T500 Opinions: XP Pro - 32-bit or 64-bit?

My T500 (specs in sig) isn't doing so well with Vista (Business 64). I've tried countless fixes found all over the internet for my Adobe CS3 issues (none of the programs worked). I thought I had a spare XP-32 key, so I installed it last night and it's apparently in use already *doh*. Since I have to buy another key, I might as well pick the desired OS.

XP 32-bit versus XP-64 bit.

I am aware only 3gb or so of my 4gb will be available to Windows. Please disregard that as being the main reason to pick x64 as the winner. I'd like to hear any experiences from T500 owners that pushed them to either version of XP.

To those thinking I'm a Vista hater: I am currently running Vista x64 Ultimate on my PC (Q6600, 8gb ram, etc) and it runs perfectly fine. I even turned off the page file... it's quite amazing. The transition to x64 was a bit hard though (driver nightmares in Oct of 07), but everything is available now.

 

I am running XP on my T500 just fine. In fact one of the main reasons I ended up purchasing it is that I could get XP on it, and there are XP drivers available without alot of hassle.

 

32 or 64 bit?

 

If you have a Vista Business key with your machine, it should activate regardless whether it's 32 or 64 bit, if you can find a 32 bit disc to install it.

 

Jkchang, as you probably expected, 32 bit. I tend to run older software.

 

I had a 64-bit t62p and everything worked fine in a vista to vista transfer.

 

Vista 64-bit works quite well for me. 64-bit XP however, is not as versatile and does not handle 32-bit applications as well as Vista 64-bit. Therefore, I would say go with Windows XP 32-bit if you are going to use XP.

As a side note, do keep in mind that you will not be able to switch from dedicated to integrated graphics in the OS in XP.

 

XP 32bit

everything works. Priceless

 

I concur with this. XP x64 will work, but you’ll find more challenges with it. x64 Windows really only went mainstream with Vista.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. Looks like I'll be using XP-32 for the time being. I have an extra Vista Home key (yay promotional deals), but it looks like it's time to go to xp-32.

I'm aware switchable graphics are basically lossed (unless adjusted in the bios). It doesn't bother me too much. I'm normally plugged in, which rare exceptions when I'm doing some minor work on the road.

 

Seriously? It doesn't matter what media I use to install the OS, it will activate as long as it's the same edition, regardless of whether it's 32- or 64-bit? Is that only true for the Business edition?

 

That works if you use a certain program to copy the activation key before doing an installation. If you do that, the key is preserved and you can reinstalled 32 or 64 bit version of Vista and activate using the saved key.

Check this thread for more information on how to save the activation key.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=120228&highlight=vista+clean+install+lenovo

 

Oh, so you can't just use the product key from the sticker on the bottom of your machine?

 

If you use that one, you might be able to activate it. Some member say those need to be called in though. I haven't tried that yet, so I don't have the first hand experience. I'm sure someone will have the info for you though.

 

32bit, the 64bit sucks

 

I don't know what all thes fuss is. I've used 32 and 64 bit Vista for a long time with my t61p and its all been fine. I run strickly software development and 64 bit works fine with that.

Renee

 

Same here. I've been using Vista 64-bit since before SP1, and I see no reason at all to go back to 32.

 

My reason was that my Adobe Creative Suite 3 was not functioning (at all). After a 90 minute install (that's the first sign of the problem, hahaha), none of the programs would load. Even Acrobat would load to the start up "What to do?" prompt and freeze. Photoshop wouldn't even load the screen that shows which libraries are loading.

My home PC (Vista Ultimate x64) runs the software fine for some reason. I've been using Vista x64 before SP1 also (since October of 07).

After finishing the installation of just about every driver, I can say XP is running quite nicely. I'm *almost* tempted to install XP on my desktop to see how that goes. And the highlight: CS3 works again.

I ended up finding one of my unused XP 32-bit keys, so I'm good now. I'll be waiting for Windows7 for the T500. That'll be when I make the switch to a newer version of windows, the switch to 64-bit and possibly switch to CS4 (or CS5).

 

That might be one of those few cases where a critical app just has issues in some cases. I can certainly see how that would be the determining factor. You just don't see too many of those examples anymore.

In a cursory browsing of the Adobe Creative Suite web site, they mention that Creative Suite 4 is certified for Windows XP and Vista 32-bit. Wikipedia claims it has 64-bit support in version 4.

 

I own and use an X300 and currently have two boot-partitions on it, one is XP64, the other is XP x86. I end up working in the x86-64 boot the most. 64bit is just snappier with SSD and on this hardware. So: Why not use both?

 

CS4 is 64-bit certified. The price of upgrading is the hindrance here =P XP costs a lot less than CS4 does. It's a rare case for it to not work nowadays. Everything else is running fine for me.

My SSD is only 64gb, so it's a stretch to install both OS with all the other applications I need. I'll just be waiting for Win7- I heard it's due in August or so.