Vista questions...yes questions with an "S"

[Pck21]

Ugh so here's the deal...

I currently have Windows XP Media Center 2005 installed on my machine. As you can see in my sig, my system has 4GBs of ram and a 64-bit processor. I want to upgrade to Windows Vista 64 bit but I have some questions. So here it all goes!

1.) Can I buy a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium and upgrade to the 64 bit, or, is there a Vista 64 bit upgrade DVD that I can buy?

2.) Is it better, performance wise, to upgrade or do a fresh install?

3.) Can I buy another hard drive, install Vista 64 bit on that hard drive, and then have an option at POST as to which hard drive I want to boot into? If so, how hard is this?

4.) Which version of Vista should I get? Home Premium or Ultimate? I will only use Vista to game.

5.) With Windows 7 coming out in a few years, should I even get Vista?

6.) Is all of this time and money worth spending just to game? (That's a rhetorical question by the way!)

Thanks everyone!

 

[G25r8cer]

1. Yes you can buy home premium first and then order the 64bit disk from microsoft for $10. Here's a link: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/1033/ordermedia/default.mspx
2. Some people have reported problems when upgrading. If you dont have a problem doing a fresh install I recommend doing that.
3. ??
4. Home Premium should be fine for your needs
5. Win 7 is a ways away plus when it comes out it will prob be a Beta just like vista was. I'd say get Vista.
6. It depends. If you have a good graphics card (which you do), it is worth it. With the addition of dx10 it is well worth it.

I hope this helps you

 

[TrainTrackHack]

3.) Can I buy another hard drive, install Vista 64 bit on that hard drive, and then have an option at POST as to which hard drive I want to boot into? If so, how hard is this?

Usually it's only a matter of pressing a key at boot when it's posting and choosing the boot device from the menu that comes up. Not hard at all.

 

[Pck21]

1. Yes you can buy home premium first and then order the 64bit disk from microsoft for $10. Here's a link: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/1033/ordermedia/default.mspx
2. Some people have reported problems when upgrading. If you dont have a problem doing a fresh install I recommend doing that.
3. ??
4. Home Premium should be fine for your needs
5. Win 7 is a ways away plus when it comes out it will prob be a Beta just like vista was. I'd say get Vista.
6. It depends. If you have a good graphics card (which you do), it is worth it. With the addition of dx10 it is well worth it.

I hope this helps you

That helps me a great deal! Thanks!

Usually it's only a matter of pressing a key at boot when it's posting and choosing the boot device from the menu that comes up. Not hard at all.

Ah ok. I didn't if I had to manually change something in the BIOS to force it to ask me which HD to boot into before POST. Thanks!