XP Pro 64

edbert

I have a copy of it that I forgot about and stumbled across it the other night. I just thought I might throw it on the home computer to see if there are any benefits or if it speeds it up at all.

Current setup:
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
2GB PC2 6400 - Patriot Extreme
XFX 8800 GTS 320MB DDR3
Antec True Power Trio TP3-650w
WD Caviar SE16 320GB Sata


FYI - I use the computer for some video editing, video games and cruising the interweb. I do need to do a some more video editing than I have been so that I can get some home videos onto DVD and off the computer.

Thanks for the tips!

Face

XP 64 is a mess. If you need a 64 bit OS, check out Vista 64 or even better, Win 7 64.

vc69

Face wrote: »

XP 64 is a mess. If you need a 64 bit OS, check out Vista 64 or even better, Win 7 64.

What he said^^^

Zero benefit with only 2 gigs of ram.

edbert

I forgot to mention, I plan on bumping the ram to 6-8 gigs this winter. Still no benefit? The only reason I was going to try it is because I already have it. I will probably switch over to windows 7 sometime next year, I just thought I would check to see how my current system works with a 64bit OS. If someone would like to send me Vista 64 to try out, i definitely would, but I am not dropping the cash on it to just try it out.

vc69

I wouldn't recommend Vista64 either. Get an eval copy of Win7. It does x64 right and is the first consumer MS OS to do so. Though be warned, for some applications (HTPC for example) there are some drawbacks. Perhaps a better way to put it is that there are no compelling reasons to go x64.
Still, skip it until you can run Win7.
I am running x64 for HTPC and it mostly works just fine.

ryanjoachim

Vista 64 is a solid OS.

Win7 is even better.

XP is a last resort. It's still a decent OS, but it has some issues.

AsSiMiLaTeD

If you're playing games then forget about it. If you wanna add some RAM and then try your hand at video editing then you can give it a shot, but based on my issues with the 64 bit version of that OS, I wouldn't touch it

billbillw

I wouldn't say that XP 64-bit is a mess. I've been using it for the last few years with minimal problems. The only problems I ever had were with respect to installing software (about 25% of the time there were issues) and I could probably count on one hand the number of programs that failed to install. Most of the time, there was a workaround for the install.

I will say driver support was severely lacking in the first few years, but it has been much better in the last few years.

Bottom line though, its not really worth the effort to install unless you plan to run 4GB of RAM or greater. Even at that, Windows 7 64-bit works much much better and is worth the price.

edbert

Alright, so I won't make the full change to install this as a replacement OS to XP Pro that I am currently running. Can someone please point me in the direction or instruct me on how to set it up so that I can dual boot between 32 and 64 XP Pro. I at least want to check to make sure that all my hardware and software that I am currently running work fine with it and if not, I can plan accordingly when it comes to upgrading to Windows 7.

Thanks gents.

Fongolio

I've been running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit for about a week now and have had no problems. The only minor issue was that I had to install my sound card (Sound Blaster X-Fi) drivers manually.After one week with it I am happy to report I am very happy with this OS. Previously Vista lasted two days and then I went "back" to XP Pro.

billbillw

edbert wrote: »

Alright, so I won't make the full change to install this as a replacement OS to XP Pro that I am currently running. Can someone please point me in the direction or instruct me on how to set it up so that I can dual boot between 32 and 64 XP Pro. I at least want to check to make sure that all my hardware and software that I am currently running work fine with it and if not, I can plan accordingly when it comes to upgrading to Windows 7.

Thanks gents.

I don't think its worth the effort. Drivers for XP 64-bit are not the same as Vista or Win 7 64-bit drivers. You will also find much greater driver support under Vista/Windows 7 than with XP 64-bit, so its not really a good indicator.

If you still want to do it, I believe you can just do a clean install on a blank partition and Windows will automatically give you boot options. I don't recall doing anything special when I installed mine way back.

