Problems with 64-bit Windows

November 17, 2008 1:17 PM

Without realizing it I recently purchases a 64-bit Windows computer. I am having problems my wireless internet reception and with basic programs like Office 2007. Is it possible that this is due to incompatibility?
posted by retiree to computers & internet (10 comments total)

You left out some critical information.

Microsoft Windows Vista x64 is a pretty mature OS. I've been using it for awhile and haven't had much in the way of trouble, so if you're running Vista x64, I'd say your problems are probably unrelated.

On the other hand...

Microsoft Windows XP x64 is a steaming pile of crap and with enough problems to make your head explode and I wouldn't install it if you had a gun to my head.

So, depending on which OS you're running, my answer changes.
posted by kbanas at 1:40 PM on November 17, 2008

Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? That depends entirely on what "problems" you are experiencing. Can you go into more detail? (What's the problem? What are your computer specs? Any other hardware attached? Any other software running?)
posted by genial at 1:42 PM on November 17, 2008

You definitely need to make sure that you are installing the 64-bit version of any hardware drivers (such as for a wireless router), when applicable.

Office 2007 is compatible with 64-bit platforms, but not all features are supported.

(If you don't know that you need 64 bits, you almost certainly don't, and would be better off switching to a standard system.)
posted by dhartung at 1:43 PM on November 17, 2008

"Microsoft Windows XP x64 is a steaming pile of crap and with enough problems to make your head explode and I wouldn't install it if you had a gun to my head."

What? I have it installed with no problems whatsoever. Most companies that have Vista 64 drivers also have x64 drivers.
posted by archagon at 2:09 PM on November 17, 2008

What? I have it installed with no problems whatsoever. Most companies that have Vista 64 drivers also have x64 drivers.
posted by archagon at 2:09 PM on November 17 [+] [!]

This is the list I got from a quick search through Wikipedia. It's a broken OS.

* Driver compatibility; Only 64-bit kernel mode drivers are supported. This means that devices for which there are no 64-bit Windows XP drivers available cannot be used. This includes a lot of common hardware.
* Any 32-bit Windows Explorer extension fails to work with 64-bit Windows Explorer. Explorer is a 64-bit program, so it cannot load a 32-bit DLL. However, Windows XP x64 Edition also ships with the 32-bit explorer.exe, which can be used as the user's default shell with a registry change.
* Any 16-bit programs will not run (32-bit software with 16-bit installers based on ACME Setup versions 2.6, 3.0, 3.01, and 3.1 and InstallShield versions 5.x will run correctly)
* Command prompts will not load in full-screen. This is also true of Windows Vista in both 32 and 64 bit editions.
* Some (typically older) programs have 16-bit installers that will not install on the x64 Edition
* No native support for Type 1 fonts.[citation needed]
* ID3 tag information from music files are not viewable in the Windows Explorer.[citation needed]
* Does not contain a Web Extender Client component for Web Folders (WebDAV).
* The Windows Live installer executable cannot be run, so one needs to find separate .msi installation files for each component (such as Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Mail,...)
posted by kbanas at 2:31 PM on November 17, 2008

Just because it says "64 bit" somewhere on your laptop or PC doesnt mean you are running Windows 64-bit edition. All 64-bit chips run as 32-bit and I dont see many, if any, OEMs that are selling 64 bit machines without explicitly requesting it. Even then they would verify the drivers and everything else works.

Can you verify what version of windows is installed? Who made this computer?
posted by damn dirty ape at 2:48 PM on November 17, 2008

You shouldn't see any real differences between Vista64 & 32, but as others have mentioned, XP64 should be avoided.

But realistically I doubt your issues are caused by any OS flaws, it's more likely a result of something you have installed, bad hardware, viruses, etc.
posted by blue_beetle at 3:40 PM on November 17, 2008

Microsoft Windows XP x64 is a steaming pile of crap and with enough problems to make your head explode and I wouldn't install it if you had a gun to my head.

Odd. On a machine with compatible hardware, I've never had any problems with it either. Most of the other quibbles on Wikipedia seem like pretty minor complaints, and are things I've never noticed for myself. But I haven't spent all that much time on it either.
posted by musicinmybrain at 4:05 PM on November 17, 2008

Vista 64 is the best (most stable by far) OS I've ever used. I understand that when it was first released driver support was pretty sketchy, but I didn't go through any of that so I can't say if your problems are along those lines.

Maybe more information on exactly what's going on for you would be helpful. Lots of people have problems with wireless for a whole heap of reasons, for instance.
posted by The Monkey at 4:39 PM on November 17, 2008

kbanas, I'm pretty sure most of those apply to Vista 64 also.
posted by archagon at 6:03 PM on November 17, 2008