Which Vista to install (x64 or x86)

[psyko12]

Hi guys, recently I got 2 version of windows vista dvd for my birthday, (my uncle sent it to me via air mail from Austria). Lol some uncle wish he'd sent me a new mobo, proc and 2 hd2900's lol. Well now here are some of my queries:

1. Which is better to install (e.g. Vista Home premium vs. ultimate) opinions on what is better or less of a hassle? Some say Ultimate is way too much and Home premium is the way to go if for surfing and gaming only. Inputs please.

2. Is it safe to upgrade over xp install or do a clean install? Reformat and install... If chose upgrade over xp, will upgrade be possible from xp 32 to vista 64? Or xp 32 and vista 32 only? Also would this be reversible if I don't like it can I remove it and restore previous xp install?

3. Pros and Cons of 32 bit vista and 64 bit vista,

Thanks all, I am in no hurry of reformatting, although I got xp+vista ulti 64 in dual boot, but I need some inputs before I start fresh. Thanks for the enlightenment in advance.

 

[Wile E]

1. Premium all the way. Ultimate doesn't add much but bloat.

2. Clean Install

3. 32bit can't see more than 3.25GB (give or take) ram. 64bit is a hassle with drivers at times.

 

[psyko12]

Woah, Thanks for replying asap on both of my posts lol, btw, Can I get to run optimized drivers for vid cards in 32? As you said 64 bit, it did gave me issues about my sound driver lol. and yeah had a hard time making vid card driver from cd coz it was 64 bit and too lazy to dl new one. Ty again, Oh 1 more thing, how large should a vista partition be? Will 20 gig do fine?

 

[Wile E]

Woah, Thanks for replying asap on both of my posts lol, btw, Can I get to run optimized drivers for vid cards in 32? As you said 64 bit, it did gave me issues about my sound driver lol. and yeah had a hard time making vid card driver from cd coz it was 64 bit and too lazy to dl new one. Ty again, Oh 1 more thing, how large should a vista partition be? Will 20 gig do fine?

Yeah, video drivers in 32bit should be much easier. Just download them from nVidia.

20GB is a bit small. It requires a minimum of 15GB, but I would go at least 30GB or more, to leave some room for programs and games.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

I'd say partition your drive and have both, see which one works for you? Have the best of both I say. I'm greedy like that.

 

[hat]

64bit will be better. Just make sure you have the drivers. Also I would just go with home premium, if you installed Ultimate you would probably just disable all the extra stuff it comes with thus wasting time

 

[psyko12]

I see home premium installs faster than ulti? So now the battle is 32 or 64

 

[papubhai]

no reason to install 64 bit os ..difference can only be seen with 4gb+ of ram so its only a psycoclogical matter whete u wanna install 64 bit or 32 bit plus no comprehensive support for 64 bit vista is available even after 7 months of launch and will be the case for a yr or so we r no dvelopers so better install 32 bit vista and enjoy if u want to save money install "home premium " ....there is nothinf interesting in ultimate edition just wastage of money my frnds

 

[Demos_sav]

If you want to install 4GB of ram or more then go with 64 bit. If not there is no reason to go with 64 bit

 

[psyko12]

Ic, yea I got lots of probs using ultimate x64, thanks for the inputs, 32 bit vista have uhmm support for most softwares? fire fox etc?

 

[psyko12]

Woot, I get to keep the x64 dvd tho lol, might as well sell it XD,

 

[hat]

64-bit is quicker that's about it. you mightas well install 32 and sell everything else.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Papubhai & Demos_sav make very good points about the amount of RAM needed. You've only got 1GB from what your system spec says. You're going to struggle with Vista no matter which version you install.

If you plan on using it as a primary OS (instead of XP) then seriously considering getting at least 2GB - I wouldn't won't to run Vista32 on anything less than 2. 64bit I wouldn't even attempt to run it on 1GB. With 2GB I'd be tempted, but I prefer the 4GB.

Depending on funds, I'd try and max out your RAM as much as financially possible - as you're only using DDR 400 you should be able to fill it up nicely for not very at all! I got a 2GB DDR400 for £100 ($200USD) brand new! You'll probably be able to find a 2 x 1GB set for cheaper than that now for sure.

Errr.... guess I was pretty slow with my reply.

 

[LiveOrDie]

go ultimate 32bit you need at least 2gb of ram and up to properly run windows vista 64bit

 

[psyko12]

Unfortunately, win vista 32 bit dvd had a CRC error, and would not be read on my drive so Imma send it back to my uncle lol, Tried x64 home premium and works well tho, even with 1 gig ram, turned off some visual effects for windows like minimizing etc... Fade outs too so far so good, updating now

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Have you turned off Aero?

 

[LiveOrDie]

you will notice your system slow down alot once you have background programs running with only 1gb of memory

 

[psyko12]

Aero doesn't lag me just turned some effects down

 

[psyko12]

you will notice your system slow down alot once you have background programs running with only 1gb of memory

I only got speed fan running, no av's and uhm no side bars no gaming for this install yet, gonna familiarize self on vistas ui and stuff XP is still for gaming

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Aero doesn't lag me just turned some effects down

I wasn't applying it would, but you do get a performance increase from turning it off. I expect you will if you don't get more RAM soon.

 

[LiveOrDie]

lol i thought the same when i installed it on my mates P4 then once we had the video card drivers installed start to lag more and more from there on

 

[psyko12]

Unfortunately, x64 7600 gs driver for me don't work sigh, and nvidia uninstaller removed the default 1 when windows vista installed, is there a site i could get a hold of that or use the dvd to reinstall it

------------
NVM, I found it thru windows update lol, stupid me when I'm not lazy gonna dl from nvdia site but meh, I'm on dial up atm, dsl isp provider had issues, they're down for 2 days now

 

[InnocentCriminal]

I had to do this for my friends Laptop which has a 7600 Go and Vista Home.

Go to Device Manager and located your GFX card (Display Adapters) right click your 7600 and choose Update Driver.

As I'm not using Vista I can't remember how the options go, but don't use the net to find a driver, choose the option that allows you to look for a driver yourself.

That should point you into the right direction.

Maybe I'll have to bite the bumole and get Vista so I can help clients with it.

Crap!

 

[psyko12]

Got it working thru windows update... gotta sleep now, thanks guys 4am ftw lol