Windows XP 64bit/32bit

[Mooga]

So my computer has Windows XP 64bit. And I've gotten to the point that the "small thing" like BASIC PROGRAMS NOT WORKING is pissing me off. Would it make sense to drop back to windows XP 32bit? I have 4gigs of Ram and would hate to not be able to utilize them

[Ronzui]

to keep this answer simple yes... 3 gigs or it may see up to 3.5 gigs is more than enough in xp dual channel can still work also.

[Demasu]

By dropping down to 32-bit you'll only not be able to utilize .88gb of RAM(I have 4 1gb sticks, and it says I have 3.12gb of RAM). Not that much. So I'd say it's worth it.

[kayone]

Originally Posted by Demasu

By dropping down to 32-bit you'll only not be able to utilize .88gb of RAM(I have 4 1gb sticks, and it says I have 3.12gb of RAM). Not that much. So I'd say it's worth it.

Just for clarity, XP 32-BIT can only utilise a maximum of 4GB as you may well know, this however includes graphics card memory also. So dependant on the size of the memory on the graphics card you're using this will be subtracted from the amount of RAM utilised.

[Demasu]

Originally Posted by kayone

Just for clarity, XP 32-BIT can only utilise a maximum of 4GB as you may well know, this however includes graphics card memory also. So dependant on the size of the memory on the graphics card you're using this will be subtracted from the amount of RAM utilised.

I did not know that. Good to know.

[Innoc]

Originally Posted by Demasu

I did not know that. Good to know.

It's a limit of the 32 bit addressing.

[kayone]

Originally Posted by Innoc

It's a limit of the 32 bit addressing.

Indeed.

[Sh4x]

Why not install the 2? You can have 32 and 64 bits at the same time. Use 32bit for programs that don't run on 64bit only.

[Mooga]

You mean 2 installs? Or run 32bit XP in a VM? Can you game in a VM?

[mervaka]

parallel operating systems.

[Sh4x]

It's a simple dual boot system. Just like you can have XP and Vista on the same box, you can have XP 32bit and XP 64bit. You can install as many operating systems as you like and when your computer starts it'll ask you which OS you wanna load.

[StinkyTaco]

Originally Posted by Mooga

You mean 2 installs? Or run 32bit XP in a VM? Can you game in a VM?

as someone has stated before it is called Dual Booting.... You need to either re-partition your Hard drive, or get a second Hard drive for the new os (only works with newer BIOS, which allows you to boot from disks other than the master)

What I usually do is 3 primary partitions, 2 for windows, and the 3rd I chop up into logical partitions for various Linux installs... Windows insists on being on a primary partition where Linux can be installed to either primary or logical partitions.

Most hard drive controllers can only handle 4 primary partitions, if you make more it may ruin the hard drive until you re-partition it to 4 or less.

The easyest way to do it is from the windows installer... right when it asks you which partition to install to, select D to delete the partition, then go back and use the C command to create new partitions . (remember , no more than 4 allowed on most systems.)

then go ahead and install windows to the first primary partition... after you get it all installed, dont worry about drivers yet, go and install windows X64 on the second primary partition....after it is all installed, reboot your system and you will get a bootmenu, asking you which windows you want the computer to boot up.

Well, now, you can go back and install the driver to the 32 and 64 bit partitions.... unless you want linux!!

pop in the linux live cd, boot into ubuntu, and load up QTparted as root... do all your logical partitions in the 3rd primary partiton... 1 for root, 1 for home and one twice the size of your physical ram...( so for you 8gigs), for the swap partition.

then re-boot teh live cd, and choose to install from the bootmenu... just follow the installer, it is really easy.

if all went well , you can reboot , and GRUB will display linux, and your windows partitions... sometimes you will only get 1 windows listed... dont panic, this is just a llink to the windows bootloader, it will let you choose which windows to boot.


the problems you are describing are because someone tried to use a 32bit driver... you will need to just re-install windows x64 to fix this...

IGNORE the repair options on the windows install CD.. it never works right, and takes just as long as a fresh install!

have fun.

Look up Compiz on youtube... there you will see a linux desktop in action. Some really neat stuff!

you can even run some steam games under WINE, if you want to play games

well, anyway, enjoy your new system.

PS. be sure to get all your drivers, and burn them to CD or DVD before you attempt to re-install... mainly your network drivers so you can use the internet to get other drivers after you re-install.

[Mooga]

I know what Dual Booting is
He said I should run them parallel... which I don't think can be done in windows. (VM =! parallel)

[mervaka]

i said parallel operating systems, meaning dont do a VM.

[StinkyTaco]

Originally Posted by Mooga

I know what Dual Booting is
He said I should run them parallel... which I don't think can be done in windows. (VM =! parallel)

Well, there is a way to run the linux and window kernel at the same time in parallel like with macintosh OSX and windows together.
It is called Co-linux:
http://www.colinux.org/
It is not the bleeding edge Ubuntu that you get but it is still pretty powerful... You will only be able to run windows window manager with it... but everything else works just fine.

VMWARE is coming out with the Visor very soon, which is a lot like co-linux, and the Parelells software they make for macintosh.

Running parallel OS's is not recomended, unless you really need some linux application that they cannot compile for windows.(right now I cannot think of a single decent application that dose not already have a windows build)

BTW, running parallel OS's is a type of virtualization , and you will need a processor that can handle it. Lot's of RAM is not such a bad idea either. Although it is not a considered VM, officially, it dose use a few VM technologies to get everything working together at the exact same time.

If you wanna play with linux, and you do not want to partition your hard drive, get an ubuntu live cd, and use the Wubi installer. It will let you install linux from inside windows, and if you decide you do not want it, just remove it from the windows "add and remove" application.

To fix your current problems you just need to re-install windows x64, and be sure to only use 64 bit drivers, and libraries in the future.
I also recommend dual booting with 32bit windows, that way you will be able to run every windows application, and device.

[StinkyTaco]

Wow! crap... I ment to say AndLinux.... AndLinux uses colinux technology, and is really advanced...

http://www.andlinux.org/

Looks like they even allow some linunx window manager elements to be used now along side the windows explorer window manager.

Please excuse my mistake.... I just multi-boot when I need linux or Solaris, it has been a long time since I set up a parallel kernel system. They have really come a long way since my last time using it.

[mervaka]

why not just have a list of different kernels in your grub menu? its annoying, but it works okay. i have a separate realtime kernel for time critical audio stuff, and generic for everything else. chroots are also pretty handy.