Upgrading to Vista 64

I just got my laptop last week. Its an MSI GX620.
If I want to upgrade to Vista64, is ordering the DVD from microsoft for $10 the best thing to do?
One last thing. If I upgrade to 64 from 32 vista will it wipe out everything I have installed so far?

 

Yes, it will wipe everything off. Like a normal reinstall.

 

ok thank you

 

I think your problem is solved,
It'll wipe off your complete data.

 

Im doing it to fully utilize my 4gb or ram. Any thing else I would significantly gain? Is it worth it?

 

Yeah it is.

 

No it isn't
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Insert scream here...
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There have been so many threads on 64 Bit vs 32 Bit already...

Whether it is worth it or not depends significantly on your applications and the support offered by your manufacturer with reopsect to drivers.

Also - the 1GB of extra RAM won't really make much of a difference unless you have applications that can utilize extra RAM.
Then, do you use integrated or dedicated graphics?
Integrated want a piece of the "RAM cake"...

Processing - 64 Bit tasks would be a touch faster, but 32 Bit applications on 64 Bit will give you the same or even slightly slower speed.

Tell us what you want to use your laptop for.

 

here are the specs first of all...
P8600
GeForce9600M GT 512MB DDR3 VRAM (dedicated)
4GB DDR2 Ram
320GB HD (5200 rpm)

Ill be using it for graphics (photoshop cs3/4), gaming, music, slight vid editing, web surfing office apps.

 

OK - So you have a dedicagted graphics card, this is a good first step

If you have/buy a 64Bit version of Photoshop CS4 and your video editing software is 64Bit too then it would be worthwile getting the 64Bit OS.

You may want to contact Wishmaker - he is using Photoshop CS - either 3 or 4, I think 4 on 64Bit.

 

Using 4 GBs of RAM when running a 32-bit system isn't such a great idea.

There's been so many threads about how 64-bit is superior... please use Search, or go back a page or three.

 

There is absolutely no problem with running a 32Bit OS on 4GB of RAM.

Also, the video card can see up to 1GB of RAM - i.e. the 1GB that your OS cannot address can be addressed by your hardware.
This is true for my Intel X3100 and my NVidia 8400GS.

In the OP's case that wouldn't be a problem though.

 

How can I tell what photoshop version I have? And if it is 32 can I still use it in Vista64?

Ill search

 

I suppose it'll say which version you have somewhere...
(ask Wishmaker about Photoshop 64Bit )

32Bit - yes, 32Bit will - or rather should run fine under a 64Bit OS.

 

Thank you DetlevCM you been very helpful. Mt laptop is new so erasing everything wont be a problem. Ill do a bit more reaserch on 64. I created recovery discs already in case anything goes wrong. Plus I would have to order and then wait for my copy to come from microsoft. For 10$ i presume .
Luckely I think that MSI has 64 bit drivers on their site.

 

You're welcome

 

Bigger rundown on the RAM issue:
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html

Inhuman, basically all manufacturers now are required by Microsoft to procure 64-bit drivers.

 

Hi, I'm looking to do a clean install of Vista 64-bit, too. Where on the Microsoft site were you able to find the $10 DVD? I have had no luck trying to locate it. Did you just have to call them?

 

Well Have not actually ordered it yet (Going to order it today most likely after i research more). If you bought a legit copy of Vista 32 or you recently bought a PC that came with a legit copy of Vista 32 you can go to the microsoft site and order a 64bit DVD with your serial# and you only pay for the shipping. Wich is around $10.

Again this is how I understand it.

 

I bought a HP dv5t last month. It came with Vista 64-bit installed, but I wanted to do a clean install without all of the crapware on it. Unfortunately, the Vista Alternate Media order page doesn't recognize my product key for some reason and won't let me order a DVD. I hope you have better luck ordering it than I do!

 

So what iam understanding from this thread is that if i upgrade to 64 bit os and 4gbs of ram my dedicated gpu will benefit from this. Please explain how.
It says i have 1529 aproximate graphic card memory and this is with 3gb of ram. If i upgrade to 4gb of ram and a new 64 bit os windows vista will that number go up. THis is important to me so if you can answer this, it will be appriciated.

 

I've been having issues buying the Alternative Window from MS as well, anyone else actually able to do so?

I was able to do so previously.

 

i think that feature might be down. I get an error

 

Point 1:
What is your graphics card? Integrated Intel Chipset 915???
(That is at least 4 years old)

Obviously, it may be helpful if you name your graphics card.

The 1529 MB of graphics memory would go down under 64Bit.
I suspect you have about 512MB on the card and anoter 1017 from RAM - now that is the 1GB not adressed by the OS; if the OS can adress it, less, but still some will be available to the graphics card.

However, you won't nomally need it.

 

I have the 256mb ati mobility radeon hd 3450 please explain it more clearly and also other computer specs are listed in my sign. Thanks for helping though

 

Specs in your sig....
Where have I heard that before - its coutesy to list them in a post.

Now I'm not sure what I need to explain....so I'll go over it again.

Your OS:
32Bit normally will only be able to see up to 3GB of RAM (exception for Servers...)
64Bit normally will be able to see more than 100GB of RAM - where it is limited to this artificial value.

Graphics card:
On a 4GB 32Bit OS 1GB of RAM is unused - i.e. its open to hardware adressing, slightly more than 1G - about 1,2GB in your case.

Thus your card has 256MB on board and about 1200MB from the RAM - 1GB of which the OS can't use anyway.

If you get a 64Bit OS the OS can suddenly adress all RAM - but the card still wants to get its bite - this means, your OS will be able to use a bit over 3GB . possibly 3,5GB maybe a bit more still, meaning there is less memory for the card to address.

About the video memory - RAM is far slower than the card's onboard memory, thus, ideally, you don't want graphics running off RAM.

 

I just called MS Ordering Support and the service rep said the Vista Alternate Media ordering is only for retail versions of Vista. He said if you got Vista pre-loaded as part of a new computer purchase, then you'll need to contact the computer manufacturer to get the disks. (Unfortunately, that would defeat the purpose of getting a Vista DVD for a clean install.)