Switching to Windows 64-bit [Archive] - SUBSIM Radio Room Forums

frau kaleun

12-16-10, 07:14 PM

I downloaded and ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and the 64-bit report looks good. :yeah:

There are a couple programs that aren't compatible but they are MS stuff that would probably not be reinstalled anyway after the upgrade.

The only other notices are about updating drivers on printers and stuff.

I know I'll have to update stuff for the BIOS (?) and chipset and that's the kind of stuff that worries me - hardware that I installed or added, I know about and can tick off on a list as I go. The innards that came with the rig are a different matter.

Anyway, looking at Win7 it appears that if you buy it you get both 32 and 64 bit versions so if I upgraded the OS at all, I'd still have either option to fall back on.

Yikes, though - I've got a 1TB external drive that all my music and backups and program setup files are on. Will that have to be reformatted if it's not a bootable drive in order to access the files again? I'd have to back up 200+ gigs of data somewhere. :doh:

longam

12-16-10, 07:19 PM

64bit refers to your OS and its CPU processing. Your external drive is formatted with NTFS because windows XP can read it, so its good to go.

stoppro

12-16-10, 07:19 PM

no you can keep your back-ups gee frau your losing your touch. It took almost an hour to get anyone over here!

frau kaleun

12-16-10, 07:36 PM

Frau, is your hard drive partitioned? If so, you could install W64 on a different partition... if you're tech-savvy enough for that.

It's partitioned into a C drive (that boots with XP) and a small D drive for the "Image Backup" that was done when the system was built. There's a little over 49 GB free on the C drive.

frau kaleun

12-16-10, 07:38 PM

64bit refers to your OS and its CPU processing. Your external drive is formatted with NTFS because windows XP can read it, so its good to go.

WHEW!

*wipes sweat from forehead*

So I could install W64 on the bootable drive and then plug in the external drive as per usual and still access all the data on it? That would cut, oh, about a zillion hours out of the process. :D

stoppro

12-16-10, 07:40 PM

yes

JSLTIGER

12-16-10, 07:40 PM

Switching from a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS is usually not a big deal, because all of the 32-bit programs will run normally. Unless you're using ~20 year old software that is 16-bit (b/c 16-bit is no longer supported by Windows x64), you ought to be fine. That being said, generally the only reason not to use a 64-bit OS these days is because you have an older computer with less than 4GB of RAM. If you have less than that, there is no point to using 64-bit software, but a 64-bit OS will let you use all of your RAM if you have 4GB or more.

As to your above question, you should not notice any difference in the functioning of your external HDD between 32-bit and 64-bit. Accessing your files should be as normal. Just remember that programs that you might have installed will not work because the registry will be written over. You also do not need to install Win x64 to the external HDD unless you want to boot from it, which I wouldn't recommend, because USB 2.0 is slow.

Madox58

12-16-10, 07:42 PM

frau kaleun

12-16-10, 07:43 PM

Well, I have 6 GB of RAM on hand that I can use on this rig, but of course 1/3 of that is wasted with 32-bit. One reason why I want to make the change, especially if it doesn't mean replacing the CPU and motherboard.

JSLTIGER

12-16-10, 07:45 PM

Nope, no replacements necessary on your CPU or motherboard. All AMD Athlons since the 64 back in 2003 have supported 64-bit OSes. You should be good to go.

frau kaleun

12-16-10, 07:48 PM

I just finished an install of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit on the new donor system.

VERY few drivers needed updated.
And this is an older system.
I'd suggest moveing important stuff to an external HD.
(You do have one of those don't you? They are cheap and save you MUCH pain!)

Yep, see above. The bulk of my data files and all backups are on an external HD. One reason I didn't get a huge internal HD when I bought this critter... aside from My Documents and My Pictures, pretty much everything except the OS and program files are on the external drive. I never have gotten around to moving those two, and My Documents I wasn't sure about redirecting because of games that keep saved data in there... wasn't sure if that would affect performance when loading/playing.

frau kaleun

12-16-10, 08:11 PM

Heh, Ultimate was only $10 more than Pro at Amazon.

So - it's ordered (via Subsim link of course). Downside is I will have to change out of my peejays on Monday afternoon and run down to the office to pick it up. I was gonna do a reformat/reinstall anyway over the holidays while I had the time - I'm taking all of next week off so I can tinker at my leisure. This will be more fun. Provided I can get it up and running by Wednesday when I'll need to get online to pay my bills. :O:

Gerald

12-16-10, 08:15 PM

But with your charm, you can certainly arrange for you to get access to another computer, perhaps as someone else go in and pay your bills also, :D

stoppro

12-16-10, 08:28 PM

I don't know....but I think she's all business today.

frau kaleun

12-16-10, 08:30 PM

But with your charm, you can certainly arrange for you to get access to another computer, perhaps as someone else go in and pay your bills also, :D

And they can peel me a grape while they're at it. :O:

I can always go to the office and use my computer there... but as I'm on vacation, it's not an option I really want to take advantage of!

EDIT: So, has anyone used this Windows Easy Transfer program to back up and restore files before/after upgrading to Win7? The pics and docs on my disk are easy enough to back up externally, I'm thinking in terms of settings and the stuff in Outlook (email, contacts, etc.). I seem to remember the process of backing up Outlook and getting everything back in there when I switched computers the last time was giving me fits. I prolly did something wrong when I was creating the backup, but still, if there's an easier way than the one that works from within Outlook that would be awesome.

Castout

12-17-10, 06:55 AM

I think x64 software don't have adequate security app as yet at least some security app won't protect a 64 bit environment as good as it protects a 32 bit one.

I'm using 64 bit Windows 7 myself.

Gerald

12-17-10, 07:47 AM

No significant difference in protection if you use 64 or 32-bit, it is my experience, I personally use 64 - bit and have made comparisons between the two OS.

stoppro

12-17-10, 08:03 AM

I have had trouble with AVG on my 64bit 7 system,with it running scans anytime it felt like it, result it crashed any game I was running at the time.I have removed it.

Gerald

12-17-10, 08:11 AM

But it is of course to set the desired time as an example, I myself prefer a protection that allows updates at least once per hour, to obtain optimal protection, but I have not experienced that it has crashed.

frau kaleun

12-17-10, 08:30 AM

I have had trouble with AVG on my 64bit 7 system,with it running scans anytime it felt like it, result it crashed any game I was running at the time.I have removed it.

Well that's interesting as I am looking to get off the Norton train after installing Win7 and downloaded the free trial of AVG Internet Security to try out. I've been using their free AV program on the work computer to see how I liked it and so far, so good.

But I don't want something that will start running scans willy nilly when I'm in the middle of a gaming session. Does it not have some kind of "full screen mode" that recognizes when you are running what is probably a game and then suspends background activity? Or some way to manually suspend that stuff before loading a game?

stoppro

12-17-10, 08:37 AM

Well my problem is the machine is off -power -when not gaming so scans cannot be scheduled and it is only on line for drm so right now there is no anti virus program on it. but for the online machine[this one]avg works very well and there are no issues. it is on a schedule.