One important thing, if you want SATA support, you need to have floppy (yes floppy) drivers available when you first start the install. Win XP 64bit doesn't have native SATA support and it also doesn't support drivers from a flash drive. It is really a pain because if you don't do it right, you won't be able to see all your drives. It really a pain if your MB has multiple controllers (like one from the main chipset and another separate RAID controller)

I think I ended up just using IDE compatibility mode (from BIOS) with my SATA drives to get it to work right.

Overall, I just think it would be a waste of time for you, especially if you want to go to Windows 7 in the near future.

edbert

Yeah, both my parents and in-laws had so many issues after switching to Vista that I had to fix, i really don't feel like messing with it. I know lots of people have had great experiences and honestly both of their computers are running great now, but I would rather have something that just works out of the box, and it sounds like Windows 7 does(at least so far).

Yes, I also know that Linux and OSX work out of the box. We have a Macbook I will at some point add Linux to my big machine as a dual boot option. Heck I might even do it now if I dual boot XP Pro 64. Again, if someone will just give me the quick and dirty on how to do that I would greatly appreciate it. I know that there are probably tons of places online, but there are enough knowledgable guys here that I know know how to do it that can explain it much better than anything you can find online.

edbert

billbillw wrote: »

Overall, I just think it would be a waste of time for you, especially if you want to go to Windows 7 in the near future.

While I agree that it isn't a viable option as a replacement OS, I will be treating the whole experience as a chance to learn a little more about my computer and improve my skills when it comes to troubleshooting computer issues. Playing with computer stuff is a lot of fun to me and one of a few things that I am constantly wanting to learn more about because for some reason it fascinates me. At this point, I really just want to try it because it's a challenge and something that I haven't tried before. Heck, last night I pulled apart my video card and did some minor modding to it because I thought it might be running a little hot. I ended up replacing the factory thermal paste stuff with some Artic silver, removing the back panel of the card to increase airflow and moved the card to another available slot on the board to get it away from the processor and the northbridge heat sink. As a result, my temps dropped an average of 7 degrees across the video card, cpu, motherboard and ambient case temps. Was any of this necessary? No, but it was a lot of fun and I learned something.

Keep the advice coming. While it may change my original plan, it doesn't mean that something good can't come from it.

billbillw

edbert wrote: »

Again, if someone will just give me the quick and dirty on how to do that I would greatly appreciate it. I know that there are probably tons of places online, but there are enough knowledgable guys here that I know know how to do it that can explain it much better than anything you can find online.

I already gave you a quick and dirty. Gather up XP-64bit drivers for your hardware. Put the SATA drivers on a floppy. Have a clean partition and reboot to the Win XP 64bit disc. I think you have to hit F6 to install the SATA drivers at the beginning. The OS will handle the rest. It should give you dual boot options after the install. You can tweak the settings (time for choices, default OS, etc) by going into Control Panel>System>Advanced>Startup and Recovery. Good luck.

vc69

billbillw wrote: »

I don't think its worth the effort.
<snip>
Overall, I just think it would be a waste of time for you, especially if you want to go to Windows 7 in the near future.

Bingo

edbert

billbillw wrote: »

I already gave you a quick and dirty. Gather up XP-64bit drivers for your hardware. Put the SATA drivers on a floppy. Have a clean partition and reboot to the Win XP 64bit disc. I think you have to hit F6 to install the SATA drivers at the beginning. The OS will handle the rest. It should give you dual boot options after the install. You can tweak the settings (time for choices, default OS, etc) by going into Control Panel>System>Advanced>Startup and Recovery. Good luck.

Sorry man. I must not have been paying very good attention when I was reading that before. My comprehension skills this morning were lacking severely. I luckily have an old floppy drive in another computer, I just have to see if I can find a disk around the house. I hope to give this a shot after I get back in town this weekend. I'm guessing I can add Ubuntu in the same way. Are there any issues in trying to tri-boot?

