Windows 8.1 installation

[Laurysss]

When installing win 8.1 do i need a key? Or i can just skip it and activate it later?

 

[code65536]

Yes and no. You are required to provide a key at installation, but you can supply a generic non-activating key for your edition (Google it) and then supply a proper activating key later once you have things set up.

 

[fire400]

does anyone know if the 32-bit versions of windows 8.1 run quicker on slower cpu netbooks?

acer aspire one amd c-60 w/4gb; just installed 8.1 pro, no acer 3rd party software, and baseline drivers look good so far.

the ram part i don't care about, 3.25gb vs 4gb isn't going to break it for me

but i did notice win7 starter running hella faster than win7 basic/premium

is the way the 64-bit pro handle process diff. than 32-bit standard?

it's on an SSD already, and the CPU can barely even keep up with the SSD... (which is amazingly pathetic, but funny)

the installation was fast, 20 minutes, but the installation of updates (system is already 8.1) is taking a grueling several hours ...

i've noticed store netbook demos with 32-bit 2gb versions of 8.1 running fairly decent with HDD's. any thoughts?

 

[code65536]

Starter running faster than Basic/Premium is because the latter uses Aero (though Basic lacks the glassy effect), and in some cases, Aero can be faster, and in some cases (where you have a crap netbook GPU), Aero can be slower.

64 bit requires more RAM because the x86-64 ISA is physically larger than that of x86-32. So equivalent programs require more RAM (at least for the executable bits) if compiled for 64-bits, and fewer instructions can fit into the CPU's cache. Etc. For those same reasons, 64-bit programs are also physically larger and require slightly more disk space (and thus more disk access to load). However, because Windows must also maintain backwards compatibility with 32-bit programs, it must also maintain 32-bit versions of various components alongside the 64-but stuff, and that is the real penalty of 64-bit (the other stuff I mentioned is pretty minor, since, unlike 64-bit RISC ISAs, x86-64 is relatively compact).

Now, the benefits of x86-64 is faster CPU execution, mostly due to the many new general-purpose registers that were added (x86 is a pretty register-starved ISA, so those new registers can make a substantial difference, depending on the program). And, of course, support for more memory.

So for low-end computers that are memory-starved and not really that CPU-bound, 32-bit can be faster. For most moderns systems, though, 64 makes much more sense.

 

[fire400]

... i should of trusted my instincts after what i've seen and learned for three or four years now. but had to try it anyway.

15 hour installation with updates/software mods on amd c-60/4gb dd3 single sodimm/ssd

should of went 32-bit... the system runs, but struggles at times.
too damn long to reinitialize everything again. so i'll just leave it as is. *sigh* lol

update:

can play 1080p offline videos on 1080p secondary display perfectly.

struggles playing some basic youtube videos, a windows 8.1 64-bit issue it seems, on much slower computers. this particular issue is apparent in this c-60 system and also a dell m1330 (geforce 8400gs edition, 4GB RAM, w8.1 x64)

 

[gmaster456]

does anyone know if the 32-bit versions of windows 8.1 run quicker on slower cpu netbooks?

acer aspire one amd c-60 w/4gb; just installed 8.1 pro, no acer 3rd party software, and baseline drivers look good so far.

the ram part i don't care about, 3.25gb vs 4gb isn't going to break it for me

but i did notice win7 starter running hella faster than win7 basic/premium

is the way the 64-bit pro handle process diff. than 32-bit standard?

it's on an SSD already, and the CPU can barely even keep up with the SSD... (which is amazingly pathetic, but funny)

the installation was fast, 20 minutes, but the installation of updates (system is already 8.1) is taking a grueling several hours ...

i've noticed store netbook demos with 32-bit 2gb versions of 8.1 running fairly decent with HDD's. any thoughts?

As a general rule, if there's a 64 bit CPU and at least 3gb of RAM I install the 64bit version. Whether it be a Pentium D all the way up to a Core i7.

The updates taking a long time is a product of the CPU most likely.