Kaleun

12-17-10, 03:23 PM

I use win 7-64 bit, for security i use Avira for AV and MBAM and SAS for Malware/spyware, but i 've heard/read microsoft security essentials (MSE) is rated very highly from independent sources and is Free.

Hope this helps

Kaleun

frau kaleun

12-17-10, 04:27 PM

Madox58

12-17-10, 04:34 PM

I use AVG 2011 free and have no problems with it at all.
I also have many of the people I help around here (My real area) useing it.
I've never had to go fix anything for them where virus stuff is concerned.
And they seem very happy with it also.

You just need to set it up with a bit of sense.

Another thing I liked about Windows 7 was the install speed.
I've installed it on several systems now and it flew compared to XP on the same systems!

frau kaleun

12-17-10, 04:57 PM

Basically I'm looking for something that will do the things Norton did that I liked, in the background, when the computer is idle (more or less), without hogging a lot of resources and without all the "extras" that Norton 360 had that I ended up never using. Anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-spyware, anti-spam, decent firewall (altho I suppose I could just use the Windows Firewall), basic maintenance to enhance performance and clean out unneeded files, that stuff. And I don't mind paying for a program that will do all that without a lot of hassle.

I put my old copy of Norton AV on my computer at work when I bought Norton 360 for the home machine - that was several years ago. Up until this spring I just paid for the subscription myself... I know we're supposed to have AV protection at the server level (?) for our network, but I don't know what it is or who maintains it (it ain't my boss, I can tell you that) and so I've never trusted it completely. So for as long as we've had PCs I've always kept my own AV program on my computer at my own expense and in the past when everybody else's PC ended up infected with some trojan or malware because of something stupid one person did, my computer was the only one in the office that stayed clean. :smug:

Anyway I got tired of paying the subscription fee so when it came due I uninstalled Norton and got the free AVG anti-virus and I noticed the difference in performance immediately - particularly in how quickly I get from turning the thing on to having Windows up and ready to go.

I'm just wondering if all of AVG's software is that easy on the system, even if you install their full internet security suite and the PC tuneup stuff. From the looks of it the two combined would do everything I want and if I can have that without adding a significant drain on resources I would be very happy.

Anyway I've a free 30 day trial of the internet security stuff so once I install it I'll know very quickly whether or not it slows stuff down too much.

Madox58

12-17-10, 05:00 PM

I've never tried the paid for stuff from AVG.
:hmmm:
I'm quite happy with the free stuff myself.
Do buy all thier stuff and give us some feedback.
:yep:

Bilge_Rat

12-17-10, 05:04 PM

I switched from XP to win 7 64 bit about 2 months back. It was very easy since win7 already includes basic drivers for most devices out there. As others have mentioned, it was very painless, certainly easier than when I periodically had to re-instal XP. I was up and running within a few hours.

I have not had any issues. There are 64 bit drivers for most devices and where there is not, like track IR, 32 bit works as well. I did not use the included file transfer program since I had transferred all my essential files to an external HD beforehand.

jumpy

12-17-10, 07:40 PM

...Norton...

The best 'performance tweak' you can have with norton is to uninstall norton :har:
Almost anything is better than norton.
Hands down it is the worst and most obtuse av program I have ever used in any of its flavours.
I've used several others, both subscription and free versions - AVG free, NOD32 subs, Avira free, Avast free, Panda @work, kaspersky(?) @ work, to name a few.

Currently using avast and have had no troubles with it on my machine. Except for when I preform as scan, I barely know it's there at all.
If you go through a router, I wouldn't bother with any 3rd party firewall, just use the windows one.

More than once I've had registry cleaners stuff windows - I'd say that unless you know what you are looking for to delete, just leave it alone. If it's a specific problem that is recurring, then there's always information to be found regarding a solution - the only time's I bothered with windows registry editing was to remove something specific that I knew was causing trouble.

Sometimes I think it's best to leave well alone; if the computer is working ok, don't fiddle with it ;)

The easier you can make it for yourself to perform a format/reinstall of your C drive, the better. It's why I have 2 hdd - one for windows and programs, the other for files and backups and anything I want to keep. If it's something really important, I burn it to disk.

frau kaleun

12-17-10, 07:54 PM

If you go through a router, I wouldn't bother with any 3rd party firewall, just use the windows one.

That's one thing I've been wondering about. The more I look at it the more I'm wondering if I should just use the free AV program and Windows Firewall... the only thing I'd be missing that I used to really like with Norton would be an anti-spam program for my email, but honestly since I changed ISPs and got all new email addies a couple years ago the amount of spam I get is negligible. Maybe my new ISP is filtering out a lot of it, but it's gone from several emails a day to 2-3 per week. Most of those are being sent to one of my old addresses and still getting forwarded to a new one, which could probably be handled by setting up some kind of filter on my email accounts with my ISP's webmail services. :hmmm:

Madox58

12-17-10, 08:05 PM

ISP E-Mail accounts are standard targets for SPAM.
Thier SPAM filters should allow you to filter out what does get through.
I no longer use my Provider E-Mail.
I went to GMX and am most happy with it.
You can set GMX up to check your provider Account and get extra filtering that way also.
:rock:
It works wonders like Gods from Olympius!!
:haha:

Norton is a System Hog in the WORST way.
The 'Other' Major players are getting just as bad!
I don't know about all you other people?
But I run lean, mean, and FAST!

I owned an ISP back in the mid '90's and ran the whole shooting match.
So I'm not just a user.
I owned a Company!
Don't my hair look nice?
:har:

Gerald

12-17-10, 08:09 PM

That's one thing I've been wondering about. The more I look at it the more I'm wondering if I should just use the free AV program and Windows Firewall... the only thing I'd be missing that I used to really like with Norton would be an anti-spam program for my email, but honestly since I changed ISPs and got all new email addies a couple years ago the amount of spam I get is negligible. Maybe my new ISP is filtering out a lot of it, but it's gone from several emails a day to 2-3 per week. Most of those are being sent to one of my old addresses and still getting forwarded to a new one, which could probably be handled by setting up some kind of filter on my email accounts with my ISP's webmail services. :hmmm: Get a program that has real time scanning of Web traffic and updates at least once per hour, the program checks your e-mail opening and closing and has a strict program-controlled part, as you set it to allow exactly what you want in your computer, I use myself ONLY an antivirus program does not need more because it has everything I need in security, :yep:

jumpy

12-17-10, 08:10 PM

What email client you using Frau?

I've found the filters on thunderbird (as an example) to be quite good at flagging junk and dealing with it for me. Then again I very rarely give out my isp email, that's what hotmail is for lol.
Like you, I get some stuff delivered from an old account that I never got round to deleting, but pretty much anything that's not already in my contact list gets automatically moved to a temporary folder so I can glance over it before erasing.