On the install, I need to set my boot sequence to the floppy first, then DVD, then hard drive so that I can load the SATA drivers and then follow normal install process. Then once the OS is loaded I will need to access the additional drivers for my hardware (SATA DVD drive, video card, and wireless card) and I am good to go. Once I get everything up and running I will check back in and let you know how it went. I may have to hit up our resident Linux guru if I have any issues with that portion.

Thanks again!

billbillw

edbert wrote: »

I'm guessing I can add Ubuntu in the same way. Are there any issues in trying to tri-boot?

On the install, I need to set my boot sequence to the floppy first, then DVD, then hard drive so that I can load the SATA drivers and then follow normal install process. Then once the OS is loaded I will need to access the additional drivers for my hardware (SATA DVD drive, video card, and wireless card) and I am good to go. Once I get everything up and running I will check back in and let you know how it went. I may have to hit up our resident Linux guru if I have any issues with that portion.

Thanks again!

I don't know squat about Linux. I don't guess it would be quite as easy as dual booting with two Windows versions.

Boot sequence? You want to start with the CD/DVD drive first. The floppy will just have the drivers and is not a boot disc. Windows Install has to start first, then there is a step where you can add drivers by hitting F6. That is when you load the floppy. I forgot to mention, if you have multiple controllers, drivers for each have to be on a separate floppy. Do some research because I also think there is a certain way they have to be arranged (directory wise) on the floppy. Its been a few years since I did it.

All the other hardware drivers will be loaded after the OS is finished. I'd do them is this order: Chipset, Network, video, sound, then peripherals.

You will want to run Windows Update ASAP as well since this OS has had some major updates through the years. I'd wait a until its done updating before installing software.

edbert

Sounds good my friend. I don't have multiple controllers(I am assuming you mean some type of a RAID configuration). This is a pretty simple setup overall. If I can find my old floppies, I know that I willl have enough that I could put a single driver on each one if I needed to. Thanks again for the info. I'll check with Sami about the Linux boot option. It shouldn't be too hard to coax that info out of him.

Thank you again!

vc69

Linux has a boot manager built in. IIRC, you need to install Windows first, then install linux. But you should do a quick google to be sure.

DarqueKnight

I recently purchased a new PC for my home office (Dell XPS 9000) with:

i7 920 Quad-Core processor @ 2.66 MHz,
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM @ 1066 MHz,
1 TB SATA Hard Drive @ 7200 RPM,
Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 video card,
SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium sound card.

The system came with Vista Home Premium 64 bit, which I immediately and cheerfully scraped off and replaced with XP Pro 64 bit. I have worked with a lot of operating systems over the years: various versions of Windows, Various versions of Linux, UNIX, Be and Mac. Vista is the only OS that I came to viscerally despise because of its cumbersome user interface, resource hogging and the fact that many of my software applications either don't run on it or don't run as well. Added to this was the inconvenience of learning the procedural quirks of a new OS. I refused to accept a Vista PC at work when the IT department upgraded computers a couple of months ago. The IT director was sympathetic to my legitimate concerns and was able to accommodate me with an upgraded XP Pro machine.

I am not a gamer, but I do a lot of multitasking and photo and video editing. MS Office apps (Word, Excel, Power-point) that used to take 10 or more seconds to open with my old PC (XP Pro, 4 GB RAM, Pentium 4 @ 2.66 MHz) now open in one second or less.

I have not been successful in locking up or crashing the XP Pro 64 bit machine when multitasking with several computationally intensive applications. I conducted a test with the following apps running simultaneously and switching between them:

1. Internet Explorer open with 10 tabs,
2. Firefox open with 10 tabs,
3. A Blu-ray movie playing,
4. Word,
5. Excel,
6. PowerPoint,
7. Acrobat Professional 9,
8. Paint Shop Pro,
9. MATLAB,
10. AutoDesk CAD,
11. PowerDesk File Manager.

