Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with x64

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

Why aren't there universal 32->64 bit driver translator/emulators?

Mokusatsu — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:37:56 -0800

Why aren't there universal 32->64 bit driver translator/emulators? 64 bit versions of Windows require 64 bit drivers for printers, scanners and other devices. Many people upgrading to a 64 bit computer have had to retire perfectly good hardware simply because of lack of 64 bit drivers.

One way around this is to set up a 32 bit guest OS in a virtual machine and then run your devices from the guest OS, i.e. you can install your printer on a VMWare (or other type) virtual machine with XP or Vista 32 bit (or perhaps a Linux distro) and transfer your files to the guest OS when you want to print them.

Clearly the virtual machine is able to pass on commands to the device either via the host OS, or bypassing it altogether. This seems to me to be a proof of concept for a universal driver translator.

My question is, would a 64 bit emulator program doing essentially the same job as the 32 bit virtual machine be possible? Basically it would be a virtual machine with a stripped down OS that does nothing more than run 32 bit drivers on a 64 bit host.

If it is possible, how come such a program hasn't been written yet?

I'd willingly pay $100 for such software instead of updating my hardware, because running a full blown 32 bit guest OS purely to scan or print things is a bit of a hassle. I'm sure thousands of people would, and the existence of such software would remove one of the major objections people have to getting a 64 bit OS.

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? :) )

64-bit n00b, doesn't want to be a b00b.

bartleby — Thu, 03 May 2007 09:48:32 -0800

Getting new laptop with x64 processor...should I get 32-bit Vista, or 64-bit? Does it matter? How about 64-bit XP? New laptop purchase candidate has AMDx64 processor.
But my only knowledge of 64-bit computing is that it seems to provoke headaches.

I’ve gone through the 64-bit threads here, but many of them are a year or more old, so I don’t know if the situation has improved.. I wouldn’t bother asking, but considering that my last 3 computer purchases were basically free (recycling –No! Upgrading!- older machines to Linux), I’m fretting over spending $$$ on the wrong thing.

It’s just a ‘very-portable’ home/biz laptop that’s maxed out at 2gb RAM. So no bonuses for 64-bit’s higher RAM ceiling. Not for gaming, no overclocked CAD/video editing workstation, etc. Simply wanted a small notebook with Vista. It just so happened that the form factor I liked comes with a 64-bit processor.

Okay, you early adopters who might have gone through this already, a couple questions:

1) This will be my first Vista machine AND my first x64 processor. Will I have more or less problems with running a 64-bit OS on a 64 bit processor than I would running 32-bit version of the same OS on the same machine? Would I even notice any gain from x64, given that I’m only on 2gb RAM anyway? Does the x86 emulation or whatever lets it run in 32-bit mode suck and slow things down? Trying to pick which flavor of Vista will run smoother…

2) I ask because I would like to get Vista Ultimate, but the OEM for this only offers it in 64-bit, even though their Premium & Business offerings are 32-bit. I need to join a domain, so it’s Business at the least; but I am also interested in the Media Center stuff in Ultimate. If I’m stuck with a crap 64-bit Ultimate or a functioning 32-bit Business, I’m going to have to go with Business. No difference? Ultimate. Who owns either or both and can tell me about it?

3) Sort of eliminating the above question; if anyone has an OEM Vista Ultimate DVD: did it come with both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions on it, like I hear that the retail version does? If so, then we’re done: I’ll have the option to try both. for what works better. If not, repeat question 1.

4) I’m going to set up this machine with an XP partition to boot from for the times when Vista isn’t my friend. And I just so happen to have an unused XP Pro 64bit install package lying around doing nothing but being shrinkwrapped & legit. (I ended up with this as a gift from someone who tried XPx64 on a few machines in 2005 and gave up in tears.) “Why not save a couple hundred dollars and use it instead of buying XP again”, I say to myself “- they must have improved it since it came out”. But maybe it still sucks? Is XP x64 going to give me a whole other set of headaches, making it worth going out and buying a retail XP 32-bit copy for my dual-booting to safety needs? Expensive!

5) Bonus Question: Who was Casper the Ghost before he died?

Thanks for all your help, everybuggy.

RHEL vs SLES: netstat -a

nomisxid — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:33:09 -0800

Why doesn't "netstat -a" work with forwarded ports on SLES 10x64? I'm doing some testing work on local port forwarding thru ssh. Everything is going along swimmingly as I develop my tests on my RedHat ES4 box. When I go to run my test against a SLES10 x64 machine, things don't work. I believe I have narrowed down the issue to a problem with "netstat -a" not working as expected on the SLES box.

On the RHEL4 box:

[x@localrh .ssh2]$ ssh -oPort=22 -n -L 3434:dragontail:23 x@dragontail sleep 15 &
[1] 26644
[x@localrh .ssh2]$ Authentication successful.
netstat -a | grep 3434
tcp 0 0 localhost.attachmate.c:3434 *:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 ip6-localhost:3434 *:* LISTEN
[x@localrh .ssh2]$
[1]+ Done ssh -oPort=22 -n -L 3434:dragontail:23 x@dragontail sleep 15

But on SLES10 x64 box:

x@dragontail:~/.ssh2> ssh -oPort=22 -n -L 3434:localrh:23 x@localrh sleep 15 &
[1] 17294
x@dragontail:~/.ssh2> Authentication successful.
x@dragontail:~/.ssh2> netstat -a | grep 3434
x@dragontail:~/.ssh2>
[1]+ Done ssh -oPort=22 -n -L 3434:localrh:23 x@localrh sleep 15

I've verified that the forwarded ports are available and active on the SLES box, just like on the RHEL box, but I can't figure out why it's not showing up in my netstat. A quick googling for SLES and netstat didn't report any unusual behavior. Am I missing something obvious?

x64 Windows Geforce 4 Ti Driver Woe

Arcaz Ino — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:25:28 -0800

We installed XP x64, and can't find drivers for our video card, NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti 4600. There are drivers for older cards and new cards, but not our card. A lot of the sites claiming to have the drivers are lying, and have maybe pasted in the inf for the 32-bit drivers by mistake. Is there any way I can make this work?

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?