Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with 64bit

Is 64-bit Win7/BootCamp worth some effort?

Zonker — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:25:04 -0800

Is 64-bit Win7 possible/worth the hassle on a somewhat elderly Macbook Pro? My late '06 Macbook Pro (version 2,2) won't boot the 64-bit Windows 7 installer (it hangs at "Select CD-Rom Boot Type"), but the 32-bit version installs fine through Boot Camp. It looks like there's a hack (here) that would allow me to boot the 64-bit version by burning it to DVD in a slightly different way.

Is the 64-bit version worth the effort? Is there a significant difference in compatibility with Parallels Desktop between the 32- and 64-bit versions? Any other considerations I should have in mind?

Will Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit utilize 8GB of RAM?

omaralarifi — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:08:46 -0800

Just for confirmation, will Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit utilize 8GB of RAM? I already own a laptop with windows vista ultimate 64-bit with 8GB installed. I just want to confirm if Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit will utilize 8GB of RAM or I should buy a 64-bit version.
I am not welling to buy an upgrade version but a full retail version.

Recommended computer workstation vendors?

pombe — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:14:26 -0800

I'm looking for recommended vendors for high performance computing workstations. I need a workstation with 32 GB or more of RAM for image analysis; my computational needs are more modest, but a couple decently fast cores would be nice (my application parallelizes well). I'd like to spend around $5k if possible, but could go up a little if necessary. I'd prefer not to build a system.

XP Pro x64 SP2 non-responsive on the domain

the_binary_blues — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:51:35 -0800

Windows XP Pro x64 SP2 on hp dv4-1430us loads and run's slow on the domain but not when I log on locally. I have an HP Pavilion dv4-1430us running windows XP pro x64 SP2 and my problem is that it takes 7 minutes to login onto the computer when I log onto the domain. Then it is extremely no responsive when it is on the domain and it takes 5 min for word and excel to load. The computer is so slow on the domain I can walk away and come back and it will still be loading.

When I log onto the computer locally it takes 30 seconds to load windows (after I login) and programs open without any latency at all.

I have tried fixing asyncronous loading of networking during the boot up process as described in this article to no avail.

any advice on how to fix this latency issue?

I asked the network admins and they were perplexed and told me something to the affect of we are busy and we will get to it later unless you can find a good solution online that we can try.

the domain controllers and dns servers are w2k3sbs

please help

Stupid Microsoft

porpoise — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:54:51 -0800

Building a new Core i7 desktop: WinXP32, WinXP64, Vista32, or Vista64? After my comps/quals in three weeks, I'm building myself a Core i7 based desktop (more because I have some research money that if I don't spend I don't get than that I really need/want a new system and my folks could use a new computer [ie., the one I have now]).

Primarily for general web-browsing, gaming (I have a DX10 GPU and a large monitor), some video editing, and video transcoding (XVID, 'shrinking' DVD9 to DVD5). Photoshop/Illustrator forseen in the near future. Ostensibly for 'scientific computing' (biology - time-lapse microscopy generates very very very large datasets) but none of the software available/desirable/required by me has 64bit versions. Compatibility with a dual SAS(driving a 15k RPM HD)/SATA2(high capacity drives) setup a must (the MB I'm looking at supports both - ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe).

I have the media and a legit license of WinXP64. Would have to buy another license of XP32 or Vista32/64.

I like the idea of running a 64bit system. I like the idea of skipping Vista and eventually going with Win7 better. Even if my apps never exceed the 3.5GB of ram available in x32 (?), is there an advantage of setting the other 2.5GB or 5.5GB of ram as a ramdrive and using that as a swapfile?

Is it worthwhile to go to Vista64, which I've heard has good 32bit emulation (or fiddle around with XP64)? Are there any compelling reasons to buy a license of Vista32 over a license of XP32 (other than saving $40 on Vista instead of XP - I knew I should have stocked up on Academic versions of XP when the school's bookstore was reluctant to sell me a license 3 years ago)? I forsee running VirtualDOS for legacy 16 bit applications/games.

I like the idea of Linux, but need to run Microsoft Office because of supervisor/collaborators/lab-mates. Also, molecular biology and statistics software (that are written for XP32 - most, but not all, will run under Vista32; my work laptop is XP32 and that's where I do most of my work) and games.

Vista 64 drops Internet connection?

pghjezebel — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:29:02 -0800

What is causing my Vista 64 PC to keep dropping its Internet connection? I keep losing my internet connection on my PC, which is running Vista 64bit. I'm at loss for what is causing it. After searching online, I've tried the following solutions:

-Made sure Vista is not putting my Network adapter (Model: Realtek rtl8168c(p)/8111c(p) family pci-e GBE NIC) to sleep.
-Disabled DHCP and DNS on our router (which is a Linksys RTP300 from Vonage).
- netsh winsock reset

None of these suggestions have worked. Sometimes I stay connected for a while, and then I'm offline again. Sometimes I need to restart, other times it will reconnect itself within a matter of seconds. It also seems to kick me offline more frequently when both my husband and I are online at the same time.

My next actions were going to be to try a different network card and/or router, but any suggestions would be appreciated!

