Going 64 bit without the pain?

[Julian Richards]

I have the disk for 64 bit Vista but if I use it, it will wipe my C
drive. (You would have thought that Microsoft in all their wisdom
could have figured out a way around that)

Any road up, what is on the C drive can be reinstalled pretty easily.
On my D drive are a whole lot of apps and stuff which I will assume
will give up the ghost once the C drive is cleaned off. Is there any
way around this so that I can go 64 bit and not have to reinstall
everything on the D drive too? (I suspect that I still have about
half the original CDs)
--

Julian Richards

www.richardsuk.f9.co.uk
Website of "Robot Wars" middleweight "Broadsword IV"

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

I would not recommend installing the 64-bit version
of Windows Vista. You would have to backup your
files, perform a "clean install" of 64-bit Vista, then
reinstall all your applications (some may not be 64-bit compatible).

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

----------------------------------------------------------------------

:

I have the disk for 64 bit Vista but if I use it, it will wipe my C
drive. (You would have thought that Microsoft in all their wisdom
could have figured out a way around that)

Any road up, what is on the C drive can be reinstalled pretty easily.
On my D drive are a whole lot of apps and stuff which I will assume
will give up the ghost once the C drive is cleaned off. Is there any
way around this so that I can go 64 bit and not have to reinstall
everything on the D drive too? (I suspect that I still have about
half the original CDs)
--

Julian Richards

www.richardsuk.f9.co.uk
Website of "Robot Wars" middleweight "Broadsword IV"

 

[Karyn Jayne Panze]

If you don't have any 64bit applications or a compelling reason to go there,
stay with the 32 bit version for now. You will be happier.

 

[Michael Solomon]

I have the disk for 64 bit Vista but if I use it, it will wipe my C
drive. (You would have thought that Microsoft in all their wisdom
could have figured out a way around that)

Any road up, what is on the C drive can be reinstalled pretty easily.
On my D drive are a whole lot of apps and stuff which I will assume
will give up the ghost once the C drive is cleaned off. Is there any
way around this so that I can go 64 bit and not have to reinstall
everything on the D drive too? (I suspect that I still have about
half the original CDs)
--

Julian Richards

www.richardsuk.f9.co.uk
Website of "Robot Wars" middleweight "Broadsword IV"

The short answer is "no," Julian. You are talking about an install to what
is basically a different operating system. In your current setup, you have
32-bit applications looking for a 32-bit OS and existing happily in that
environment. You can go to Great Britain and speak English and be
relatively understood but there will be things not understood, cultural
differences and the geography is different than here in the colonies.

It may not be the perfect metaphor but it should give you some idea of why
it won't work. You need to start clean and you need to reinstall your apps.
Plus, you'll need to check to be sure your hardware, both internal and
peripherals have 64-bit drivers available. Beyond that, some 32-bit apps
not only will not work in a 64-bit OS, some may not even install so you'll
need to check on all your apps to see if they are 64-bit compatible or if
there are 64-bit versions available.

You should also realize, even where compatible, some of your 32-bit apps may
not perform as well as they used to, they may run slower or introduce other
issues you did not see on your 32-bit setup. Even if Microsoft figured a
way around it, you have some/many applications designed to work with various
hardware devices and drives designed for a 32-bit environment...this goes
well beyond the scope of Microsoft simply throwing a switch or writing some
conversion code, you've got dependencies and Non-Microsoft code, devices and
issues all over the place.

 

[Ed Forsythe]

What they said! If you don't have a compelling reason to go 64 bit, stay
with 32 and preserve your sanity ;-).

 

[Julian Richards]

What they said! If you don't have a compelling reason to go 64 bit, stay
with 32 and preserve your sanity ;-).

Thanks to all yourself and all the others who replied. I guess that I
will sit tight as I am. It does seem silly on the face of it that I
have a 64 bit processor and the best thing to do with it is to stay 32
bit.

Not wishing to stoke up the fires in this group but I have had a play
with the live CD version of Kubuntu that is 64 bit and optimised for
AMD dual cores.
--

Julian Richards

www.richardsuk.f9.co.uk
Website of "Robot Wars" middleweight "Broadsword IV"

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

Perhaps you could install Vista 64 on your D drive as a second
operating system, an alternative to play around with. (It's not
a good idea to install a second operating system into a
partition that already has a Windows installation.)

Hans-Georg

 

[Charlie Tame]

Thanks to all yourself and all the others who replied. I guess that I
will sit tight as I am. It does seem silly on the face of it that I
have a 64 bit processor and the best thing to do with it is to stay 32
bit.

Not wishing to stoke up the fires in this group but I have had a play
with the live CD version of Kubuntu that is 64 bit and optimised for
AMD dual cores.
--

Julian Richards

www.richardsuk.f9.co.uk
Website of "Robot Wars" middleweight "Broadsword IV"

If you want to try the 64 bit version the best way might be to invest in
another drive. If your machine has SATA and you have a 5 1/4 bay empty
you can get a fairly compact tray which would allow you to swap from one
version to another and any other OS you want to play with very easily
but also without the problems that dual booting can create.

I don't think you will see any performance benefits, you likely will see
some losses with some applications, and drivers are harder to find.
That's why I really think what looks like the more complex route turns
out to be just as easy and a bit safer.

 

[Verger]

Thanks to all yourself and all the others who replied. I guess that I
will sit tight as I am. It does seem silly on the face of it that I
have a 64 bit processor and the best thing to do with it is to stay 32
bit.

Not wishing to stoke up the fires in this group but I have had a play
with the live CD version of Kubuntu that is 64 bit and optimised for
AMD dual cores.

On the other hand,if you machine is new so that the hardware is
upported and if you have a 64 bit processor you will be ready for the
future. I see many people here post they haven't any problems. I will
use 64 bit soon. I have it right here! All I nee dis my new mobo.

 

[Guest]

Thanks to all yourself and all the others who replied. I guess that I
will sit tight as I am. It does seem silly on the face of it that I
have a 64 bit processor and the best thing to do with it is to stay 32
bit.

They're all full of it
Install the 64 bit version if you want it is just as good as the 32 bit
version if you can find drivers for all your hardware.

I find it strange that a MVP would tell you to stay away. Is this MS
official stand?

I've been running 64 bit since day one and I also installed a 32 bit version
both have their problems. Why wait till later? You'll just have to reinstall
the OS and re install all your apps then also so what's the difference? I
say get it going now and then your ready it will also help drive 64 bit apps
and drivers if their are user out there using it.

also while you can't do an upgrade you can use the migration tool to help
move apps and setting and that will help get your system back to what it was
before you upgrade.

Not wishing to stoke up the fires in this group but I have had a play
with the live CD version of Kubuntu that is 64 bit and optimised for
AMD dual cores.

I got that live CD to run but when I actually install it it can never find
the boot loader. yeah yeah I know ...I'm a Linux loser but

 

[PhilSweet]

I'm very happy with 64-bit Vista progress to date. HP has done a good job
in providing 64-bit printer drivers. We have a USB diabetic meter that does
not have a 64-bit Vista driver. The native IE 7 is missing some 64-bit
add-ons, including Adobe Flash Player, but the 32-bit version of IE 7 works
well, although a bit slower. 64-bit Vista is rock solid.

Phil Sweet

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

I find it strange that a MVP would tell you to stay away. Is this MS
official stand?

MVPs are not obliged to echo Microsoft's stance.

In fact, they are not obliged to anything.

Hans-Georg