FW190; Vista 32-bit or upgrade to 64-bit?

My new FW190 (P8400, ATI 3470, HiColor) will come with 32-bit Vista OS. My son says I should change to 64-bit Vista. He says it will take better advantage of the newer processors and use all 4GB of RAM instead of only 3GB.

I mostly will be running MS Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint along with Quicken and some basic graphics and photo editing software.

Can someone give me the pros and cons on this? Should I stay with 32-bit?

If I go to 64-bit Vista is it something I could do or should I have someone make the change for me?

I appreciate everyone giving me their "opinion" on this.

 

Sony does not have FW drivers and utilities for 64 bit Vista. While you will still be able to install it, it won't run at its full speed since it will just use generic drivers instead of optimized drivers from the manufacturer. If generic driver for the hardware is not available, then it won't work at all.

 

Maybe some links for optimizing Vista so it screams would be in order then? I tend to do those thing right out of the box after uninstalling crapware. Does anyone have reputable, concise links for doing so? link 'em here: that would be great as I am currently using XP and my FW will be my first Vista machine. Thx

 

You can hope but I wouldn't count on it. If you still want to upgrade to 64bit, the best thing to do is to have dual boot. Install Vista 32 bit in one partition, install 64bit at the other partition and keep using Vista 32 bit until Sony release 64bit drivers (if ever).

 

I dont know how old this post is, but I thought I could add something to this post. I have successfully put 64-bit Vista on to my vgn-fw190. What I did was go to sony support and used the 64 bit drivers from the vgn-fw170j, minus the video card drivers if you have the 3470 card. - (dont 170 drivers if you have the 3470 card MS update has it). It is the exact computer as the 190, but was sold only at Best Buy with Vista 64.
Problems: after the install I did the sony drivers form the 170 just in the order I downloaded, that made the s1 and play stop buttons not work. I found that if I installed the Sony drivers from largest to smallest, waiting for each to install, it worked great! After the Sony Install, i went to MS Update and dide the TONES there. Everthing worked well except wireles. What i did to fix this issue was use direct ethernet connection, google intel prowireless or use this link and pick your 64 bit operating system. http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=3062 which fixed the wireless. I love it and all is good now. It does takes a while and not for the faint hearted. It was an interesting challege, but I had issues thats why i used this Oh, make sure you down load both 32 and 64 but javas and 32 bit flash (no 64 yet) this allows explorer to work better. Itunes comes in 64 bit too. Well, hope this is usefull for someone somewhere...Write me if any more questions.

 

Dear Dukenk,
Please explain about Fn brightness keys.

Thnaks

 

What is your question? If it works?