can i go 64 bit

[gazz496]

using the system info at the bottom of this can i run the 64 bit operating system? sounds daft i know i just want to be sure i'm not going to run into trouble when i get it tomorrow


thanks to all who help!!

 

[gazz496]

oh and one other question when i do it will i lose all my apps and have to start again if i'm using the upgrade ultimate 64 version?

 

[joel406]

You can run Vista x64 with that hardware. No problem!

You will have to reformat your hard drive and reinstall all your applications to do so.

You cannot just upgrade.

So be sure to backup any data you do not want to lose before installing the x64 version of Vista.

Good luck.

 

[gazz496]

bugger oh well just didn't want to reinstall all my stuff,

running vista just now but you can get the upgrade versions a little cheaper, will i need my other copy of vista to do this or will it just overwrite the necessary files?

 

[johngalt]

If you mean the upgrade version for x64 ***you cannot upgrade from 32bit to 64bit***

So, in the long run it will not matter, other than you'll need to do 2 installations with an upgrade disc (install clean once and upgrade itself with Vista Key) versus a single installation using a full version disc(clean install with a key first time).

 

[joel406]

You will need to "reformat". There is no "overwriteing".

If you have the upgrade disk you will need to use the work around to get a full fresh install.

In a nut shell that is install vista x64 without inputing a product key. Then after that install is done run the install again from within vista this time useing your product key. There is also a tutorial in this site with detailed insructions on this method of installing vista.

 

[gazz496]

so from what i gather if i get the ultimate version i can only upgrade to the 32 bit version or spend a wee smidgen extra and get the the full version and go 64 bit on a clean install !!

 

[joel406]

You got it.

 

[gazz496]

right so it's an extra 20 quid then is it worth going to full 64 bit? knowing the industry is going that way anyway will probably be on here more for help on some stuff but there we go thanks all!!

 

[johngalt]

Read http://www.vistax64.com/vista-news/99613-64-bit-more-than-just-ram.html

 

[gazz496]

thanks bud much appreciated

 

[SgtBaxter]

so from what i gather if i get the ultimate version i can only upgrade to the 32 bit version or spend a wee smidgen extra and get the the full version and go 64 bit on a clean install !!

No, I think what was said should be clarified... you can't simply pop in a disk and upgrade a 32 bit install to 64 bit. The system itself has to be completely reinstalled.

What you can do however, is upgrade from say 32 bit home premium to 64 bit ultimate by purchasing the upgrade disk. You just need to completely reinstall the system to do so.

The only keys that don't work for both 32 or 64 bit are the OEM keys I believe.

 

[johngalt]

OEM versions require a new purchase to go from 32bit to 64bit.

All other keys should be usable in both 32bit and 64bit installation.s

Again, though, you cannot upgrade from 32bit to 64bit in any way- you must format and install from scratch.

 

[SgtBaxter]

Again, though, you cannot upgrade from 32bit to 64bit in any way- you must format and install from scratch.

English sucks as a language, because going from home premium to ultimate is an upgrade.

 

[gazz496]

well thanks to everyone for helping me make the change i got a full version and started from scratch and boy is it smooth i'm really glad i made the change to x64 it seems my computer likes it too now to finding the programmes that don't work and hoping some of my not so old games still work too, first app to install was 3ds max and it runs soooooo smooth i am wondering what i was thinking before well that said you've all been a great help and i really appreciate all the advice and tips you gave.

p.s why do so many people complain about installing an OS it's ridiculously simple as it does it all for you i think the only choice it gave me was choosing the partition oh and what i wanted to be known as when i turned it on must be really tough for some people i guess lol.

 

[SgtBaxter]

p.s why do so many people complain about installing an OS it's ridiculously simple

Yes, it's simple but painfully and ridiculously slow.

I believe my new rig took nearly an hour to install Vista. WTF is it doing in that time?

By comparison, an old Athlon XP 1800 machine I installed ubuntu on, the install took about 20 minutes, and that's including time to download it!

 

[Day24]

installing vista home premium 64 bit took all of 25 minutes for me.... was quite fast.... the problem was then doing all the windows updates....including SP1.... that took almost 2 hours in total.....