I just got the parts for my new machine which is an AMD AM2 5000+ X2 64. I even broke down and purchased a nice brand new shinny copy of Windows XP 64 to go with the new machine. My problems started when I started loading program onto Windows. Apparently many of the programs that I not only like but are essential just do not work. The first problem was with Norton SystemWorks 2006. Although not essential, I did buy the copy for the expressed purpose of loading it on to this machine. I called Symantec and they flat out said XP 64 is not supported and I should ask for a refund. The next problem came with PGP Desktop and Whole Disk Encryption. This is yet another quite expensive piece of software that I do call essential. I am getting “The PGP memory locking feature is not functioning correctly...please reinstall”, “Can't start driver. File will not be wided on delete”, and “There is a problem establishing PGP whole disk detection of removable media. You will not be able to unlock removable media.” I also install several .NET programs that I had written myself and was unable to get them to work. Seeing this is how I make my living, this is definitely a deal breaker for me.

I suppose my question is this. How many of you out there are using Windows XP 64 and have you had any of the similar problems that I have had. I am considering reinstalling the 32 bit version of XP but I will be losing some of the hardware functionality (I have 4 GB of RAM installed, as I understand, XP 32 only sees 3GB.) How much of a performance hit will I take by installing vanilla XP and is it wise to do so on a 64 bit processor?

Yes, there are many incompatibilities on the 64-bit edition, I did have to reinstall my brother's computer (which ran the 64-bit Windows) back to 32-bit just to get out of this incompatibility hell hole.

xboxrulz

I need to add DriveCrypt to the list of programs that do not work. Looks like any program that uses a low level device driver will not work.

Do you mean that a 64-bit computer is able to correctly run a 32-bit Windows Operating System ?

of course! An AMD64 processor was meant to run 64-bit and 32-bit applications natively with little or none cost of performance. The difference is that one can run on 4GB+ of memory and the other cannot. Furthermore, the processor running 32-bit application will not use the full potential of the processor. However, the AMD64 architecture was designed to run 32/64-bit apps natively. Therefore, running Windows XP or any operating system, including Linux as 32 bit is perfectly fine.

xboxrulz

OK.
So,
- If all my apps are certified 64-bit compatible, I should buy an AMD 64-bit with a 64 bits Windows, together with an 64-bit Linux.
- If at least one of my essential apps is not certified 64-bit compatible, I should also buy a 32-bit Windows distro, until all my apps become 64 bits-capable.

The Rule is as follows.....

A 64bit Kenrel CAN run 32bit Userspace applications... HOWEVER... if those 32bit applications attempt to load 32bit kernel modules ( drivers ) into th 64bit kernel, THEY WILL FAIL !!!


You can run 64bit and 32bit applications side by side.. but the dynamic linker cannot link 32bit and 64bit code together !!!

the the application is 32bit, and needs to run partly in kernel mode, it will fail !

do your homework before spending money...

and stick to 32bit windows, 64bit windows is more of a proof of concept than it is a product.

if your interested in 64bit computing ( and encrption ).... cough linux cough cough.

32bit windows, and all your 32bit applications will run fine with a 32bit kernel.

I finally bit the bullet and reinstalled plain XP. Now something else interesting happened. I never had a legit copy of XP before (I bought XP 64 intending to go legal). Now if you were in my position you know of those annoying little popup balloons in the system tray that basically tell you that you computer is screwed and you need to buy a copy from Microsoft. Being I was in a hurry to get my legit copy I said what the hell and purchased (Also it is a fairly good deal considering the same thing will cost you $250 at CompUSA).

Now here is the kicker. After sending my credit card information, I received a mail that said it would take 10 days to process. 10 days? If I were purchasing a membership to a p0rn site I would be let in 30 seconds or less. Why does it take a huge company like Microsoft 10 days to process a credit card transaction?

Lol probably they have not setup a proper billing platform cos they are soo used to consumers using pirated copies they only service business payments fast.

I guess not many copies are bought because most are bundled with a shiney new pc.

Good thread and discussion-I was thinking of stepping up to 64bit soon myself but Im not waiting for Vista ill prolly use a nice Linux distro on it most of the time and use Win2k(I preffer a more stable OS not an example in concept of an OS that is XP in any flavour!!) and take the performance hit in the windows world when i play games-thats nearly all I use winblows for these days..

Mark420

This post has been edited by Mark420: Aug 19 2006, 08:09 AM

This is the main difference between the windows machines and the AIX machines.
On AIX machines, there is a single OS, which can boot in 32-bit mode or in 64-bit mode, no need to reinstall. And a 64-bit AIX kernel runs directly 32-bit drivers without problem. The only thing is ... do net compile your mallocs with 64-bit addresses if you want to run in 32-bit mode. Or add a IFDEF in your code.


The problem is different. Processing a credit card transaction is immediate ... even with microsoft. But having the money definitively in your account is something different.
Same problem for a transaction between you and me. I sell something, you pay, the money comes immediately in my banking account. Then, if your bank sees that there is a problem and you don't really have the money you paid, your bank asks the money back, my bank agreees, and the money goes out from my banking account. This cannot occur after ten days which is the maximum banking error corrections delay. So, if I don't trust you, I will wait until your money stood ten plain days on my banking account before shipping what I sold.
The real question is : Could Microsoft suspect that you are chating with your blue card transaction ? Can we suppose that Microsoft don't trust people on the net ?
In my own opinion, the answer is ... obvious.

This post has been edited by yordan: Aug 19 2006, 04:11 PM