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New Build, Install Vista?

C

craniumdesigns

Member
so i just assembled my new computer last night and i am trying to decide which OS to go with, xp pro or vista ultimate. i was thinking of maybe partioning my hdd into 2 drives and creating a dual installation for both. here's my specs and lemme know what you would do...

mobo: asus p5k-e wifi/ap
cpu: c2q 2.6ghz q6600
psu: 500w coolermaster
hdd: seagate 320gig sata 3.0
ram: ocz 2x2gig ddr2 800
vid: evga geforce 8800gts 320mb

THANKS!
 
I have XP on backup PC and Vista x64 on main PC,I use my Vista x64 99.9% of the time nowadays,no problems with gaming or general use,my XP PC is only used now for updates which goes to show how well my Vista PC is doing.

Btw SP1 is right around the corner so I say go Vista ,your hardware is more then good enough for Vista.

🙂
 
Originally posted by: Mem
I have XP on backup PC and Vista x64 on main PC,I use my Vista x64 99.9% of the time nowadays,no problems with gaming or general use,my XP PC is only used now for updates which goes to show how well my Vista PC is doing.

Btw SP1 is right around the corner so I say go Vista ,your hardware is more then good enough for Vista.

🙂
Click to expand...

Ditto!
I've got 2 HDD's one with XP, the other with Vista64. I use Vista 99% of the time, because I have 0 problems with Vista!

Go Vista. 🙂
 
is vista ultimate the same as vista x64? and will my hardware support 64 bit? im guessing yes.

sorry, havent built a computer in 6 years and just catching up on the new technology.
 
Originally posted by: craniumdesigns
is vista ultimate the same as vista x64? and will my hardware support 64 bit? im guessing yes.

sorry, havent built a computer in 6 years and just catching up on the new technology.
Click to expand...

Vista Ultimate is supplied with both x64(64 bit) x68(32 bit) discs so you decide which version you want installed.

Yes your hardware(from the specs you listed) is 64 bit compatible.
 
All product keys for retail versions of Vista work on both 32 and 64 bit installations.

Ultimate comes with both disks. For the rest you can go to the MS web site and order the media for $10 or $15.
 
Originally posted by: Griffinhart
All product keys for retail versions of Vista work on both 32 and 64 bit installations.

Ultimate comes with both disks. For the rest you can go to the MS web site and order the media for $10 or $15.
Click to expand...

Excluding OEM copies.
 
Originally posted by: Gooberlx2
Originally posted by: Griffinhart
All product keys for retail versions of Vista work on both 32 and 64 bit installations.

Ultimate comes with both disks. For the rest you can go to the MS web site and order the media for $10 or $15.
Click to expand...

Excluding OEM copies.
Click to expand...


Yes, I could have been clearer. Only retail. Ultimate retail comes with both, the other retail versions let you order the 64bit disks from MS.
 
Originally posted by: craniumdesigns
so i just assembled my new computer last night and i am trying to decide which OS to go with, xp pro or vista ultimate. i was thinking of maybe partioning my hdd into 2 drives and creating a dual installation for both. here's my specs and lemme know what you would do...

THANKS!
Click to expand...

I'm was in the same boat with assembling the parts for a new computer and wondering what OS to put on it. I kept going back and forth between XP Home & Vista and after talking to a bunch of people; I went ahead and purchased a copy of Vista Home Premium when Best Buy had it on sale for $129.99 and also was giving out an instant $50 gift card.

I'm still waiting on the last 3 parts to arrive and then I'll be doing the install and hopefully everything is going to go smothly.

Psy
 
You can always get two HDDs - have one with Vista and the other with XP Pro. Work with each and then decide which you like best.
 
For those setting up Vista for the first time, I do have a bit of advice:

-If at all possible, go for Vista 64. In the long run, I think it's better. Almost all problems that you may run across under Vista 64, you will likely run into under Vista 32 as well but you will have a generally better OS with more room to grow.

- Obviously, make sure you have drivers for all your hardware. Support isn't bad. Especially on any hardware newer than a year or two. you can use this site to check:
http://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/

-UAC is the thing that often pisses off newcomers more than any feature. It will trigger any time something tries to update a system folder/file. This includes the Program Files directory. I recommend turning UAC off durring your set up. That way you won't get tired of seeing the prompt over and over while you install your apps. Once the system is installed and working, turn it back on and see if you can live with it. For normal daily use, you shouldn't see the UAC prompt much at all and when you do, it's very predictable.

 
Originally posted by: Griffinhart
For those setting up Vista for the first time, I do have a bit of advice:

-If at all possible, go for Vista 64. In the long run, I think it's better. Almost all problems that you may run across under Vista 64, you will likely run into under Vista 32 as well but you will have a generally better OS with more room to grow.

