gone to 64 bit for the first time... noob qestions

Soldato
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OK never bothered to go 64bit but have done so now on my shuttle, installing windows7

so what are the key points? when installing software am i to long for 64bit software and avoid 32bit where possible?

how does it all work?
 
Just install all the apps you would use normally, but if there's a specific 64-bit version, use that instead.

Make sure you get 64-bit drivers though.
 
cheers mate, dunno why i never bothered before, got my scc copy of win7 and dived straight in to 64, all running ok so far, just taking time installing and tweaking!
 
Yeah, basically Windows Vista 64 and 7 64 run 32-bit software using an emulation layer iirc, so 99% of things run absolutely fine and for the few 64-bit apps that are available, you'll get a bit of a performance increase/increase in addressable memory.
 
The only thing that hasn't been mentioned is that Windows Vista and Windows 7 x64 require you to install signed drivers so you can't simply install anything and everything that could potentially effect the stability of the system in an undesirable way. You can disable driver signature enforcement but it's not something that's recommended.

Other than that though, I don't think there is much else to add. Everything else has already been covered. There really isn't much you need to do once you have installed Windows 7 with regards to turning of certain services / features. It works superbly right out of the box.
 
64 bit Windows also gives you access to 4GB RAM + and therefore allows you to use the extra memory. The only point of installing 32 bit Windows these days if if you only have a 32 bit cpu (Ie my laptop).

My main pc has run 64 bit Windows since vista as it's main OS, with xp 32 bit on there for compatability (more xp than the 32>64 bit aspect). I have had few problems with it :)
 
ok my current issue is this...

i have a shuttle with a Nforce 630a 7050pv chipset, windows seems to have the drivers, however when on the nvid site i can download the chipset drivers which don't seem to have the full set, install and still my esata port does not work, but no errors in device manger
 
Leave the built in chipset drivers unless you're having problems. The built in ones for 7 and Vista are perfectly fine.

The SATA issue may be compatibility related in general, are the ports being run in IDE mode or AHCI mode? they should be AHCI for Vista and above. Check your BIOS first, if it's IDE mode then you'll need to edit the Registry in Windows to tell Windows to load the AHCI driver at next boot.

1. Exit all Windows-based programs.
2. Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
3. If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
4. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesMsahci
5. In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
7. On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.

After this you’ll have to restart your computer, go to BIOS and enable AHCI. When you log in to Windows again, you’ll notice the installation of drivers for AHCI. Another restart will be required to finish the driver installation.
 
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