs and even deletion of the XP primary to see the Vista boot folder removed.
As far as softwares? Games seem to do better since most of those will still install on the 32bit editions of Vista while desktop applications are the different story. Many were written specifically for XP or simply are not supported seeing newer versions. One good example is seeing an old 8bit dos game run through a virtual dos window on Vista while the tv tuner card had to be replaced when going from XP to Vista.
For the none dual boot setup most boards will see an F8 or another F key assigned for bringing up the boot device menu instead of going into the bios setup before Windows even starts to load. That will allow you to keep XP intact.
As far as softwares? Games seem to do better since most of those will still install on the 32bit editions of Vista while desktop applications are the different story. Many were written specifically for XP or simply are not supported seeing newer versions. One good example is seeing an old 8bit dos game run through a virtual dos window on Vista while the tv tuner card had to be replaced when going from XP to Vista.
For the none dual boot setup most boards will see an F8 or another F key assigned for bringing up the boot device menu instead of going into the bios setup before Windows even starts to load. That will allow you to keep XP intact.
SIMP
Member
PC EYE, that is exactly what I wanted to do. Thanks for the advice. So, When I install Vista, simply unplug the XP HDD and install vista on the separate sata HDD? Then once installed I can use the BIOS to decide what disk to boot from? Sounds like the way to go man. I will still see the XP drive after booting though won't I? Well, that won't be too bad I guess. Thanks again!
The key there is in reverse to the way it is here at the moment with each installation being a stand alone. With Vista on the ide drive for the time being I set that as the default in the bios to get totally familiar with the new version. For XP on the Asus board here I press the F8 key right when either first starting or on a reboot to select the first of two sata drives in order to load XP.
Being an Asus model in your sig you will probably still see the F8 key being assigned for this. This also allows you to boot from a floppy or optical drive as all drives installed are listed under each catagory. It can make life easier then reinstalling one after removing the other from a dual boot configuration.
Plus Vista loses restore points when dual booted with VP until following one article on that. There are a few arounds for that however like those seen at http://vistasupport.mvps.org/preven...ng_lost_when_dual_booting_with_windows_xp.htm
Being an Asus model in your sig you will probably still see the F8 key being assigned for this. This also allows you to boot from a floppy or optical drive as all drives installed are listed under each catagory. It can make life easier then reinstalling one after removing the other from a dual boot configuration.
Plus Vista loses restore points when dual booted with VP until following one article on that. There are a few arounds for that however like those seen at http://vistasupport.mvps.org/preven...ng_lost_when_dual_booting_with_windows_xp.htm
That's not going to work in most cases. In rare cases the mobo will allow you to pick one harddrive to boot from, if you don't mind switching back and forth through the BIOS all the time. Most bios' I've seen won't allow that though.
Better to modify the boot.ini to be able to dual boot.
GSAV55
New Member
How do you do that?
SIMP
Member
Interesting points indeed. I may just keep the XP drive unplugged while using the 64-bit Vista until I'm comfortable with it. That way I can plug the XP drive back in if I ever decide Vista is not the way to go for me. If it seems I may want both XP and Vista and feel brave enough, I'll try the boot.ini file. You guys have been very helpful and I thank you.
It takes more then simply editing the boot.ini in XP not Vista for a dual boot configuration. Vista is simply installed last to see XP then added under "previous versions of Windows" when first booting up.
Then you go into the msconfig utility in Vista to assign the default OS to load. The two drive method works with most boards since there is generally an assgined F key for bringing up a boot device menu at post before Windows starts to load. Don't confuse the two F8 menus there.
Since you are running an Asus board simply press the F8 key instead of the DEL key at startup to bring up the boot device menu when powering up or on the next system restart to see floppy then hard drives and then optical. Each will list the drives of that type installed on the system already where you simply choose floopy for booting off of a boot floppy, the intended hard drive, or handy when installing Windows even for not going back and forth into the bios to change from optical to hard drive the drive you select from the list.
Once you restart again later the default drive set in the bios will load regardless of which drive you choose from the boot device menu for the one time session. With Vista currently the default drive set XP is a simple press of the F8 key at post or restart to selest the sata drive that is installed on.
Then you go into the msconfig utility in Vista to assign the default OS to load. The two drive method works with most boards since there is generally an assgined F key for bringing up a boot device menu at post before Windows starts to load. Don't confuse the two F8 menus there.
Since you are running an Asus board simply press the F8 key instead of the DEL key at startup to bring up the boot device menu when powering up or on the next system restart to see floppy then hard drives and then optical. Each will list the drives of that type installed on the system already where you simply choose floopy for booting off of a boot floppy, the intended hard drive, or handy when installing Windows even for not going back and forth into the bios to change from optical to hard drive the drive you select from the list.
Once you restart again later the default drive set in the bios will load regardless of which drive you choose from the boot device menu for the one time session. With Vista currently the default drive set XP is a simple press of the F8 key at post or restart to selest the sata drive that is installed on.
SIMP
Member
Well, I have failed to install Vista Ultimate 64. During install, it almost finishes the "Completing Installation" and then it gives the Blue Screen of Death. Afterwards it restarts and tells me installation was not complete and to restart my computer. After restarting, I get the same message about installation not being complete and I must restart. It's an endless cycle!! Safe mode won't complete the installation either.
Any ideas?
Any ideas?