N2090 and Vista

After reading all about this computer I've decided I want it. My question though is how bad does 64 bit vista screw up programs. Do they just not run if they aren't written in 64 bits or is it just a performance hit? Also, as much as I want to try Vista, I'd rather use XP and I heard you can't install XP on SATA drives because XP doesn't recognize them. If this is true how are they shipping it with XP and how much of a pain would it be to reformat if I felt it was getting too cluttered.

 

64bit you need drivers that are signed. That can be a problem. 64bit has a 32bit compatability mode. You will take a small performance hit because of this emulation. You can install vista on SATA drives. Check here for how to do it.

 

I'm getting vista ultimate 64bit.... just cause i know I don't wanna reinstall in like 1/2 year.

 

are you getting the 4gigs also?

 

3gb you need 64 bit, I hope not?

 

no.. 3gb is max for 32bit though

 

I'm running Vista x64 and have only a few bad experiences with it.. and only because of bad nVidia drivers.. Program in general have worked fine and performance isn't that big of a hit as people think.. All my 32bit programs are plable even some old OLD games.. The only problem you may have is with 16bit installers as Vista x64 can't emulate any 16bit program.. So getting them old programs to install that rely on old 16bit installers are a pain to get on the system.. Virtual PC with a striped down XP running inside it allows you to install these old programs.. as you can Inject a folder into the Virutal XP Machine and have the installer install to that folder.. ALso Vista x64 has two Program Files folder.. "Program Files" = x64 and "Program Files (x86)" is 32bit programs


Personally the diffrence between 32bit and 64bit is not noticable at the moment.. and Vista x64 is very stable for me.


BTW if you want, you can make a XP CD with the SATA drivers built in so that you can reinstall XP... Just use nLite to intergrate the INTEL MATRIX F6 Drivers and your good to go.

 

XP with SP2 does indeed recognize SATA hard drives with no issues at all...no special drivers are needed.

 

not for me... I have a XP SP2 CD and had to intergrate the intel matrix drivers as required for XP to even see the drive.. XP SP2 doesn't include then intel matrix drivers themself.. but you will need SP2 slipstreamed onto the CD if you want the matrix drivers to act properly. at least this was my experience so far with a lot of notebooks with the intel controllers.. I had to do this yesterday for a gateway laptop as the BIOS had no way to disable the controller from SATA mode to compatability mode. When I tried a regular XP SP2 cd that I had on had at the time it just didn't work.. so downloaded nlite and intel matrix floppy drivers (extracted with winimage 8.0) and used nlite to intergrate the drivers into the text mode install and burned the new ISO and presto.. drives showed up..

 

BTW I have a few drivers that are not signed that run just fine in Vista 64... just have to disable driver signing and your good to go.. had to do this because nvidia hasn't released not ONE Vista 64 drivers that supports laptop gpu's. so I download nforce 160 (whlq) and edit the INF to detect my GPU and install.. Editing the .INF tho will break the driver signiture..

 

I have another question, are the copies of Vista and XP 1 time only installs? I forget what they are called.

 

You can move the copies between as many computers as you like, but you can only have it active on 1 computer at a time. (If I remember correctly that is)

 

I don't mind that, they'd be stupid if that wasn't the case. What I'm wondering is am I going to have to call and get some activation code every time I feel like reformatting?

 

If you are simply reformatting and reinstalling on the same computer you should not have to call, you should be able to do it online.

If you change computers, or you change 3 or more major components in your computer you will probably have to call.