Vista - 32bit or 64bit ?

Hi ,

About 7 months ago I bought a Toshiba notebook (A100-599) and there is 32bit vista home premium comes with it. But after a while I got bored and installed xp maybe it's because everyone was saying things like vista is not ready yet...
The thing I wonder is should I stick with the 32bit home premium or go buy a 64 bit ? I actually don't know if my laptop can run 64bit but it says that core2duo processors can do it.
If someone can help me out of this I'll be really glad .

PS : I'm a normal home user, I don't really use programs that can push the processor too hard but still I use photoshop and play games sometimes. Is there an important performance difference between 32bit and 64bit ?

Hi tcukran!
Welcome to the forum!
If you click the link below it will take you to the download page of the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisory Tool. Download/install then run this tool and it will tell you of what the laptop can handle. Also for software like Photoshop you might want to check the maker of that software and see if they have a Vista 64 bit edition.

Windows Vista: Upgrade Advisor

Raj

hi ..... i personally love the x64 version after working on XP for years i just find it nice on the eyes but i dont know what the effective difference of x32 and x64 is at the moment.... though mine swallows serious resorces this is where my ram sits idle with 3gb


your cpu may well be fine but your ram and HDD will need serious thought if u want it to run smoothly i personally dont think it runs all that well on laptops have a look in this forum there are a bunch of people not happy with it
imo xp could never run as fast as this

i would upgrade the laptop depending on your budget and how bored u really are with x32 vista and get x64 cos its all on the way and x32 will be left behind
better yet build a desktop just for vista thats whai i did and never looked back

64 bit is good BUTTTTTT....will your programs/drivers be compatable???...think about it first

You might wanna look at this thread first ----> Don't rush to 64-bit Vista, says analyst - ZDNet UK

On a laptop?? I don't think that's a good idea... The reason why is OEM's tend to use proprietary components in the box and/or make proprietary changes to the OS's they install on their machines. And I would certainly be dis~inclined to make any major changes while under Warranty. I'd hate to turn the thing into a paperweight by unknowingly installing a 'generic' OS on a machine that needs some special bit of code to run properly - Well intentioned or not, the maker isn't going to provide any support for such an action.

At the very least I would research thoroughly and diligently before making the leap. The first thing I would do is call Toshiba and see if a Vista 64 image is available from them. If there is, then you can at least partially cover yourself.

Sorry to seem like a wet blanket, but by far it's best to be cautious with Operating System changes. Desktops are easy, especially with a new build. