“In this column, I’d like to try to answer some of the questions that we’ve seen asked repeatedly in the new Microsoft Windows 64-bit Newsgroup. The newsgroup became available during the launch of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, and has been quite active since the launch.”
I’ve been using Windows XP x64 Professional for some time now. It is much more stable than XP (possibly because it’s based on the 2003 code base and doesn’t have legacy app support for 16 bit apps). It also stands the test of time a bit better. Windows installations usually bog down after a while, x64 seems to hold up a little better. My only complaints are:
It has 2 Program Files folders, one for x86 apps and one for x64 apps. This is annoying.
Setup did not let me create a username, as a result i had to log in as administrator. After that i forgot i was using an administrative account, started using my profile. I then created a username for my girlfriend…upon reboot the Administrator account was no longer visible, so i lost my profile and settings. Granted they are still visible under Documents and Settings, but still…
Task manager provides no way to sort by arch type. I’d like to sort by 32 bit then 64 bit apps.
32 bit apps that use drivers, such as daemon tools, etc. don’t work in x64. Granted the devs say that daemon tools is going to eventually be ported to x64, but i need it NOW. There are lame wannabes such as fantomdvd and filedisk, but they don’t get the job done.
Some rather badly behaved apps do not work properly under x64. This also applies to drivers. This is not the fault of x64, but rather the fault of the apps themselves.
Software vendors have been slow to adopt 64 bit versions of apps. Firefox doesn’t even have an official port yet (though there IS an unofficial port)
Since, if you know where to look, you can get a free legit copy of XP Pro x64 edition, It’s still a great value.
Setup did not let me create a username, as a result i had to log in as administrator. After that i forgot i was using an administrative account, started using my profile. I then created a username for my girlfriend…upon reboot the Administrator account was no longer visible, so i lost my profile and settings. Granted they are still visible under Documents and Settings, but still…
Yeah, odd that. The first administrator account you create (outside of the default account of ‘Administrator’) then becomes the default and the regular Administrator is hidden in the standard XP login screen. You can still access Administrator if you turn off the graphical login and use the old 2000/NT style logins, or you can make it reappear in the graphical login by going into Computer Management under Administrative Tools or something and editing all other user accounts to being non-admin users (not in the admin group). I like to keep my x64 installation this way, a single Administrator account and the rest as unprivilidged users. Only problem is the regular control panel tool to add users insists on making new users admins unless there’s already an admin user outside of Administrator, so you have to go back into administrative tools again. Did that make sense? I hope so.
As for the different program folders for 32 and 64 bit apps, well, kind of similar to 64 bit Linux having lib and lib32 (or lib64 in some cases). I think it’s a good seperation, but not all 32 bit apps install themselves properly to the 32 bit directory.
I’m pretty happy with XP x64 so far.
If you want to login at the welcome screen as Administrator and it is invisible, just press ctrl+alt+delete 2 times to make the classic login appear. Also if you want to add users that are not Administrators when there is only 1 Administrator run the user accounts control pannel for a machine on a domain with the command “control userpasswords2” Another option would be to create another account you want to use and use the system control panel to copy over the profile from Administrator to the new user.
“As for the different program folders for 32 and 64 bit apps, well, kind of similar to 64 bit Linux having lib and lib32 (or lib64 in some cases). I think it’s a good seperation, but not all 32 bit apps install themselves properly to the 32 bit directory.”
Yick. I never liked that. On BSD, the folders remain the same regardless of whether it’s a 32 bit or 64 bit system, and the compatibility stuff generally goes into something like /usr/lib/compat/version seems much cleaner to me. But like all things, it’s personal preference rather than one way being truely better than another.
You can still access Administrator if you turn off the graphical login and use the old 2000/NT style logins, or you can make it reappear in the graphical login by going into Computer Management under Administrative Tools or something and editing all other user accounts to being non-admin users (not in the admin group).
Just hit Ctrl+Alt+Del twice at the welcome screen and that will give the standard Windows NT logon dialog. Enter Administrator and your Password (if any).
“Since, if you know where to look, you can get a free legit copy of XP Pro x64 edition, It’s still a great value.”
Please elaborate on this bit of info, how does one go about getting a free legit copy of Windows XP Pro x64?
I downloaded the trial version and tried the ole edit the setupreg.hiv file with regedit and change the setupdd key to have all zeros trick, but I’ve been too lazy to test to see if it actually works. I’d much rather have a legal copy and since my copy of Windows XP Professional is a Not For Resale copy I’m not eligible to get a free upgrade to x64, unless my information source was incorrect.
The promotion is over, I believe.
But they were doing a thing where if you bought WindowsXP within the last year or so, they would let you have a free X64 version (for all the people that bought Windows 32bit for their 64bit proc).
I bought my copy of XP Pro right back in about 2002 and I was still able trade it for the x64 version. Whether this was allowed by intention or a disorganised ‘Technology Advancement Program’, I don’t know. On the bright side too, my original copy of XP was an upgrade version from 98, whereas the x64 version I got is standalone and doesn’t require any previous versions to verify.
As for any instablity, I imagine this must be poorly written drivers. Haven’t had any trouble with my copy, the only third-party drivers I’ve needed are from NVIDIA for graphics, Epson for printing and Ralink for my wireless card. All work great.
