How will I know if my hardware and software will work with 64bit?

[Guest ingeborgdot]

I am building another computer and want to use dual boot xp 64 and vista 64.

My big question is should I use 64? I have a lot of software that cost me a

lot of money and would like to use it. How can I find out what will work

with xp 64 and vista 64? I know that xp 64 is much more compatible at this

time but really want vista 64 if it is possible. If anyone could steer me in

the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

[Guest Charlie Russel - MVP]

Re: How will I know if my hardware and software will work with 64bit?

 

1.) If you're building it, make sure you use components that have drivers.

If you have a driver problem on a self-build system, you have only one

person to blame.

 

2.) Most 32-bit software works just fine in 64-bit, whether Vista or XP x64.

Those that don't are generally those that have either a driver dependency

(Exchange 2003, for example, which includes its own driver for the file

system that is 32-bit), or have 16-bit components. (older Win95 applications

sometimes had 16-bit code, for example.) Another source of 16 bit issues are

the installation programs. Many older installers were 16 bit even though the

programs they were installing were 32-bit. There is NO support for any 16

bit code in 64-bit Windows. Finally, those programs that absolutely insist

on being run as an administrator. These will generally work, but the

workarounds often require you to turn off UAC(unacceptable, IMHO), or be

willing to acknowledge rather more than a desireable number of prompts.

 

3.) Printers, scanners and peripherals. Making wise decisions here can save

you untold amounts of grief. Plan ahead and you'll have no problems at a...

 

--

Charlie.

http://msmvps.com/xperts64

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel

 

 

"ingeborgdot" <ingeborgdot@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:06B839CD-66AD-4A9F-B863-4734D0FEF6C2@microsoft.com...

>I am building another computer and want to use dual boot xp 64 and vista

>64.

> My big question is should I use 64? I have a lot of software that cost me

> a

> lot of money and would like to use it. How can I find out what will work

> with xp 64 and vista 64? I know that xp 64 is much more compatible at

> this

> time but really want vista 64 if it is possible. If anyone could steer me

> in

> the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

[Guest R. C. White]

Re: How will I know if my hardware and software will work with 64bit?

 

Hi, ingeborgdot.

 

Charlie's the guru, but I'd like to add a couple of comments specifically

about dual-booting.

 

If you've installed dual-boot before, then you know the Golden Rule: Always

install the newest OS last. So, be sure to install WinXP x64 first. Vista

Setup knows just what to do when it finds an earlier Windows already

installed, but WinXP's Setup never heard of Vista.

 

If you boot into WinXP and run Vista's Setup from there, Vista will "see"

and inherit WinXP's drive letters. But if you boot from the DVD to run

Vista's Setup, it will not know WinXP's letter assignments. It will start

from scratch and assign letters according to its own rules, which are

different from WinXP and prior Windows versions. It will assign C: to

Vista's own boot volume, even if that is the 3rd partition on the second

hard drive. Then it will have to assign a different letter, probably D:, to

the System Partition - which WinXP probably calls C:.

 

This won't confuse either WinXP or Vista. But it might confuse us humans.

;^}

 

To assure that the same letters apply to the same volumes in both OSes, you

can use WinXP's Disk Management to assign the letters you want, then run

Vista Setup from within WinXP, rather than rebooting from the Vista DVD.

Assign names or labels to each volume to reduce confusion; these names get

written to the hard drive and don't change, even when "drive" letters do.

 

RC

--

R. C. White, CPA

San Marcos, TX

rc@grandecom.net

Microsoft Windows MVP

(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)

 

"ingeborgdot" <ingeborgdot@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:06B839CD-66AD-4A9F-B863-4734D0FEF6C2@microsoft.com...

> I am building another computer and want to use dual boot xp 64 and vista

> 64.

> My big question is should I use 64? I have a lot of software that cost me

> a

> lot of money and would like to use it. How can I find out what will work

> with xp 64 and vista 64? I know that xp 64 is much more compatible at

> this

> time but really want vista 64 if it is possible. If anyone could steer me

> in

> the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

[Guest Charlie Russel - MVP]

Re: How will I know if my hardware and software will work with 64bit?

 

And, as well, if you're dual booting, understand that every time you boot

into a different OS, you blow away all your restore points. :(

 

--

Charlie.

http://msmvps.com/xperts64

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel

 

 

"R. C. White" <rc@grandecom.net> wrote in message

news:324CDEE1-BA4E-4AFE-BBD4-C9F84F647843@microsoft.com...

> Hi, ingeborgdot.

>

> Charlie's the guru, but I'd like to add a couple of comments specifically

> about dual-booting.

>

> If you've installed dual-boot before, then you know the Golden Rule:

> Always install the newest OS last. So, be sure to install WinXP x64

> first. Vista Setup knows just what to do when it finds an earlier Windows

> already installed, but WinXP's Setup never heard of Vista.

>

> If you boot into WinXP and run Vista's Setup from there, Vista will "see"

> and inherit WinXP's drive letters. But if you boot from the DVD to run

> Vista's Setup, it will not know WinXP's letter assignments. It will start

> from scratch and assign letters according to its own rules, which are

> different from WinXP and prior Windows versions. It will assign C: to

> Vista's own boot volume, even if that is the 3rd partition on the second

> hard drive. Then it will have to assign a different letter, probably D:,

> to the System Partition - which WinXP probably calls C:.

>

> This won't confuse either WinXP or Vista. But it might confuse us humans.

