Ultimate 64 to 32 Bit

[TurboSam]

I (foolishly) had Vista Ultimate 64 bit preinstalled on an HP laptop and now
need and want 32 bit for a variety of reasons and programs (no 64 bit driver
for WiLife and no TurboTax support). I understand the HP recovery disk will
not let me put 32 on instead, and I will probably just buy a 32 bit version.
If i do, am I correct (1) that I have to reformat the drive, thus loosing
everything? (2) If that is correct, if I make a backup of all the progarms
(eg MS Office) can I then reistall on the 32 bit or will they be looking to
(and only run on) the old 64 bit? I'm not worried about data (photos, docs,
etc) since I have copies, but I don't know what happens to apps. (3) Will I
need to get drivers for all the hardware again? I assume HP or the
manufacture will have the necessary 32 bit drivers. (4) Any other tips,
tidbits, cautions, experience to share? I've tried MS Virtual PC and that
didn't solve my problems.

Thanks very much.

Sam

 

[Mick Murphy]

Has to be a clean install; and yes, you lose everything.

You have to go into BIOS and setup the boot menu so that it boots 1st from
the CD/DVD drive, insert the vista 32bit disk, reboot.
Follow instructions, and delete the existing Vista parition on your hard
drive, then format, and install vista.

You will have to install 32bit Drivers for your Hardware, as it came with
64bit ones.
Have a look at HP's website, and locate the Drivers; they will have them for
it!!!!

You can NOT save your applications; they have to re-installed from the
original media(disks)
When an application is installed, it is spread through different parts of
the operating system, registry, etc; not just everything kept in the program
folder.

Mick Murphy

 

[John Barnes]

Have your drivers available up front, as you may need the SATA controller
driver to even see the drive to install on.

 

[TurboSam]

Thank you both..

John, when I saw your point about the SATA drivers, I had the proverbial
"Oh, s***!" becasue I have been trying to set up a dual boot before I take
the plunge with a clean install just to see if everything would work.

My HP dv9500 evidently does not have a BIOS disable-native-status, so I was
using the F6 to try and load SATA drivers and could never get it to work.
So, if anyone can help, two questions:

1. For the SATA driver, I assume I should be using the HP designated
Intel SATA AHCI Driver for my model rather than the model-specific Intel
Chipset Install Utility?

2. Assuming I am correct about needing the SATA driver, there are
evidently two versions of the SATA driver--one for vista 64 and one for vista
32. Since I am trying to downgrade from 64 to 32, when I try to set up the
dual boot do I use 64 version or the 32 bit version. I'm guessing 64? But
when I do the clean install, I would guess I use the 32 bit version since I'm
installing Vista 32. It just seems so bizarre to me.

Thanks again.

Sam

 

[John Barnes]

F6 is not used in Vista to install drivers. You install them using the load
drivers button on the screen where you select the drive to install on. You
should generally use the drivers supplied by the MOBO as the first option as
they may have made some modifications that are not in the chipset drivers.
Many times it makes no difference or you can get later drivers from the
chipset source. When installing Vista 64-bit you must use 64-bit drivers
and likewise when installing 32-bit you use the 32-bit drivers. They are
attached to the operating system you are installing and must be compatible
with it.