Upgrading from x32

  • Thread starter Thread starter Brad
  • Start date Start date
B

Brad

Guest
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
>
 
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.
>>
 
Back
Top