Vista Ulitimate 64 Compatibility Issues

I am kinda wishing I would have jsut gotten the Home Premium version of Vista instead of this 64 bit crap. So all third party stuff I have either won't install or doesn't work period. I bought Mcafee 2007 virus based on their bs claim of Vista compatible on the front of the box. They left out the part about it not working wiht the 64 bit version. And I couldn't get my money back. I am currently useing Nod32. Also maintenance stuff like System Mechanic 7, Ad Aware 2007, Registry Mechcanic 6 and others do not function correctly.

Now I am having long boot up times and can't Registry mech. to fix the registry errors because it never finishes scanning. It just keeps running on and on. Once it finished but didn't fix all the problems it found.

I wonder when we will see stuff that was develpoed for Vista 64 and works???

 

Microsoft made the mistake of keeping a 32-bit operating system in a world filled with 64-bit processors. Software companies develop software based on the most popular platform, which is generally Windows. But Microsoft's most popular Vista versions aren't 64-bit, so no one makes 64-bit software.

My suspicion is that Vista is like a Windows ME, a sucky bridge from one legacy system to an entirely new platform. I suspect the next Windows OS (Vienna?) will be entirely 64-bit.

 

No, I don't believe Windows ME is a valid contrast for platform transistion - it was a sidestep at best. Transitioning to 64 bit operating systems is much more like the transition from Windows for Workgroups to Windows 95 whereas you had a radical change in the UI as well as the first real Plug and Play layer; remember how hard it was for the industry to transition to PnP? (visions of BillG's ill fated demo should come to mind at least)

The software industry MUST transition to 64 bit or risk being left behind. All of the hardware, and now low level OS components are in place - we just need the driver and application developers to follow suit. Blaming the OS for lack of 64 bit applications is pointless and misdirected. As demand increases, the supply will follow...

 

I'm not sure why you need something like Registry Mechanic on a fresh install? These types of programs are for cleaning up older applications that don't clean house very well and leave crap everywhere. Have you tried going to an earlier system restore point?

 

What about the junk like Vonage on here? Can you use the unistall and get rid of this crap safely?

 

It's not Microsoft's fault that software/hardware makers don't come out with 64bit programs/drivers. Do you expect Microsoft to develop all the software & drivers for x64?

 

See if AVG Free Antivirus and Spybot S&D will play nice with 64-bit Vista.

The type of apps you listed are the ones that need the most tuning for 64-bit. Had Microsoft been smart they'd have made Vista 64-bit-only and told Intel it's their own damn fault for being so slow to get AMD64 religion, but they didn't and here we are. Heck, even Steve Jobs tolerated the 32-bit-only Core Duo. 64-bit Linux has been a no-brainer for years now so the problems with 64-bit Windows are maddening. I'd still go with 64-bit Vista over 32-bit when the price is comparable, which it isn't for HP, alas.

 

A point to note, majority of the people (read : consumers) in the world are still using 32bit software, and it's a highly mature platform. 64bit was once in the business and exclusive servers domain, but is slowly making their way to the consumers, replacing 32bit.

The transition period is to smoothen out the problems until 64bit becomes mature.

 

Why has not any enterprising entity solved this issue with a simple dual boot mechanism so that one may utilize both the 32 bit and the 64 bit version of whatever flavor of Vista they have?

Every dual boot solution I've seen involves arduous procedure and double duty care to install the right version first, and then one or the other is "dominant".

 

Well if I had it to do over again I would get the samething except I would get the Home version of Vista instead of the Ultimate. Looks like its gonna be along time before everything transitions over to 64 bit anyway.

My old laptop with XP was more stable and reliable than this has been so far. I have gotten alot of error messages,programs stop responding like Firefox. My mother has a new HP Desktop with Vista Home and so far its been pretty much problem free not a glitch to report.

Other than that and the fact that the sound on this laptop absolutley sucks, its worse than my old zv5000 was and is very low and no base its a very impressive package.