- Obviously, make sure you have drivers for all your hardware. Support isn't bad. Especially on any hardware newer than a year or two. you can use this site to check:
http://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/

-UAC is the thing that often pisses off newcomers more than any feature. It will trigger any time something tries to update a system folder/file. This includes the Program Files directory. I recommend turning UAC off durring your set up. That way you won't get tired of seeing the prompt over and over while you install your apps. Once the system is installed and working, turn it back on and see if you can live with it. For normal daily use, you shouldn't see the UAC prompt much at all and when you do, it's very predictable.
Click to expand...

Griffinhart, thanks for the advice. I guess I'll go ahead and order the 64Bit DVD Upgrade from Microsoft. After a quick glance over that list; it looks like what I'm putting together is supported and I still won't have the rest of the hardware till next week so I have time for Microsoft to send it out to me.

Psy

 
I bought a new notebook with VISTA Home Premium on it & am sort of facing the VISTA vs XP issue too.

In your case, though, you have much better hardware & VISTA should run quite well. So far as I see it the big thing in favor of VISTA is that with time, VISTA is becoming more while XP will be becoming less. (Although it is just possible that current VISTA could turn out to go the way of WINME. That is, it may turn out that the best strategy would be to use XP until WIN 7 is available.) However, in general, it has shown to be a tactical advantage (in our technological oriented society) to be knowlegeable in the leading software & hardware.

A major issue I have with VISTA is that some of my old software (including utilities) dont work with it. It appears that I need to purchase an update of True Image or Partition Commander in addition to NERO. So far these are the programs I know about. I suspect that my ROXIO Creator will have to be replaced too & Im wondering about my Adobe PE as well as a myrid of programs & utilities I have for use with my XP machines (& which I have not attempted to install yet). Also the notebook (with 2GB ram, 200GB HDD, & 2Ghz Core 2 Dual feels to struggle a bit when using VISTA but not when using XP. (The notebook does have the 965GM IGP though which is no doubt its weakest link.)

So the bottom line is to stay with VISTA unless:
- You learn after using it that you cant stomach it (for myrid of possible reasons some unique to your personna)
- Your unwilling to buy the needed compatible software to replace the "must have" functionality associated with older now incompatible software

However, if you are successful in implementing dual boot then the second bullet will not be a great problem but be more sort of a nuisance although Ive seen an implementation that allows XP to be run from the VISTA desktop which sounds interesting.

All-in-all I think that MS could have done a better job. VISTA was pushed out the door a year too soon as (& I can vouch for this from 1st hand experience) it really didnt run well in the previous vintage notebooks (ie, 945 chipset with 1G ram typical) plus there were the various other issues such as driver availability, bugs & software backwards compatibility, etc. A lot of people got a bad taste in their mouths as a result. Working with VISTA, I can think of a bunch of improvements which could have made it more likable (eg, auto sizing window screens to fit the data versus just plopping a huge mostly empty window
on the desktop just because the space is available; the same goes for the sidebar - on my system it is not autosized & it takes this slice off the end of the screen if there is only one item in it (happens if aeroglass becomes disabled); provision should have been made to allow for selection of the sophistication of graphical objects [eg, sidebar clock graphic is rather crude] along with providing more varied selection [eg, different time display types such as digital, digital stopwatch, etc.] - are we to be sold this as VISTA Plus? )

Anyway, just my two cents.
======================
 
Originally posted by: PsylockeSmythe
Originally posted by: Griffinhart
For those setting up Vista for the first time, I do have a bit of advice:

-If at all possible, go for Vista 64. In the long run, I think it's better. Almost all problems that you may run across under Vista 64, you will likely run into under Vista 32 as well but you will have a generally better OS with more room to grow.

- Obviously, make sure you have drivers for all your hardware. Support isn't bad. Especially on any hardware newer than a year or two. you can use this site to check:
http://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/

-UAC is the thing that often pisses off newcomers more than any feature. It will trigger any time something tries to update a system folder/file. This includes the Program Files directory. I recommend turning UAC off durring your set up. That way you won't get tired of seeing the prompt over and over while you install your apps. Once the system is installed and working, turn it back on and see if you can live with it. For normal daily use, you shouldn't see the UAC prompt much at all and when you do, it's very predictable.
Click to expand...

Griffinhart, thanks for the advice. I guess I'll go ahead and order the 64Bit DVD Upgrade from Microsoft. After a quick glance over that list; it looks like what I'm putting together is supported and I still won't have the rest of the hardware till next week so I have time for Microsoft to send it out to me.

Psy
Click to expand...

That is bad advice because once you turn UAC off, you turn off the visualized registry it uses and could compromise the security of your system. Programs also may not work properly once you turn UAC back on without running them as admin. This defeats the purpose of UAC altogether.

It is best to never turn UAC off to get it's benefits.
 
I have two hard drives as well. My install is setup so that a menu comes up whenever I power on my PC, that shows a list of OSs I can boot. You can do this too as long as you install XP first on one hard drive / partition then Vista second on the other hard drive / partition.
 
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