> ;^}

>

> To assure that the same letters apply to the same volumes in both OSes,

> you can use WinXP's Disk Management to assign the letters you want, then

> run Vista Setup from within WinXP, rather than rebooting from the Vista

> DVD. Assign names or labels to each volume to reduce confusion; these

> names get written to the hard drive and don't change, even when "drive"

> letters do.

>

> RC

> --

> R. C. White, CPA

> San Marcos, TX

> rc@grandecom.net

> Microsoft Windows MVP

> (Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)

>

> "ingeborgdot" <ingeborgdot@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:06B839CD-66AD-4A9F-B863-4734D0FEF6C2@microsoft.com...

>> I am building another computer and want to use dual boot xp 64 and vista

>> 64.

>> My big question is should I use 64? I have a lot of software that cost

>> me a

>> lot of money and would like to use it. How can I find out what will work

>> with xp 64 and vista 64? I know that xp 64 is much more compatible at

>> this

>> time but really want vista 64 if it is possible. If anyone could steer

>> me in

>> the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

>

[Guest ingeborgdot]

Re: How will I know if my hardware and software will work with 64b

 

Re: How will I know if my hardware and software will work with 64b

 

So basically what you are saying is that there is no system restore if you

have a dual boot system.

 

"Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:

> And, as well, if you're dual booting, understand that every time you boot

> into a different OS, you blow away all your restore points. :(

>

> --

> Charlie.

> http://msmvps.com/xperts64

> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel

>

>

> "R. C. White" <rc@grandecom.net> wrote in message

> news:324CDEE1-BA4E-4AFE-BBD4-C9F84F647843@microsoft.com...

> > Hi, ingeborgdot.

> >

> > Charlie's the guru, but I'd like to add a couple of comments specifically

> > about dual-booting.

> >

> > If you've installed dual-boot before, then you know the Golden Rule:

> > Always install the newest OS last. So, be sure to install WinXP x64

> > first. Vista Setup knows just what to do when it finds an earlier Windows

> > already installed, but WinXP's Setup never heard of Vista.

> >

> > If you boot into WinXP and run Vista's Setup from there, Vista will "see"

> > and inherit WinXP's drive letters. But if you boot from the DVD to run

> > Vista's Setup, it will not know WinXP's letter assignments. It will start

> > from scratch and assign letters according to its own rules, which are

> > different from WinXP and prior Windows versions. It will assign C: to

> > Vista's own boot volume, even if that is the 3rd partition on the second

> > hard drive. Then it will have to assign a different letter, probably D:,

> > to the System Partition - which WinXP probably calls C:.

> >

> > This won't confuse either WinXP or Vista. But it might confuse us humans.

> > ;^}

> >

> > To assure that the same letters apply to the same volumes in both OSes,

> > you can use WinXP's Disk Management to assign the letters you want, then

> > run Vista Setup from within WinXP, rather than rebooting from the Vista

> > DVD. Assign names or labels to each volume to reduce confusion; these

> > names get written to the hard drive and don't change, even when "drive"

> > letters do.

> >

> > RC

> > --

> > R. C. White, CPA

> > San Marcos, TX

> > rc@grandecom.net

> > Microsoft Windows MVP

> > (Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)

> >

> > "ingeborgdot" <ingeborgdot@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> > news:06B839CD-66AD-4A9F-B863-4734D0FEF6C2@microsoft.com...

> >> I am building another computer and want to use dual boot xp 64 and vista

> >> 64.

> >> My big question is should I use 64? I have a lot of software that cost

> >> me a

> >> lot of money and would like to use it. How can I find out what will work

> >> with xp 64 and vista 64? I know that xp 64 is much more compatible at

> >> this

> >> time but really want vista 64 if it is possible. If anyone could steer

> >> me in

> >> the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

> >

>

[Guest Jane C]

Re: How will I know if my hardware and software will work with 64b

 

Re: How will I know if my hardware and software will work with 64b

 

Hi,

 

When dual-booting between Vista and XP, booting into XP will wipe out the

Vista restore points. Booting into Vista does not wipe out XP restore

points.

 

You would need a 3rd party boot manager with the ability to hide each OS

from the other to get around it.

 

--

Jane, not plain ;) 64 bit enabled :-)

Batteries not included. Braincell on vacation ;-)

MVP Windows Shell/User

 

"ingeborgdot" <ingeborgdot@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:3E9400F0-4669-42B8-9EB4-3C6441D153C9@microsoft.com...

> So basically what you are saying is that there is no system restore if you

> have a dual boot system.

>

[Guest Charlie Russel - MVP]

Re: How will I know if my hardware and software will work with 64b

 

Re: How will I know if my hardware and software will work with 64b

 

Correct. And much clearer than my lame post. ;)

 

--

Charlie.

http://msmvps.com/xperts64

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel

 

 

"Jane C" <janecolman@invalid.iinet.net.au> wrote in message

news:7877B883-698F-4351-85B4-D92A614F6D4B@microsoft.com...

> Hi,

>

> When dual-booting between Vista and XP, booting into XP will wipe out the

> Vista restore points. Booting into Vista does not wipe out XP restore

> points.

>

> You would need a 3rd party boot manager with the ability to hide each OS

> from the other to get around it.

>

> --

> Jane, not plain ;) 64 bit enabled :-)

> Batteries not included. Braincell on vacation ;-)

> MVP Windows Shell/User

>

> "ingeborgdot" <ingeborgdot@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:3E9400F0-4669-42B8-9EB4-3C6441D153C9@microsoft.com...

>> So basically what you are saying is that there is no system restore if

>> you

>> have a dual boot system.

>>

>