I used to get all hot and bothered about pc security (true there are some things to watch out for still) but I never found anything worse than tracking cookies, despite having boot scans, spybot, adware, 3rd party firewall and AV and some other stuff. I put this down to my browsing and downloading habits more than anything else tbh.

What I currently use - router, os firewall, avast av free, firefox no script plugin, thunderbird email client, occasionally I'll run spybot or something similar to see if there's anything to catch.

EDIT:
@ Vendor, realtime scanning - nod32 and avast both seem to do this with web traffic and email

Gerald

12-17-10, 08:19 PM

I think they have it, but are unsure of their update frequency, if it happens every hour or only a few times per day

frau kaleun

12-17-10, 08:20 PM

I have Office XP so I just use Outlook for email. It's what we use exclusively at work, so I'm used to it and probably won't switch to anything else. I use my ISP's webmail to check personal emails if I need to do that when I'm not on this computer, but that's a rare event.

Oddly enough my current email addies are all through my ISP, but they must do a much better job of filtering out obvious spam than my old one did. Whenever I check what little spam I do get, it always seems to be something that was sent to one of my old ISP-addies and forwarded even though those accounts were closed almost two years ago.

I can probably go into my webmail and set up something to filter out any email that has the old ISP's domain names in the addresses - the chances of any legitimate mail being sent to one of those addies are very low, unless it comes from someone I didn't give a new addy to... and if so, I "overlooked" them on purpose, so I don't want to get their mail anyway. :O:

jumpy

12-17-10, 08:22 PM

iirc when I had a subscription with nod32 it used to update definitions several times or more each day.
Avast seems to do it once every 12 hours or so. I've had others in-between when some major threat is getting all the security firms agitated :)

Gerald

12-17-10, 08:27 PM

Madox58

12-17-10, 08:29 PM

You can set update times as you wish.
No matter what program you are useing.
AVG 2011 I leave at a standard update setting.
But it also will go background if it sees your doing something.
I don't think version 9 did that.

Castout

12-17-10, 09:45 PM

jumpy

12-17-10, 10:46 PM

^^
interesting, how would you tell if it was ported to 64bit and not done more properly?

Castout

12-17-10, 10:47 PM

^^
interesting, how would you tell if it was ported to 64bit and not done more properly?

I don't know but the fact that the 64 bit version of the same app being unable to protect as well as the 32 bit version made the impression that it was.

JSLTIGER

12-17-10, 11:29 PM

I'd second the vote for Avast. It's a good anti-virus program that you may want to consider. It's another freebie program, and it works very well. I've been using it for many years now with no problems. On top of everything else, it is very resource light, so you won't even notice that it's doing its job.

Castout

12-18-10, 02:54 AM

These days one needs on top of Anti virus a very robust firewall too.

Arclight

12-18-10, 03:33 AM

Meh, Windows firewall and Avast here, no trouble for over 3 years now. Before that I had Comodo firewall, and that period was the only time some virus slipped through. I've been behind a decent router since using only Win firewall though.

Best protection is still an educated user. :)

antikristuseke

12-18-10, 03:56 AM

Run spybot and NOD32 on my w7 64bit system, no problems so far

frau kaleun

12-18-10, 01:17 PM

Thanks for all the advice, guys. :D

kiwi_2005

12-18-10, 03:13 PM

Is this new machine to play Silent Hunter 5 :hmmm: Gawd I can't wait, I'm buying a new system in about a week from now already have it chosen have to wait for my 4 day holiday break as it will be couriered to me so need to be home for its wonderful arrival I will most likely give the courier driver a big hug! I already have Silent Hunter 5 and tried desperately to play it on the machine I have atm but it pretty much died trying. :har: So its SH3 & 4 until the pc arrives.

Anyways...

Malwarebytes and Outpost firewall both free both excellent.

Malwarebytes catches what other anti-viruses miss . I got sucked in way back with that online scanner yes I should of known better. My antivirus at the time Avira didn't even protest. Once I knew I caught something nasty on the machine I installed Malwarebytes and on first scan it cleaned 4 trogans.

Top rated freeware anti-viruses
Avast
AVG
Avira - um yeah it missed some viruses.
Comodo
Malwarebytes

Best paid anti virus software
Esets Nod 32
Kaspersky
Endpoint Security Suite

frau kaleun

12-18-10, 04:32 PM

Is this new machine to play Silent Hunter 5 :hmmm:

Nope, it's not a new machine - just upgrading to Win7 so I can run 64-bit and take better advantage of the hardware and RAM I've already got on hand.

I'm not really interested in SH5 at the moment, I'll be more than happy if SH3 runs better, along with all the other programs I already use.

Gawd I can't wait, I'm buying a new system in about a week from now already have it chosen have to wait for my 4 day holiday break as it will be couriered to me so need to be home for its wonderful arrival I will most likely give the courier driver a big hug!

Lol, I go through the same thing - I always plan major changes/upgrades around some extra time off work so I have plenty of time to tinker and play. :yeah:

antikristuseke

12-19-10, 01:22 AM

kiwi, all anti virus sfotware misses some stuff. Even with Nod32 and Kaspersky one finds what the other misses and vice versa. Know that from personal experience, but what promted me to move to nod from kaspersky was the vast difference of the resources used by those programs, kaspersky is a resource hog, but still an antivirus program I can reccomend with good concience.

Tessa

12-19-10, 05:53 PM

In defense of Norton

The current Norton IS NOT the old Norton.

I'm using Norton Internet Security myself and it's good and it is light on the resources.

I used to be using Comodo Internet Security but these days their product is not as good as they used to be and I got the impression they have gotten lazy and complacent. Can't blame them though as theirs is a free product so you can't really complain.

Avira is good too I trust that app.

As for 64 bit software there are more things to protect in 64 bit OS. For example some exploits that wouldn't work in 32 bit system would pass a security app detection in 64 bit environment. It's things like these.
Some security app are not even designed for 64 bit environment and wouldn't work in it. Imo a 64 bit security app needs to be designed for 64 bit environment from the development process and not just simply ported.

I used to be unaware of this issue with regard to security apps in 64 bit environment. Needless to say there are now a lot more app that caters to 64 bit environment better [than Comodo Internet Security for 64 bit].

The general release version of Norton is slow and just a bad idea, like putting a deck gun onto a type XXI. The Endpoint Protection - their corporate AV software has always been light on the resources and excellent (can just be expensive depending on the licensing); an almost 180 of their consumer brand stuff. One nice point with SEP, the license is good forever.

For the free stuff it seems like it changes each month which is best, AVG Avira, and Avast have all passed my own personal tests (when testing software for the company) in catches purposely placed infected files. Avira (imo) worked the best since it did have realtime scanning (on the free version) and would indicate an infected file accessed on a remote drive when browsed to.

Funny you should mention Comodo, after their last series of changes I got the same impression, and ended up 86'ing and just leaving the Windows Firewall (with 2 Hardware Firewalls in place at home I've only managed to get a major infection once so far) and all the filtering to the real firewalls. Its really sad, there's a lot of free software out there that works as good or better than what you could pay $100's of bucks for. It's frustrating to watch the good free ones go from mediocre to great to awful, back to top notch and then slide back down to useless; rinse and repeat.