All of the above was in addition to the usual background applications and services such as anti-virus and firewall. With all of the above running, Windows Task Manager reported a CPU usage of 2-5%. When the Blu-ray drive was turned off, Task Manager reported a CPU usage of 1%.

My 32 bit applications run faster and with greater stability in the 64 bit environment. There were only three non-essential 32 bit applications that would not run on XP Pro 64 bit. I was able to purchase 64 bit compatible versions for two of the applications. The third application did not have a 64 bit version available, but I was able to find a better alternative that did.

I have one very old 32 bit application that would not install because it uses a 16 bit installer. The workaround for this was to simply copy the application's installation folder from the old PC to the new PC. It works just fine.

Vista, in either 32 or 64 bit versions, offered absolutely no value added, and was, in fact, detrimental. Windows 7 is supposed to be "better" than XP or Vista. However, nothing I have read in either performance benchmarking studies or consumer or professional user reviews has provided an incentive to switch.

billbillw wrote: »

One important thing, if you want SATA support, you need to have floppy (yes floppy) drivers available when you first start the install. Win XP 64 bit doesn't have native SATA support and it also doesn't support drivers from a flash drive. It is really a pain because if you don't do it right, you won't be able to see all your drives. It really a pain if your MB has multiple controllers (like one from the main chipset and another separate RAID controller).

This is a very important point! As is the case with almost all current PC's, my XPS 9000 PC does not have a floppy drive. I plugged in an external USB floppy drive from one of my laptops to install the SATA drivers. The XPS 9000 automatically recognized it as the "A:\" drive. The driver files were obtained from the Dell website and copied to a floppy diskette. Installation of XP Pro 64 went without a hitch and took 35 minutes.

Doing prior research on hardware and application compatibility can't be overemphasized. I didn't want any nasty surprises. All the XP Pro 64 bit hardware drivers were found either at the Dell website or equipment manufacturer's websites. I sent emails to software application manufacturers asking if their 32 bit apps would run on 64 bit XP or if not, did they have a 64 bit compatible version. They all responded within one or two days. Some provided instantaneous replies through their online chat service.

The two weeks that I have been running XP Pro 64 has been the best PC computing experience ever. Everything runs MUCH faster and better and I have the advantage of familiarity with an OS that I have been using for several years.

vc69

DK,

I am glad you are having a good experience. I too, believe that XP pro is a well refined stable OS. I would not hesitate to run XP x64 on a HP or Dell workstation such as you have. BUT, not everybody is going to have that experience. Dell is excellent with driver support. That is where people will most like encounter problems.

I certainly would not recommend XP x64 for a casual user. There are things it does poorly and support for non-biz apps (games, etc.) is buggy. With the release of Win7, XP x64 support for peripherals will likely diminish to nothing. It has been spotty at best.

For power users, XP x64 is fine, but I would highly recommend Win7. It is far more stable and the eye candy is easily turned off. I can see an advantage for the "familiarity factor" but that is easily overcome for a power user like yourself.

DarqueKnight

vc69 wrote: »

I would not hesitate to run XP x64 on a HP or Dell workstation such as you have. BUT, not everybody is going to have that experience.

vc69,

I don't understand why you are telling me this. I know full well that everyone's computational requirements are different and that there is no "one size fits all" and that everybody is not going to achieve the same results I realized. Hence, my advice that:

"Doing prior research on hardware and application compatibility can't be overemphasized."

Rather that post up a blanket statement that "XP 64 is wonderful" or conversely, "XP 64 is crap and you should use something else", I went to some effort to describe in detail how XP 64 has worked in MY environment. I expect that the original poster, and others who have some interest in XP Pro 64, will take the time and effort to pre-qualify it in their computing environment.