I bought a copy of the OEM 64-bit XP from newegg. They have a requirement that you purchase it with hardware. The hardware can be a mouse, I believe. This was a few months ago, but it can’t hurt to look into it.
I’ve been using XP64 for a little more than a month now and it’s incredibly fast and stable, must admit that. XP32 was stable and good, but this is even better.
No tree without any rotten apples though.. one thing which pisses me off is that sometime when playing BF2 the computer freezes for 2 seconds or so… incredibly irritating. This could be a BF2 problem though rather than XP64. Still it’s annoying.
On more annoying aspects, yes the 64bit apps is really lacking. I’m still waiting eagerly for Firefox (yes I use the unoffficial release), but extensions doesn’t work.
I hope more devs come to the conclusion that 64bit computing is where we’re headed so we might as well adopt it sooner.
Nvidia and Logitech should have great kudos, they’ve done their part very well =)
I have a 64 bit laptop, and XP 64 has been anything but stable. After a while, the system slows down to a point where you have to reboot the system. And I have actually had the machine lockup on me. Which is odd, because 32bit Xp does not have any problems. I am guessing it is some driver issues, most likely with the chipset. It seems that the driver support for 64 bit windows is been a litlle bit slow.
matt
you know, there are tools out there that let you remove 16bit app support from windows 2k/xp.. I believe xplite is one thatll do it.
you know, there are tools out there that let you remove 16bit app support from windows 2k/xp.. I believe xplite is one thatll do it.
It’s likely that those tools just modify the registry setting that allows running 16-bit apps.
Sorry, but XP Pro x64 is anything but stable and fast. I have a very standard setup and had tons of problems with driver issues and locking up. I am just trying out Linux which has supposedly excellent 64 bit support and it seems very fast and I haven’t had any locking up or other issues so far.
This is why you wait for IHVs to release 64bit drivers.
Now you can have 64bits BSOD
Sorry, but linux x64 is anything but stable and fast. I have a very standard setup and had tons of problems with driver issues and locking up. I am just trying out XP 64 which has supposedly excellent 64 bit support and it seems very fast and I haven’t had any locking up or other issues so far.
Funny, and yet so untrue. 64bit linux has been out and tested far more thoroughly than XP x64 has. The only software that I had any troubles with under linux 64bit was Flash Plugin (which they don’t make a 64bit version, even for windows), and the browser Java plugin (Sun stupidly released the JRE for 64bit, but it doesn’t include the plugin, but you can get around that by using the blackdown java, unfortunately it’s still at version 1.4.2)
I actually disagree with both posts. The 64bit versions are both quite stable and fast. The main issue, as stated, is that applications are not ported yet. Though the best thing about the AMD 64 is that it will run 32bit apps fantastically.
does not indicate it is any faster than windows xp.
however, there is a free trial download. should i try it?
I used nLite to get rid of the 16 bit backwards compatibility deal totally from my XP 32 bit setup. I wonder if nLite is out for 64 bit XP. The most important problem I would think is the lack of drivers at this point since people are being rather lazy in making the transition to 64 bit. Granted that so far there are no convincing reasons besides certain mission critical apps and most joe schmos dont know the differene between 32 bits and 64 bits so to all you pioneers playnig with 64 bit…a bit of patience is required.
unless you need more than 4 gb of ram and are running a server why bother with the hassle of buggy 64 bit drivers. unless you want to be beta tester.
I got an OEM copy of it when I built a new 3800 X2 system. I decided to run x64 because I enjoy the fun of being an early adopter, and because there’s that theoretical 15% performance improvement from AMD’s 64-bit mode.
It has had a few problems. The nvidia chipset drivers aren’t quite right. It pesters me about the RAID controller on every boot. 3dmark05 crashes after finishing. Doom3 wouldn’t complete its installation. .NET applications do not run reliably. You’d think that it’d be cross platform, but not so. Nearly every .NET application seems to think it can link into 32-bit DLLs. SharpDevelop won’t run and neither will Eclipse with a 64-bit JVM.
However, other than that it works great. So far I’ve run UT2004, Dungeon Siege 2, Doom 3 (I copied from another system to get around the installer), and Half-Life 2 (and mods).
I’ve also managed to get IronPython working with .NET 2.0, so I can say I use it for more than just video games.
I’m running XP 64 for a couple of months now on a 512MB system and my feelings are that a lot more paging is going on than I remember with XP 32.
I have been using it for a few months now. For a very short period of time after obtaining the copy (I got it plus my cpu and mb for $250)… I did not own a copy of windows before this sooo…. its the version I use) I had issues with drivers and such. But then nvidia released a better set of drivers (nforce4 chipset… so) and things have sense been VERY stable.
My only real complaint is that there are maybe one or two peices of software that are literally capable of locking the system up hard. Teamspeak and something else… But hey hehe.
Q. What is the SysWOW64 directory?
A. The WindowsSysWOW64 directory is where 32-bit system files are installed. 64-bit system files are in the Windowssystem32 directory for compatibility reasons.
Now this is the stuff that makes me cringe about how some go about developing software. Please Mozilla, add a better support for extensible contacts in Thunderbird so I can scrape Windows off of all of my systems… it hurts!