So far the only programs I've used that have really made use of the x64 architecture are Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator (CS5, 64bit versions). They're a lot faster for the work I do on them, and so far the only ones that I've been able to see a major increase in productivity so far based solely on its coding (and not just faster hardware).

If you have a lot of time and your hands to fiddle around with Privoxy is an excellent free ad/spam/malware filtering program. It isn't something you download and install and have running in 10 munutes though, to really get its full capabilities and functionality takes a long amount of time fine tuning each setting. The amount of variable that are configurable is scary, though once working I've found I have never needed to use an additional plug-in for Firefox to remove ads/deal with (flash) cookies or anything security related.

frau kaleun

12-22-10, 01:36 AM

Well I am back to XP after having tried for most of the last 24 hours to get Win7 up and running.

Actually, I had it up and running fine after the initial install - until I played with it a bit and then shut it down and tried to add a second internal hard drive to my system.

After doing that, 7 would not load except in safe mode. I shut it down again and removed the second drive, which didn't help. I tried completely reinstalling it - it went through the whole process but at some point during the final series of reboots it just hangs and I sit there looking at a black screen with a cursor in the middle and nothing happens until my system gives up and reboots itself.

So I reinstalled XP and did the "factory restore" thing that came with my rig when I got it and got it running fine again. Then I tried to install 7 again (and yes I know I have to do a custom install to switch to 64-bit) and I get the same problem, Win 7 will not finish installing.

So I shut it down again and disconnected and reconnected all the drives and got XP up and running again, with all drives recognized (altho I've deleted the partition on the second drive pending getting 7 running again) and all the original drivers working fine... tried to install 7 again, and got no joy.

Reinstalled XP and am searching online for some clue as to what I did that I shouldn't have, or didn't do that I should have... trying to figure out if there's something I need to have to run the additional drive with Win7.

My internal drives are SATA II, the motherboard has 5 ports for SATA drives, two of which have DVD drives attached leaving three (I thought) for other devices, so I didn't see where a second HDD would be a problem. I also have an external drive hooked up via e-SATA. When I boot up all the connected SATA/e-SATA drives are recognized, and I can access them all in XP - but something I'm doing or lacking is making it impossible to get 7 up and running with that configuration.

I don't know whether to pop the 7 disc back in and try one more time, or what. In the BIOS setup screen for SATA configuration it's got options something that lets you choose between SATA, RAID, and AHCI. It says I need a driver for AHCI, which I found at my PC support site... is that what I need?

HELP! I loved Win7 when I had it running the first time, it's so pretty and now I can't see it any more! :wah:

Castout

12-22-10, 05:53 AM

First you need to go to your BIOS. You may select between AHCI and others I think. I'd suggest choosing AHCI in BIOS and only then you install windows 7 on AHCI setting.

Problems could occur if you change the BIOS setting after installing windows 7. If you installed under AHCI BIOS setting it should stay as AHCI in BIOS after installation. I'm guessing you didn't install it in AHCI mode in BIOS and then changed the BIOS setting to AHCI after installing. Revert back or reinstall under AHCI setting.

And if I may suggest be very careful popping in and out especially if you do that often, the 7 disc they are prone to cracking. I suggest a different place to store them than their original box.

@Tessa, I'm done with Norton it's bad. And now I bit my own tongue and go back with COMODO.

I can get Kapersky or Avira Security Suite but somehow I'm contend enough with CIS having had bad experience with the damn Norton Internet Security. I've never had an infection with COMODO.

Gerald

12-22-10, 06:07 AM

Not always necessary to go into the BIOS, in case of emergency, perhaps, the software is usually correct to find a good path itself

Castout

12-22-10, 07:17 AM

It's either IDE or AHCI.

No if you installed the operating system under IDE you cannot later switch it in BIOS to AHCI and vice versa, absolutely not as far as I know.

I think Frau may have made that mistake.

Gerald

12-22-10, 07:39 AM

Possible, that is the case :hmmm:

stoppro

12-22-10, 10:28 AM

If you are tryingto upgrade from XP 32 to windows 7 64 bit.You are in for a ride.I tried and failed.I am not expert enough to do itbut I tried and got so frustrated I finally gave up-, kept it the way it was,using it for older games and instead built the machine i have now.vendor knows some of the problems I had. but now all is good.

frau kaleun

12-22-10, 10:42 AM

Well I'm redownloading the chipset drivers for Win7 from the MB manufacturer's site, it's a huge file and the one I got from the PC support site was NOT this big so maybe there was something wrong with it. I also downloaded the latest BIOS file but what I'm reading at various advice sites is not to mess with the BIOS except as a last resort.

There's no IDE option for the drive configuration, I assume the SATA option includes it. The options are SATA, RAID, and AHCI. I downloaded the AHCI driver just in case.

I really think that may be the issue as I can't see why I would only have a problem after hooking up the second drive... although there's no problem with the extra drive in XP and I haven't installed any special driver for AHCI, but maybe it's included in what came with the system.

Gerald

12-22-10, 10:50 AM

Frau! I must ask again, what are your basic specifications on the computer, which I obviously have missed,:o I think there is a simple solution to this...:yep:

frau kaleun

12-22-10, 11:02 AM

Proc: AMD Athlon II X2 240 2.8 GHz Dual Core
MB: Asus M3A78-EM
RAM: 6 GB DDR2 PC6400 800 MHz
Gfx: ATI Radeon HD4650 1 GB PCIe
Power Supply: 500 W
OS: Win XP Pro 32-bit

Gerald

12-22-10, 11:30 AM

In normal cases, is the change of O/S to reformat you hard drive first, of course, and then insert the disc to make an install, check that the boot sequence is correct, and to boot from the disc and the change is made in the Bios if this were needed, after installation, so drivers must be added, in which Windows is capable of good self, but some drivers, you must apply yourself and move up later depending on the needs that exist,W7 will search for the current update, so it is done by automatic,so do not do updates now that they still disappear when a format other than Bios, but I do not think it necessary to do that right now, but you focus on the primary first

frau kaleun

12-22-10, 12:04 PM

I don't have any problems booting from the CD, in fact I've always been able to start the installation process... the first time I had 7 up and running and it rebooted successfully numerous times while updating files with Windows Update and also as I reinstalled programs. It was only after I hooked up the second hard drive that I started having problems. I could only start up in Safe Mode, otherwise I would get the Starting Windows screen and then the screen would go black and just hang there instead of loading Windows.

Gerald

12-22-10, 12:16 PM

Did you remove your second hdd now ...

frau kaleun

12-22-10, 12:36 PM

Did you remove your second hdd now ...