I understood the original poster's inquiry to be one specifically asking for tips on XP Pro 64 performance and not what else he should be considering as an alternative to it.

edbert

I'm glad to hear you have had a great experience with it DK! This will be a little experiment to see how well it works with my current setup. I haven't finished double checking to make sure that all my hardware will work, but I am almost positive it all will. If everything works as well as the experience you have, I may start running it exclusively. I would still have the 32 bit version available if I ran into any major issues with something down the line, but if it ain't broke...

On a side note, while I am not a power user(at least I don't think so), I consider myself to be well beyond a casual user and don't mind getting my hands dirty to make something work through a manual process or a work around if it doesn't work automatically the first time.

Thanks again!

vc69

DarqueKnight wrote: »

vc69,

I don't understand why you are telling me this.

Only to suggest you give Win7 a spin. I think you'd like it.

DarqueKnight wrote: »

I understood the original poster's inquiry to be one specifically asking for tips on XP Pro 64 performance and not what else he should be considering as an alternative to it.

I think we both understood the OP correctly. Am I missing something?

DarqueKnight

edbert wrote: »

This will be a little experiment to see how well it works with my current setup.

Edbert,

I understood that you have a copy of XP Pro 64 in hand, and you just want to play with it a bit to see if 64 bit computing is something you want to invest in. I further understood that you really weren't seeking to invest in alternatives to XP Pro 64 at this time. Enjoy.

You may also be interested to know that my peripherals, which are several years old, work much faster with XP Pro 64. I am using:

1. HP LaserJet 2600 B&W Laser Printer,
2. HP DeskJet 9800 Color Ink Jet Printer,
3. HP ScanJet 4050 Scanner.

The scanner's scan speed reduced from a matter of minutes to a matter of seconds. With the printers, there used to be some lag between the time I would hit the "print" button and the time the printer would start working. Now, the printers start printing as soon as the print button is pressed.

I found XP 64 compatible drivers for the LaserJet 2600 and ScanJet 4050 on the HP website. HP does not have an XP 64 driver specifically for the DeskJet 9800. However, HP directed me to a workaround driver that was even better: The XP 64 bit driver for the HP OfficeJet Pro K850 is fully compatible with the DeskJet 9800 printer and works better (faster, more color adjustments and more print customization options) than the 32 bit DeskJet 9800 driver.

XP Pro has always been an obscure operating system and is even more obscure now that "official" support for the XP operating system, in all its flavors, has been discontinued. Prior to making my investment in a 64 bit computing system, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of documentation and driver support that was available to adherents to this ancient, yet high performance, OS.:)

---

Old speakers, old cars, old phonograph records, old computer peripherals, old computer operating systems...I never figured you for the nostalgic, sentimental type.

I'm not. I just tend to stick with what works...for me.~DK

billbillw

DK,
Your performance improvements come from the upgrade to an Icore7 and 8GB of memory. Not from the 64bit OS. Yes, I know XP 64bit will be faster than Vista 64, but if you compared fresh installs of XP 32bit and 64 bit with the same hardware, you'd be hard pressed to find any performance improvement, except that which is had by the benefit of having more than 3GB of memory. I know this because I've been running side by XP 32 and 64 bit OS for the last 3 years.

I am with you on the fact that it is a very stable OS and that there are very few issues other than with older software.

However, I don't want Edbert to think that he will see a noticeable performance increase, especially since he is only running 2GB of RAM. The only performance increase he will see is due to the fact that he will be running a clean install versus one that is bogged down by years of registry entries and bloatware.

DarqueKnight

billbillw wrote: »

DK,
Your performance improvements come from the upgrade to an Icore7 and 8GB of memory. Not from the 64bit OS.

Thanks for the clarification. Until you explained it to me, I was thinking that all the performance improvements I realized were only due to the OS upgrade. I really didn't expect any performance improvements from the hardware upgrades. I just bought all that stuff for bragging rights.:rolleyes:

billbillw wrote: »

Yes, I know XP 64bit will be faster than Vista 64, but if you compared fresh installs of XP 32bit and 64 bit with the same hardware, you'd be hard pressed to find any performance improvement, except that which is had by the benefit of having more than 3GB of memory. I know this because I've been running side by XP 32 and 64 bit OS for the last 3 years.