Vista 64bit stopped recognizing and connecting to external drives...

pghjezebel — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:59:18 -0800

Vista 64bit has recently stopped recognizing my iPhone and WD MyBook external HD...please help! I have a WD 500GB MyBook and an iPhone. Both have connected without problems to my Vista 64bit machine. Now, I can no longer access them.

My PC on some level still "sees" the devices because the iPhone will connect and sync with iTunes and the HD is listed in the device manager. However it is listed as "This device is not configured correctly." I've tried uninstalling, disabling, reinstalling drivers, different ports and have had no luck getting my machine to see either device.

And I've verified that there is nothing wrong with the HD or the iPhone. Both connect flawlessly on my husband's Vista (non 64bit of course) machine.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

Good apps for 64-bit Vista?

stuckie — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:10:50 -0800

I just upgraded my computer and am trying out the 64-bit edition of Vista. While my hardware has been mostly compliant, my trouble has been mostly with software. For instance, the 64-bit version of IE (the only 64-bit browser?) is screaming fast, but it doesn't support Java or Flash. I'd love to be able to get some apps that can take advantage of the new horsepower at my disposal, but so far, it's been more of a nuisance than a benefit. Can anyone recommend any usable 64-bit versions of apps for basic computer use? (web browsing, text-editing, photo-editing, media-viewing, etc)

64 is twice as better as 32, right?

wfrgms — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:38:41 -0800

Is Windows XP 64-bit ready for me? Am I ready for it? Look forward to rebuilding my system later this week and I'm considering switching from 32-bit to 64-bit Windows XP.

My setup will be as follows:

- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (dual core, 2.2 ghz)
- 6 gigabytes of ram (two DDR667 and two DDR800 sticks)
- Motherboard is a MSI K9N SLi Platinum
- Two SATA 3.0 drives configured in RAID 0 using nVidia's on board RAID controller. (I have a seperate drive which will receive incremental backups in case the RAID 0 array goes south.)
- Dual BFG 7600 GT video cards setup for SLi

The reason I'm interested in XP 64 is twofold: one, I want to take advantage of the 6 gb of ram, and two, I'm hoping for better performance and stability.

The machine is my primary desktop used for routine internet browsing, office work, and game playing.

Some questions that pop into my head: 1.) Will Windows XP 64 play nice with my SLi setup? 2.) Will my games (BioShock, Crysis, The Witcher, Civ IV, Total War, etc) work in 64? 3.) Will Windows XP 64 like my RAID 0 setup?

Is there anything else I should take into consideration? Am I missing something? Is there a case to be made for staying with XP 32 bit?

Thanks for any and all advice and speculation.

I need 64-bit drivers!

omnipotentq — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:43:32 -0800

I've got an Inspiron M1730 on the way, and I need 64-bit drivers for XP. Okay, so, my old Inspiron XPS Gen 2 just died tonight...sort of. It's crapping out enough that I don't trust it at all, and I'm barely able to make a backup of my data now. (I make nightlies, but I'm a data fiend, so I want everything that's on it from today, no matter what the cost.)

Thankfully, I was blessed enough that tonight, right after it broke, someone gave me the funds to buy an M1730, which I've had my eye on for months now. It's now on its way (or, rather, being built - whoo!) and my plan is to install the 64 bit edition of XP on it when it arrives, since I hate Vista and want to take advantage of all 4GB of delicious, yummy ooey gooey RAM. Now, there are drivers available for the regular version of XP on Dell's website, but are there 64 bit versions available? If so, where would I find them? (Please, no Linux snarks. I fully intend on installing some flavor of Linux on it as well, since I'll have 400GB of hard drive space to play with. I'm not that much of an MS sellout. )

(Yes, I could go look this up myself, but golly gee, I am just so flipping excited about this laptop that I can barely sit straight, and I'm giddy with glee, and I wanted to share that joy with Mefi while asking a question. Please humor me? :) )

Help finding Apache 2.2.4 x86_64

hummercash — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:03:39 -0800

I can't seem to find the rpm for Apache 2.2.4 x86_64 for RedHat 4 and/or CentOS 4.4... does anyone know where it is or if it even exists? Gracias.

How big a performance hit will I take running CPU heavy programs in 32-bit WOW emulation?

adi — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 14:33:06 -0800

How much of a performance hit will I take if I install the 64-bit version of Vista and run, for instance, my Digital Audio Workstation in 32-bit WOW emulation rather than running it in native 32-bit? I have a Pentium D processor that is 64-bit, and when Vista comes out I am planning to install the 64-bit version for both the increased memory allocation as well as the increased security, but I also run DAW programs that will have to run in WOW emulation because the programs won't be ported to 64-bit for some time. Obviously performance is a huge issue any time you're dealing with these kinds of programs.

This stupid website doesn't like my operating system, help me trick it

Mijo Bijo — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 21:05:36 -0800

I'm currently using a computer with Windows x64 as its operating system and I need to log into a tax website to file my taxes, but the website does not support my operating system. I've tried Firefox, IE, and Opera, so it is definitely the operating system. Is there a plugin for any of the above mentioned browsers that will identify my operating system as plain ol' vanilla Windows XP?