No, I hooked it back up before reinstalling XP to make sure there was no problem with the connection or the drive itself. It's there in XP, with no problems. Although it has not been partitioned so it all shows as unallocated, but it's there. And I do not have AHCI enabled, so that's not a problem at least with XP. In fact I never had AHCI enabled, the BIOS was set for SATA all the time. If you choose AHCI in the BIOS there's a message saying to make sure you have the proper driver for your OS, which I didn't have at the time.

But I'm wondering if I *must* use AHCI in Win7 for some reason, and not changing over to that before the upgrade caused a problem once I installed the second disk after getting Win7 up and running.

Gerald

12-22-10, 12:52 PM

I did a similar setup as you describe earlier this fall, on one of my computers, and had no problem as you, with either AHCI or IDE, and then I had about the same spec,as you

Gerald

12-22-10, 12:58 PM

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/487-63-enable-ahci-win7-reinstall

http://www.ithinkdiff.com/how-to-enable-ahci-in-windows-7-rc-after-installation/

http://www.w7forums.com/enabling-ahci-win7-64bit-before-during-install-t4006.html

http://thegreenbutton.net/forums/t/83281.aspx

http://www.windows7news.com/2010/05/25/how-to-enable-ahci-in-windows-7/

frau kaleun

12-22-10, 01:15 PM

Thanks for the links!

But I don't think I need AHCI unless it's necessary for Win7 for some reason, nobody is reporting huge upticks in performance and other than that the only reason to have it enabled is for hotswapping disks which I don't really care about.

The only reason I would enable it is if I must do so to run Win7, and that doesn't seem to be the case.

Edit: oh wait, there's something there about it allowing you to use the "extra" SATA ports, maybe that's the problem. I just assumed that all the SATA ports were okay to use without special changes being made.

Arclight

12-22-10, 02:19 PM

frau kaleun

12-22-10, 03:00 PM

Typically the majority of the ports is driven by the northbridge, with some additional ones on the southbridge. Those are 2 individual chips on the motherboard, basically the core of the chipset that ties everything together. I would just set both to AHCI for SATA drives, there really shouldn't be a reason this wouldn't work; Win7 has all the drivers you need packaged with it.

In XP, you need to provide these drivers separately during install, because XP does not have those drivers packaged. I think that's what the manual is refering to when it says that you need to make sure to have the drivers handy.

Usually the sata ports have different colors to indicate which are which.

I looked up the board model at Asus' site: there's 18 BIOS updates fixing all kinds of issues. I know it's only advisable as a last resort, but I think in this case it would be in your best interest.

All the internal SATA ports are the same color. And there's only one place to enable AHCI in the setup, so I assume that takes care of both chips? And yeah, in one of the links Vendor posted someone said that Win7 already has decent drivers for it for any recent Intel/AMD products so that's a relief.

Re: BIOS updates, I downloaded the last one - would that be the latest "release" and include everything in all the others?

According to the manual I should a utility for updating the BIOS within Windows on the CD that came with the motherboard.

Arclight

12-22-10, 03:13 PM

Yep, BIOS is cumulative, just need the latest.

You can use whatever is on the disk but I prefer downloading it from the manufacturer, always get he latest that way: http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=KjpYqzmAd9vsTM2D

Just select your OS and find it under BIOS-utilities.

If there's no difference in color-coding it's perfectly possible only the northbridge has a HD-controller, so then you would only find a single option.

I think you also have EZ flash; it's a utility build into the board that let's you update the BIOS without running something from an external device (floppy, USB stick). If you start that up (apears as an option under 'tools' in mine) you should be able to flash it there too.

Don't think it really matters which utility you use. I've flashed BIOS' from floppies, USB sticks and from Windows on all kinds of boards without any trouble, but you need to make darn sure that the file you want to update with isn't corrupt. That's the risk: flash it with a corrupt BIOS and that board is toast.

* if it comes down to either that Afudos or EZ flash, I'd go with the latter.

frau kaleun

12-22-10, 03:32 PM

Pretty sure I have EZ Flash, I remember seeing it in the setup menu. Does it allow you to save the current BIOS file during the process? Or would I need to do that manually? I know the Asus Update is supposed to have the option of backing up the current BIOS before making any changes.

Arclight

12-22-10, 03:40 PM

Erm, not sure, but looking at the picture in my mb manual it says '[b] backup', so I'm asuming it offers that function. :hmmm:

I can also access it during boot by pressing alt+F2 aparently, but the option through the BIOS menu does the same thing.

Castout

12-22-10, 09:38 PM

Tell us when you get 7 to work Frau. Yes it's gorgeous looking especially when one's used to XP plus it's more secured(DEP protection for one).

frau kaleun

12-22-10, 10:02 PM

Tell us when you get 7 to work Frau. Yes it's gorgeous looking especially when one's used to XP plus it's more secured(DEP protection for one).

OMG I know. After looking at Win7 for several hours, I couldn't believe how ugly XP looked when I reinstalled it. It was like getting a glimpse of heaven and then being booted back to purgatory. :wah:

Anyhoo I have just done a BIOS update for the very first time and lived to tell the tale! :woot:

Next I plan to enable AHCI and try reinstalling Win7. We'll see what happens.

Castout

12-22-10, 10:33 PM

OMG I know. After looking at Win7 for several hours, I couldn't believe how ugly XP looked when I reinstalled it. It was like getting a glimpse of heaven and then being booted back to purgatory. :wah:

Anyhoo I have just done a BIOS update for the very first time and lived to tell the tale! :woot:

Next I plan to enable AHCI and try reinstalling Win7. We'll see what happens.

:DL I used Vista before making the jump to 7 so the visual changes are minimal.

I'd suggest reformatting the hard disk so there's no virus or worms that could jeopardize anything.

frau kaleun

12-22-10, 11:46 PM

Castout

12-23-10, 12:00 AM

*glances back nervously at LI*

*runs hand over face*

*pulls down on lever*

THUD...CLUNK...BANG...CLUNK...CHUG...CHUG...CHUGGA CHUGGACHUGGA...

:woot:

Er läuft! Er läuft!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for all your help!!!!! :D

So what was it? I don't think it was the BIOS update that did it.

Well at least now you can gaze at 7 merrily for Christmas :DL

Arclight

12-23-10, 12:29 AM

Had me worried a bit after not hearing from you. Thought I might have contributed to the demise of a motherboard. :oops:

So yeah, what's the deal? No more HD trouble? :06:

frau kaleun

12-23-10, 01:04 AM

Well, tonight was my night to teach at the dojo plus we did my private lesson after everyone else left since we normally do it on Saturday and we'll be closed for Christmas this weekend. Plus I had to stop somewhere on the way and pick up a USB flash drive in order to back up the current BIOS and then load the updated file. So I was gone for about 3 1/2 hours and didn't do anything until I got home.

After I updated the BIOS and made sure I could still boot into XP okay I tried to install 7 without any further changes just to see what would happen and like before it hung up during the "completing installation" reboot.