 

Just out of curiousity, I wonder if your current key will work on a downgrade to Ultimate 32bit? It would solve a good many of your compatibility problems if it was possible..............

 

Possible. The version (i believe) he got was a retail version of Vista which includes the 32bit and 64bit media.

 

So what would I need to do?

 

I'm with the other guy...why would you want all that symanntec, adaware, registry mechanic software when running vista? I understand about having an A/V but those other two are not really necessary since you have so much control over what gets installed (although i've seen wildtangent install without any security prompting whatsoever - dunno how vista allowed that thru)...

 

I was able to safely remove all of the bloatware I found like Vonage and Norton. I recommend leaving all of the HP software as well as the Verisoft app for the fingerprint reader if you have it.

 

Yes, the license for Business and Ultimate indicates you have the right to downgrade to XP. If you search the forum you'll find some additional information about how to activate XP in this situation.

 

He is not wanting to downgrade to XP but rather to 32 bit Vista. I'm thinking this might be possible by doing a fresh install with the included disk and choosing 32 bit instead of 64 bit and then you should have 32 bit ultimate.

 

Gotcha - I don't believe the license specifies which version (32 or 64 bit) as long as you stick to the same release (Ultimate vs Business vs Home, etc). To go from 64 to 32 you'd have to do a full reinstall.

 

The problem with x64 is dumb people. I haven't had any big issue with it. It's normal that a 32 bit driver will not work on a 64 bit OS. So, blame the software developers...

 

I am liking it better. Everything seems to be working smoother. I used CCcleaner and it is booting up very quick now. I am still trying to figure out how to get rid of the last bit of junkware on here.

Firefox has a problem of not responding sometimes. Especially when viewing video and what not like Quicktime files on line streaming.


cccleaner works well as does Spybot Search Destroy. The Nod32 is working great also. I would jusst like a full maintenance program like system Mechanic 7 now to work. I tried Diskeeper also that worked for xp to defragment the HD but it does not work with Ultimate either.

 

I've been doing some looking around, and I think that is the case as well. They don't seem to be locking you to a specific architecture (32/64bit).

 

So far I've only noticed that Adobe has not released a 64 bit Vista driver for their Flash plug-in.

WORKAROUND: Use the 32 bit version of IE (Vista x64 has both).

Everything else is pretty spot on aside from having a nagging problem with NeverWinter Nights 2 screen resolutions but I can't blame that on Vista or x64 until I can rule it out as a video driver issue or unsupported card (neither Vista or the 8600m GS is explicitly supported but it works - just only in 1024x768).

 

Till now, there are still no 64 bit plugins for popular plug ins. Hope it will change once the world moves to 64 bit (sooner)

 

Can you upgrade for a modest fee from Vista 32 bit to 64bit. If yes can some provide a live link, I'v e looked and have not seen whether this type of upgrade is offered.

I had the 64 bit version on a machine which was returned for a hardware function. I had some compatibility frustrations, so for me it will be the 32 bit version for now...

 

As far as I can tell, you can move between 32bit and 64bit without buying a new license, as long as you stay with the same version (Premium, Ultimate), but the details around that are sort of murky. You will have to do a complete reinstall though, you cannot "upgrade" it, as in, leaving everything in place. You'll need to wipe the system clean and reinstall.

 

Correct, I purchased a full retail version of Ultimate for my home PC and in the box you get both the x32 and the x64 discs. You are not licensed by the architecture but by the "edition". In fact the license sticker on the bottom of your laptop should say "Windows Vista Ultimate OEM".

The problem is trying to get x32 media from HP if they loaded the x64 version. You can order the recovery disks from HP here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?docname=c00810334&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

 

It's possible to get the Windows Anytime Upgrade disk, for around $10. That's just a clean install version. If you order the Recovery Discs from HP, it will come with all the other software as well.

 

Is it worth upgrading to x64?

 

Limewire has also stopped working now for me.