Upgrading from x32

[Guest Brad]

Ok, I have been given the red flag by many sales people and technical support

reps(of which I am surprised and thankful for). I also see there are many

discussions going on in regards to different issues out there. I think I

have a pretty good understanding of what I am getting into if I decide to try

and move the direction of going from x32 to x64. Honestly, some of it

doesn't sound any different from going to a new OS. Drivers, Drivers,

Drivers!!!!

 

That being said, I have a Dell Precision 690 with XP pro on it and 4GB RAM.

My software packages are SQL Server, Office 2007 and Acrobat 8 Pro. I am

already planning on upgrading SQL and XP to x64 while the others claim they

are supported with x64.

 

It "appears" I would be ok. Anyone see anything I'm missing? I know there

are no guarantees with IT, etc...just looking for insight.

[Guest Charlie Russel - MVP]

Re: Upgrading from x32

 

Nothing there that should be an issue. Yes, you'll need the 64bit version of

SQL Server. And you'll need to completely re-install your existing

applications. there is no "upgrade" - moving to 64bit means a complete,

fresh, new install. You should plan on formatting your existing 32-bit

partition as part of the install process, or install to a separate partition

(in a dual boot scenario). You can't upgrade and you shouldn't install over

the top.

 

If Dell has the drivers for Vista 64, you _might_ want to consider going to

it directly. There's no upgrade from XP x64 to Vista 64 because of

significant changes in driver requirements. (All Vista 64 drivers must be

signed.) So if you're planning on moving to Vista 64, it probably makes

sense to do it now rather than later. Again, assuming drivers.

 

(and you are correct. It's just like moving to a new OS. Drivers, Drivers,

Drivers. Do your homework and you'll have no problems.)

 

--

Charlie.

http://msmvps.com/xperts64

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

 

 

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

news:1A2C7742-341B-4D7F-B846-504B6C628601@microsoft.com...

> Ok, I have been given the red flag by many sales people and technical

> support

> reps(of which I am surprised and thankful for). I also see there are many

> discussions going on in regards to different issues out there. I think I

> have a pretty good understanding of what I am getting into if I decide to

> try

> and move the direction of going from x32 to x64. Honestly, some of it

> doesn't sound any different from going to a new OS. Drivers, Drivers,

> Drivers!!!!

>

> That being said, I have a Dell Precision 690 with XP pro on it and 4GB

> RAM.

> My software packages are SQL Server, Office 2007 and Acrobat 8 Pro. I am

> already planning on upgrading SQL and XP to x64 while the others claim

> they

> are supported with x64.

>

> It "appears" I would be ok. Anyone see anything I'm missing? I know

> there

> are no guarantees with IT, etc...just looking for insight.

[Guest S.SubZero]

Re: Upgrading from x32

 

On Dec 17, 6:49 am, Brad <B...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Ok, I have been given the red flag by many sales people and technical support

> reps(of which I am surprised and thankful for). I also see there are many

> discussions going on in regards to different issues out there.

 

Wow, it sounds like every possible person has discouraged this move.

For the record, I love XP64. 8)

 

Dell's site actually has XP64 listed as an option for this PC, but

it's not clear how to actually get it. No matter. XP64 is likely to

install without much trouble, but you will need drivers for things:

 

NIC - get this BEFORE you install and have it ready on a disc.

Nothing makes setup harder than having no network access! Since XP64

is built on the Server2003 codebase, NIC support should be a no-

brainer.

Motherboard - If it's an Intel chipset motherboard (likely with Dell),

Intel's chipset utility on their website will work fine

Video - Because you're probably gonna be in 640x480xSUPER SLOW. Have

them handy, or at least know where to get them once the NIC is

working. Note that nVidia and ATI both have healthy XP64 support.

Audio - Might be tricky depending on the chipset. On-board audio

might take some Google-hunting. If you can get the chipset name and

model from the existing 32-bit XP install that can help a lot.

 

I recently put XP64 on my Inspiron E1705 laptop, and despite Dell

having no XP64 drivers for it at all I got drivers for every component

on the thing. Works great.

 

Office 2007 will work perfectly in XP64, no sweat there. Acrobat 8

*should* work, but note that Adobe has yet to release 64-bit versions

of pretty much anything. I curse their inability to code Flash 64-bit

every time I open IE7 64-bit or Firefox 64-bit. GROWL.

[Guest Brad]

Re: Upgrading from x32

 

Thank you both for your responses.

 

Don't let me misrepresent the vendors, reps and the like. They weren't

really discouraging it, they more less said what you two have said. RESEARCH

my move before making it. and I can repect that. It has been only a couple

in the discussions that have truly been negative.