So I went into Setup and changed the config to AHCI, but with that enabled the BIOS cannot auto-detect SATA devices on all available ports even tho' the OS can if the proper drivers are installed. I quickly found out that neither DVD drive was connected to one of the "auto-detect" ports so I couldn't boot to the Win7 DVD. I had to shut down completely and switch the DVD drives to different ports, after that it detected them and booted from the Win7 disk and the installation was successful.

All 6 of my drives show up in Windows - 2 internal HDD, 1 external, and both DVD drives - so apparently everything's okay in that respect.

Castout

12-23-10, 01:24 AM

Well that efforts need to be applauded. Glad everything is okay now. I don't think my own sister would be so techie to solve similar situation or that myself too perhaps :D.

frau kaleun

12-23-10, 04:32 AM

I figure I learned some new stuff, which always happens when I stick it out long enough to get something like this resolved - which I usually do, because I think it's a bad idea to let the machine believe it's smarter than you are. They can smell your fear, these beasties. :03:

Anyway I'd never updated BIOS before, now I know how to do that and have done it successfully so it's not something to be inordinately nervous about anymore. :yeah:

Gerald

12-23-10, 04:34 AM

Good luck! :DL

Arclight

12-23-10, 04:35 AM

Anyway I'd never updated BIOS before, now I know how to do that and have done it successfully so it's not something to be inordinately nervous about anymore. :yeah:

It isn't as long as you know what you're doing. Didn't seem to be an isue in this case. ;)

Glad to hear it's working as intended.

Castout

12-23-10, 05:34 AM

Well I wouldn't recommend BIOS update. If you fail that you risk losing the motherboard.

Might've been faster if you read the motherboard manual first time on to look for AHCI ports :DL.

Anyway happy now 7 is up. Enjoy it! Have a reliable and strong firewall and AV installed too fast.

Arclight

12-23-10, 05:37 AM

Can't wait for the day dual-bios is default on any board. No more update worries, ever. :D

kranz

12-23-10, 07:07 AM

Tell us when you get 7 to work Frau. Yes it's gorgeous looking especially when one's used to XP plus it's more secured(DEP protection for one).

and that's all what windows 7 is. It took me 2 months to figure out that you cannot arrange the icons on your own like in xp. At least it's better than vista.

Castout

12-23-10, 08:30 AM

and that's all what windows 7 is. It took me 2 months to figure out that you cannot arrange the icons on your own like in xp. At least it's better than vista.

What do you mean arranged how?

You could chnage the icon if you like or set them not to be fixed to grid.

kranz

12-23-10, 08:40 AM

What do you mean arranged how?

You could chnage the icon if you like or set them not to be fixed to grid.

there are several ways of sorting like: name, date, size, type. in xp you could first sort them, turn off the "snap to grid" and move them as you wished anywhere in the opened window. in "seven" and in vista you have to stick to those sorting arrangements which means you cannot place icons where you wish. That sux hard. Plus there are several issues with the "bar", I mean some programs do not want to stick there after they are minimized, you don't have the right button options if you click them etc. If windows 7 was so great there wouldn't be so many "non-microsoft" tweaks changing the UI. I use the windows xp one that goes inside the "seven" but still this template lacks many ideas that were used in XP.

@Frau: I'm REALLY impressed(almost shocked)with your PC skills. :up:

frau kaleun

12-23-10, 11:00 AM

and that's all what windows 7 is. It took me 2 months to figure out that you cannot arrange the icons on your own like in xp. At least it's better than vista.

The main reason I decided to upgrade was to switch from 32-bit to 64-bit, and Win7 is what's available now. I expect there will be some things that are missing or different from what I was used to with XP, but that's always the case... I remember when I first got XP, I hated the Start menu for a while until I got used to it, then when I did and switched back and forth between it and the Classic style I found I actually preferred the new one. At work some people have theirs set to the old view and it drives me crazy when I'm on their PCs.

I'm REALLY impressed(almost shocked)with your PC skills. :up:

I'm sure it pales in comparison to the experts we have here... anyway most of it is learned through making ginormous mistakes and having to fix them. :haha:

But I enjoy tinkering with stuff and at some point I decided to upgrade or add some hardware on my very first computer and once I did that successfully I realized there was nothing sacred or magical about the insides of one, at the end of the day it's just another machine. :yep:

Gerald

12-23-10, 11:25 AM

Frau Valkyrie! How has it been for you, is everything all right with W7? :hmm2:

stoppro

12-23-10, 12:44 PM

Congrats,frau I probably would have thrown the machine out the window,glad you got it going!

frau kaleun

12-23-10, 02:26 PM

Everything is going well, I am reinstalling all the programs I need for "everyday" stuff like email and paying bills and whatnot. And of course going through the process of getting them set up the way I want them, which is a pain but necessary.

I've let Windows Update download and install everything that it wants to, all the hardware drivers check out as up-to-date. I've rebooted several times and so far, no problems.

Still have to format and partition that second HDD and that will probably be the last thing that qualifies as a "nail biter" just because I had such a bad experience when I tried to add it after the initial OS installation. But since it's connected and showing up in Disk Management and I'm not having any problems I think it will be okay. :yeah:

Gerald

12-23-10, 02:31 PM

Great,party tonight :woot:

frau kaleun

12-23-10, 02:34 PM

Actually I was wondering about the possibility of installing my games on that second drive, since I'm not going to put them in the Programs folder.

Would that be a problem in terms of performance when loading and running them?

I know that on an older computer I had games installed on a "D" drive but now that I think about it that might have been a second partition on one internal HDD, not a second HDD.

Gerald

12-23-10, 02:38 PM

Is the primary hdd partition (C)?

Madox58

12-23-10, 02:39 PM

Great to hear you got it going!
:rock:

I'm very happy with Win 7 Ultimate so far.
A few issues with some programs tick me off, but I can work around them.
PS CS5 64 bit - no dds support! (Adobe says it's not a standard format? WTF!!!)
Tried Gimp with the plug in and can't see the dds files for SH?

My SH5 Exporter don't work on this system........... YET!
But over all?
I'm happy as a pig in mud!
:har:

frau kaleun

12-23-10, 02:48 PM

Is the primary hdd partition (C)?

I only have one partition per disk, C is the boot drive and first internal HDD. The D drive is the second internal HDD, E is the external drive where I keep all my docs and music and backups.

Great to hear you got it going!
:rock:

I'm very happy with Win 7 Ultimate so far.

The thing I'm really liking is the "library" setup, where you can add any folder to your Documents, Music, etc. and make it the default save location. I was using Tweak UI on XP to "redirect" My Music to an external drive, since that's where all my music files were. Never got around to it with Pics and Docs but now there's no need for it.

EDIT: Oh I meant to ask... is it safe to delete that "Public" user folder and subfolders? If that's only for other users to save stuff, there's never going to be anything in there. I remember going through XP at one point and getting rid of all the "sample" files that it installed in My Pictures and My Music, but I can't remember if I deleted any "extra" user folders that seemed unnecessary.

