Dual boot 32-bit XP, 64-bit Vista?

[RedZone]

I am entirely new to the word of hardware, I'm more of a software person. My current processor is a Pentium 4 640 w/ HT (3.20GHz, 800FSB) and from what I know it has 64-bit support. I'm wondering if its possible to dual boot between my 32-bit Windows XP version and a 64-bit Vista version and if there are any risks involved between this sudden change in architecture. Thanks.

 

[Markbnj]

Dual-booting between XP and Vista 32 is no problem, and I don't think Vista 64 is an issue. Just Googled around, and other than people having issues finding specific drivers I don't see any reports of fundamental incompatibilities.

I installed Vista 32 in dual boot cfg the other night, and it went very smoothly. Let us know if you run into any specific problems.

 

[RedZone]

Alright, drivers won't be a problem. Before I go through with this, as I mentioned, I'm not too big on hardware. From what Google has told me, my processor does support 64-bit technology. Can someone on here confirm this just so I can go through without the worry of installing a 64-bit OS on a 32-bit processor?

 

[Markbnj]

It supports EMT64, so I am going to say yes, but I'm not a definitive source on Intel processors, and the docs don't seem to come right out and say "Supports 64-bit pointers, registers, and operations."

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentium4/index.htm

 

[Bozo Galora]

vista 64 will not allow install with a 32 bit cpu

 

[Markbnj]

I would guess not . But his question is whether the P4 640 is 32-bit or 64-bit. I don't know enough about Intels anymore. The product spec I linked to says it supports EMT64, but I didn't see any direct statement about it being a 64-bit processor.

 

[aka1nas]

IIRC, the 600 series does have EMT64, but the 64-bit performance isn't as good as the K8s. I am currently dual-booting XP 32-bit and Vista Ultimate 64 and it works. If you are very worried about it, then install them on seperate hard drives and disconnect the XP drive during the vista install so it can't possibly mess with the boot sector. Then use your motherboard's "Select Boot Device" option to pick which drive to boot from.