Thanks again. However, I will hold fast to my previous advice to consult with the hardware manufacturer and get their insights on what can reasonably be expected by running XP 64 on his computing platform. I could be wrong though. I make no claim to expertise in computer performance enhancement.

billbillw wrote: »

However, I don't want Edbert to think that he will see a noticeable performance increase, especially since he is only running 2GB of RAM.

I might be wrong, and Edbert can correct me if I am, but I really don't think he had any high expectations:

edbert wrote: »

I forgot to mention, I plan on bumping the ram to 6-8 gigs this winter. Still no benefit? The only reason I was going to try it is because I already have it.

edbert wrote: »

While I agree that it isn't a viable option as a replacement OS, I will be treating the whole experience as a chance to learn a little more about my computer and improve my skills when it comes to troubleshooting computer issues. Playing with computer stuff is a lot of fun to me and one of a few things that I am constantly wanting to learn more about because for some reason it fascinates me.

This is interesting: A guy walks into an auto club meeting and says his uncle left him a 1977 Chevy Impala and he is looking for tips on restoring it. He further states that he wants to engage in this exercise as a means to improving his auto restoration skills. However, instead of tips on how to restore his Chevy, he gets 9,000 responses on why restoring a '77 Impala is a bad idea because parts are hard to find and the performance of a 32 year old car cannot approach the performance of modern vehicles.

I don't get it.

---

They mean well. That should count for something.

You, of all people, should know what the road to Hell is paved with.~DK

vc69

DarqueKnight wrote: »

This is interesting: A guy walks into an auto club meeting and says his uncle left him a 1977 Chevy Impala and he is looking for tips on restoring it. He further states that he wants to engage in this exercise as a means to improving his auto restoration skills. However, instead of tips on how to restore his Chevy, he gets 9,000 responses on why restoring a '77 Impala is a bad idea because parts are hard to find and the performance of a 32 year old car cannot approach the performance of modern vehicles.

I don't get it.

---

They mean well. That should count for something.

You, of all people, should know what the road to Hell is paved with.~DK

Hrrmm... I guess you don't get it. And that is an extremely poor analogy.

Ed, sorry to mislead you with our "good intentions".

Btw, win7 eval copies are free. If you want to try a 64bit OS on your machine, why not download a copy and give it a spin. I think you'll like it.

P.S. You can still duel boot with a x64 version of Linux and get your geek on.

billbillw

DK, you're too damn sensitive. Take some Midol or something. Your post came across as promoting XP 64bit as being something that gave you a significant performance boost. I was simply trying to point out that it really has more to do with hardware and that with identical hardware, it has a negligible performance improvement in most circumstances.

Thanks again. However, I will hold fast to my previous advice to consult with the hardware manufacturer and get their insights on what can reasonably be expected by running XP 64 on his computing platform. I could be wrong though. I make no claim to expertise in computer performance enhancement.

I can comfortably tell him that he should not expect a performance improvement by installing XP 64bit (at least, not until he installs more RAM). I'll hold fast to that.

Serendipity

Sorry to hijack this thread -

I'm going to order some Dell Optiplex 360's soon and was wondering which OS I should pick? The options are Windows XP Downgrade, Windows Vista 64-bit, and Windows 7. There is no option for XP 64 bit.

Which is the best option?

billbillw

appadv wrote: »

Sorry to hijack this thread -

I'm going to order some Dell Optiplex 360's soon and was wondering which OS I should pick? The options are Windows XP Downgrade, Windows Vista 64-bit, and Windows 7. There is no option for XP 64 bit.

Which is the best option?

Windows 7 Pro 64bit.