Gerald

12-23-10, 03:09 PM

it can be removed, but I think this is unnecessary, one day you may want to have the W7/folders,works a little differently an XP,

stoppro

12-23-10, 03:54 PM

All my games are run on the second drive,I just made a folder \Games and then put them in . the only game on c drive is SH5

Arclight

12-23-10, 11:51 PM

Might boost performance a bit; Windows can load from one HD without interfering with game-activity.

Can gain more by moving the page file to a separate HD, but in the end it's all minimal gains. In my case I have a small dedicated partition at the start of the 2nd HD containing the page file, and the second partition houses all game installs.

frau kaleun

12-24-10, 12:45 AM

Paging files and virtual memory was gonna be my next question, lol.

I have the 2 internal drives (1 TB and 160 GB) and the 1 external (1 TB), and 6 GB RAM installed.

So what would be recommended min/max size and location of my paging file(s)?

I know I had to go into XP at one point and do a custom setting to get just what Windows recommended, but I only had the one internal HDD then and I assumed putting it on the external drive would be a bad idea (if only because I have had occasions where I tried to pull up data from that drive only to find the cable had jiggled loose and then I'd have to remount it... didn't want to lose contact with the paging file indefinitely and unknowingly in that situation).

Right now I've got the paging file on the C (system/boot) drive, min 9216 MB and max 18432 MB. I was shooting for the RAM x1.5/x3 rule, don't know if that's optimal but I've seen it repeated just about every place I look for info.

There's nothing on the 160 GB HDD yet so dedicating a portion of it to a paging file would be a cinch.

Arclight

12-24-10, 01:55 AM

Wasn't the "rule" 1.5x to 2x RAM? can't remember now, but that's what I've been using. :hmmm:

The paging file (Pagefile.sys) is a hidden file on your computer's hard disk that Windows XP uses as if it were random access memory (RAM). The paging file and physical memory comprise virtual memory. By default, Windows stores the paging file on the boot partition (the partition that contains the operating system and its support files). The default, or recommended, paging file size is equal to 1.5 times the total amount of RAM. This article discusses how you can configure the paging file for system optimization and recovery.

I'd just plunk the page-file and game-installs on the fastest drive. In your case, I bet that's the 160GB one, especially if that happens to be a relatively new Western Digital.

In mine I have a 10GB partition at the start of the disk (which is the fastest part, it get's slower in finding and writing data towards the outer portions of the platters) set to 6GB min and 8GB max (would be 9GB/12GB or 9216MB/12288MB in your case).

To enhance performance, move the paging file to a different partition. When the paging file is on the boot partition, Windows must perform disk reading and writing requests on both the system folder and the paging file. When the paging file is moved to a different partition, there is less competition between reading and writing requests.

I can't tell you if it actually makes a difference; it's not like I did extensive benchmarking or something. It just seemed to make sense to separate the 2 things that load from HDs the most: the OS and games. And you want the page-file as fast as possible, so the inner part of a fast drive seems most appropriate. I made a separate partition for the page file to make sure it never fragments or the disk housing it runs out of space to let it function properly.

Some advice to never remove the page file from C: completely, to increase stability, but I've never had any issues with it. (though reading the next bit I'm gonna create a system-managed one on C: again)

However, if you completely remove the paging file from the boot partition, Windows cannot create a dump file (Memory.dmp) in which to write debugging information in the event that a kernel mode STOP error message occurs. This can lead to extended downtime if a debug procedure is necessary to troubleshoot the STOP error message.

The optimal solution is to create one paging file that is, by default, stored on the boot partition, and then create one paging file on another, less frequently accessed partition. Additionally, it is optimal to create the second paging file so that it exists on its own partition, with no data or operating-system-specific files. By design, Windows uses the paging file on the less frequently accessed partition over the paging file on the more heavily accessed boot partition. An internal algorithm is used to determine which paging file to use for virtual memory management.

When you place a paging file on its own partition, the paging file does not become fragmented, and this counts as another definite advantage. If a paging file resides on a partition that contains other data, it may experience fragmentation as it expands to satisfy the extra virtual memory that is required. An unfragmented paging file leads to faster virtual memory access and greater likelihood of a dump-file capture that is free of significant errors.

In a system with plenty of RAM there isn't a whole lot of reason to have a large page file though. Only one I can think of is for suspend mode, so the whole RAM content can be written to disk. In that case a page-file equal to size of RAM would be enough, especially considering it's highly unlikely that you would ever send the system into suspend with all it's RAM in use (while running memory intensive app). There are more valid methods to calculate the proper size, but I wouldn't get into it unless you're running a server.

Quotes from here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314482

NOTE : If your computer contains multiple hard disks, you can also create a paging file for each hard disk. When information is distributed across multiple paging files, the hard disk controller can simultaneously read from and write to multiple hard disks. As a result, system performance is enhanced.

frau kaleun

12-24-10, 02:23 AM

Wasn't the "rule" 1.5x to 2x RAM? can't remember now, but that's what I've been using. :hmmm:

I've been googling "paging file Windows 7" and I'm seeing recommendations for a min of 1.5x, max 3x RAM.

I'd just plunk the page-file and game-installs on the fastest drive. In your case, I bet that's the 160GB one, especially if that happens to be a relatively new Western Digital.

It's a Seagate, about 1 year old. The 1 TB boot drive is the new Western Digital. :D

In mine I have a 10GB partition at the start of the disk (which is the fastest part, it get's slower in finding and writing data towards the outer portions of the platters) set to 6GB min and 8GB max (would be 9GB/12GB or 9216MB/12288MB in your case).

I can't tell you if it actually makes a difference; it's not like I did extensive benchmarking or something.

I felt like it made a difference when I was running XP, but then I wasn't getting the 6 gigs of RAM that I'm getting now. The main reason I went in and did it for the new Win7 setup was that I was getting a tremendous amount of lag trying to pull up data, which was really annoying considering that I was trying to install and restore stuff from files I backed up before the upgrade.

Then in the course of doing more searching regarding speeding up response times in general, I saw something in a thread here about the power management settings and a lightbulb went on over my head. I checked and sure enough it was set to power down the hard drives after 20 minutes of inactivity. So I'd find and run a setup file saved on the external drive, and by the time I finished getting the reinstalled program up and running to spec on the C drive and went back to look for something else on the backup drive, it would've powered down again. I changed the settings and it's been a LOT better since.

Some advice to never remove the page file from C: completely, to increase stability, but I've never had any issues with it. (though reading the next bit I'm gonna create a system-managed one on C: again)

So if I were to create a partition for a custom page file on the 2nd HDD with the settings noted above, should I just set a system managed one on the C: even though it's not in a separate partition? Or is there a way to shrink the existing single C: partition and create a separate one for another page file there? OTOH that seems like a lot of trouble for debatable increase in performance.

Oh and that bit at the bottom of the Virtual Memory settings, where it gives "total paging size file for all drives" - does that mean it's the Minimum and Recommended size allotted across all disks on the system? Is it recommending 9214 MB total split between all disks that have a page file on them if there's more than one? That always confuses me. Do those numbers really matter all that much (aside from the minimum allowed)?