 

"S.SubZero" wrote:

> On Dec 17, 6:49 am, Brad <B...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> > Ok, I have been given the red flag by many sales people and technical support

> > reps(of which I am surprised and thankful for). I also see there are many

> > discussions going on in regards to different issues out there.

>

> Wow, it sounds like every possible person has discouraged this move.

> For the record, I love XP64. 8)

>

> Dell's site actually has XP64 listed as an option for this PC, but

> it's not clear how to actually get it. No matter. XP64 is likely to

> install without much trouble, but you will need drivers for things:

>

> NIC - get this BEFORE you install and have it ready on a disc.

> Nothing makes setup harder than having no network access! Since XP64

> is built on the Server2003 codebase, NIC support should be a no-

> brainer.

> Motherboard - If it's an Intel chipset motherboard (likely with Dell),

> Intel's chipset utility on their website will work fine

> Video - Because you're probably gonna be in 640x480xSUPER SLOW. Have

> them handy, or at least know where to get them once the NIC is

> working. Note that nVidia and ATI both have healthy XP64 support.

> Audio - Might be tricky depending on the chipset. On-board audio

> might take some Google-hunting. If you can get the chipset name and

> model from the existing 32-bit XP install that can help a lot.

>

> I recently put XP64 on my Inspiron E1705 laptop, and despite Dell

> having no XP64 drivers for it at all I got drivers for every component

> on the thing. Works great.

>

> Office 2007 will work perfectly in XP64, no sweat there. Acrobat 8

> *should* work, but note that Adobe has yet to release 64-bit versions

> of pretty much anything. I curse their inability to code Flash 64-bit

> every time I open IE7 64-bit or Firefox 64-bit. GROWL.

>

[Guest Jan Wielemaker]

Re: Upgrading from x32

 

On 2007-12-17, Brad <Brad@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Thank you both for your responses.

>

> Don't let me misrepresent the vendors, reps and the like. They weren't

> really discouraging it, they more less said what you two have said. RESEARCH

> my move before making it. and I can repect that. It has been only a couple

> in the discussions that have truly been negative.

 

Remains the question why you want x64? Ok, 64>32, but does it matter?

x64 buys you some things: 64-bit pointers, more registers and a better

instruction set. It also costs: more memory (notably for applications

that use lots of pointers). More memory means more memory I/O and in my

experience this quite often cancels what is gained by the extra

registers and better instruction set. Then there are incompatible

drivers and non-existent binary (browser) plugins.

 

All in all, get x64 if you have at least 4GB main memory or you need to

run one of these rare applications that need more *virtual memory* than

3GB or you need to run one of these few applications that are really

faster in x64.

 

.... running x64 and x32 linux as well as xp 32 and 64 (because I run one

of these rare applications where I need more virtual address space, have

4GB and don't care about problems with browser plugins that much).

 

Cheers --- Jan

 

 

>

> "S.SubZero" wrote:

>

>> On Dec 17, 6:49 am, Brad <B...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>> > Ok, I have been given the red flag by many sales people and technical support

>> > reps(of which I am surprised and thankful for). I also see there are many

>> > discussions going on in regards to different issues out there.

>>

>> Wow, it sounds like every possible person has discouraged this move.

>> For the record, I love XP64. 8)

>>

>> Dell's site actually has XP64 listed as an option for this PC, but

>> it's not clear how to actually get it. No matter. XP64 is likely to

>> install without much trouble, but you will need drivers for things:

>>

>> NIC - get this BEFORE you install and have it ready on a disc.

>> Nothing makes setup harder than having no network access! Since XP64

>> is built on the Server2003 codebase, NIC support should be a no-

>> brainer.

>> Motherboard - If it's an Intel chipset motherboard (likely with Dell),

>> Intel's chipset utility on their website will work fine

>> Video - Because you're probably gonna be in 640x480xSUPER SLOW. Have

>> them handy, or at least know where to get them once the NIC is

>> working. Note that nVidia and ATI both have healthy XP64 support.

>> Audio - Might be tricky depending on the chipset. On-board audio

>> might take some Google-hunting. If you can get the chipset name and

>> model from the existing 32-bit XP install that can help a lot.

>>

>> I recently put XP64 on my Inspiron E1705 laptop, and despite Dell

>> having no XP64 drivers for it at all I got drivers for every component

>> on the thing. Works great.

>>

>> Office 2007 will work perfectly in XP64, no sweat there. Acrobat 8

>> *should* work, but note that Adobe has yet to release 64-bit versions

>> of pretty much anything. I curse their inability to code Flash 64-bit

>> every time I open IE7 64-bit or Firefox 64-bit. GROWL.

>>