Yousaf said:
Hi all
Just bought a new Dell Inspiron 530 which came with a 32 bit Vista
Basic. I want to remove this and clean install Win XP 64 as my main
home desktop.
I have to say that this sounds like a very bad plan.
Due to fact I work from home, it is imperative that Win
XP 64 works like a production system.
Frankly, that statement makes the plan look even worse.
As far as I can see from the Dell site, that system ships *only* with Vista.
This means that Dell did not create XP drivers for it, not 32 or 64 bit,
and that means that you will are guaranteed to experience problems if you
try to install and run any version of XP on it.
Key sections of hardware are likely to just not work.
So far, I have read negative reviews about XP 64 bit. Mostly people
mention driver issues. I just wanted to know if that is still the
case.
Drivers are normally written by hardware manufacturers. You have to check
with the manufacturers of the hardware you have for this.
But in your case, Dell doesn't appear to publish motherboard chipset, video,
network, or any other drivers for XP in any version for your system.
And if there are no drivers, the hardware won't even work to the point where
you could say it had issues.
Is there anyone out there who has a similar system and has been
using XP 64 bit?
Most people who have a need for a 64-bit OS are not using a lower-end
system. They, or their employers, have paid a lot extra because they need
the capabilities that a 64-bit OS provides, and they have 64-bit
applications that require a 64-bit OS.
XP 64-bit isn't chosen for stability (any OS should be stable), but rather
for abililities like addressing large amounts of RAM memory, over 4 gig, and
they have 64-bit applications that can handle files that size and larger.
However, the Inspiron 530 motherboard doesn't appear to support any more
than 3 gig of RAM, which means that installing a 64-bit OS on it is wholly
pointless - even if it is possible. You will pay extra and go to a lot of
trouble for no tangible benefit.
If so please reply to this post and let me know how
you got on.
Thanks
Yousaf
I would suggest that you're starting at the wrong place.
The place to start is determining whether 64-bit drivers even exist for your
system and its hardware.
If the drivers don't exist, any reports on the stability of XP 64 are,
frankly, meaningless. They are just stories. And attempting an install
is asking for a dysfunctional, or non-functional, system. It certainly
won't give you a production-grade system.
Windows XP 64 bit edition is normally sold as an OEM version, already
installed on a system. This ensures the end user that drivers DO exist and
that the system will be reliable.
HTH
-pk