Arclight

12-24-10, 02:57 AM

Well like the document advises, a page file 1.5x the RAM should be enough, especially in a system like yours where avalable RAM is not an issue. It's the recommended total, so all page files added up/total virtual memory, no matter how you spread them/it out.

What I've done now is make a set page file on a separate drive in a dedicated partition, like I mentioned before, and set it to system managed for C:. The document seems to indicate Windows will prefer the set-size one on the other disk, since that doesn't contain boot/system files and sees less traffic as a result. That way Win always has 2 options to work with and the chance of running out of space is essentialy non-existent, while allowing it to use the less-used disk at that moment for the paging.

Think that'll work out nicely. It even worked perfectly without the bit on C:, but maybe now that it has another option things will be even smoother. :hmmm:

frau kaleun

12-24-10, 03:20 AM

Gerald

12-24-10, 03:26 AM

Mam,is this tread sticky, :O:

Arclight

12-24-10, 03:41 AM

That makes sense as far as setting up the files on both drives, but if you want the total page file size to equal a particular amount (1.5xRAM, or the OS's recommendation, whatever) how do you arrive at a size for the one you customize if the system is managing the other? When you select that option for C: does it give you a size so you can adjust the file on the other drive accordingly to come to the desired total?
After I set C: to system managed, Windows created a page file there 4GB big, so I'm assuming it will match the amount of RAM.

You can either ignore it or subtract that from the total desired amount.

I'm just going to ignore it. From what I understand the custom one will be the one used normally, while the system-managed one on C: will only play a role for a memory dump in the event of a crash, and perhaps when you set the system to suspend or the other drive is just too busy to accomodate read/write to the drive.

To avoid fragmentation, you could manually set the one on C: to match your amount of RAM, plus a little breathing room, setting min and max the same so it doesn't expand. (it's actually 4.01GB here)

frau kaleun

12-24-10, 03:59 AM

I just reset it to system-managed on C: and it allocated 6 GB, so it looks like it does go by how much RAM is installed.

I think I will set it a bit higher just for the breathing room, lol, and then go ahead and set up another page file on a separate partition on the other drive and see what happens.

Glad to know I can also use that drive just for game installations too - I definitely want to get in the habit of NOT installing them in Program files!

Arclight

12-24-10, 04:14 AM

Good habit, at the very least you'll get around any permission issues with UAC. :yep:

The way i have it now is 64GB C: and 532GB D: partition on primary 640GB drive. C: houses OS and programs, D: houses data that is accessed rarely (installers, back-ups, etc).

2nd 640GB drive has 10GB P: partition for page file only and G: is 586GB for games.

3rd drive is single 931GB (1TB) E: partition for media. So if it's playing back music or video, it shouldn't interfere with OS and game activity.

frau kaleun

12-24-10, 04:35 AM

3rd drive is single 931GB (1TB) E: partition for media. So if it's playing back music or video, it shouldn't interfere with OS and game activity.

Ditto. I bought the big external drive specifically for music. Now I also use it for installers and backups, it takes a lot of the misery out of installing/reinstalling an OS. There's enough of that without worrying about losing all your data!

EDIT: Now I just need to think of a clever name for the new partition where the games are going.

Arclight

12-24-10, 04:41 AM

Yep, got everything in storage. Driver packages for this board, the previous one and any I ever worked with, basically. If anyone ever comes back with trouble, everything's handy. Plus installers for just about anything I ever used and every image/save-file/what-have-you (and since forgot about).

Though I usually end up re-downloading to make sure it's up to date, but should internet ever fail it's not an issue. :)

So much space going to waste though. :lol:

stephenf555

01-12-11, 04:12 AM

I took the plunge and moved to 64-bit (dual boot), expecting a whole heap of problems. Had no problem at all. A lot of my hardware doesn't have specific 64-bit drivers but they worked fine. Just make sure your proc and motherboard support 64-bit. Your processor does alright.

If you're worried about it then you can install 64-bit while still keeping your 32-bit windows intact (dual boot setup).

Arclight

01-12-11, 04:29 AM

EDIT: Now I just need to think of a clever name for the new partition where the games are going.
Frau's little corner of frolicking freedom.

frau kaleun

01-12-11, 09:16 AM

Frau's little corner of frolicking freedom.

At the moment it's just labeled GAMES. Which looks really boring and mundane in the lineup between DAS BOOT and HAL9000.

I suppose 'THIS IS WHY I HAVE NO LIFE' is way too long. :hmmm:

Arclight

01-12-11, 09:59 AM

WOPR

Or Joshua. :hmmm:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames

frau kaleun

01-12-11, 10:41 AM

WOPR

:haha:

What I need to think of is something Discworld related, in tribute to the fact that I used to call one of my drives HEX, except I've named the computer HEX, so I need something else.

I need to read up on Hex again and see if I can come up with something.

AVGWarhawk

01-12-11, 03:02 PM

http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/images/2001_hal.jpg

Madox58

01-12-11, 03:11 PM

When I owned and ran my ISP, We had a Game Server named Tsavo.
It was a dedicated Quake Server with our modifications on it.
The Main work Horse was Named Vanguard.
The accounts Server was named Payme.
:haha:

Victor Schutze

01-19-11, 05:25 PM

Hey all,

I am thinking about switching to the 64-bit OS provided I don't have to completely rebuild my 1 year old machine. Trying to figure out how much of what I have already would be compatible with the switch.

My processor is an AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core, the specs for it say "yes" for simultaneous 32- & 64-bit computing, I am assuming that means it will support a 64-bit OS?

If so, what else do I need to verify before I consider making the change? I know I'll need 64-bit drivers for "all devices" which I can check on easily when it comes to printers and external stuff and drives I guess but what other stuff in the innards of the beast do I need to check on?

Thanks for any help/advice!

frau kaleun,

have you managed to switch to win 7 64 from win xp 32n without loosing the careers you had in SHC?

I just switched from xp 32 to 7 64 and I saved all the SHC files, SH3 folder in 'My Documents'. I was wondering whether it was possible to re install the career I had under win xp in SH Commander under win 7 or do I have to start a new career?

frau kaleun

01-19-11, 09:17 PM

frau kaleun,

have you managed to switch to win 7 64 from win xp 32n without loosing the careers you had in SHC?

I just switched from xp 32 to 7 64 and I saved all the SHC files, SH3 folder in 'My Documents'. I was wondering whether it was possible to re install the career I had under win xp in SH Commander under win 7 or do I have to start a new career?

No, I didn't try to save my old careers. I only had one that was active and I'd already done enough patrols that the kaleun would've been close to the end of his time at the front anyway. Plus I knew I was gonna completely redo all my mods and I wanted to start fresh.

I know some people have been able to back up careers and restore them after a reinstall or a change of computers, but I don't know about a change of OS. I don't know why it wouldn't be possible, if the data is there and the game runs I would think it wouldn't be a problem. But I have no experience with doing it. Start a thread and ask, though, somebody here will probably know.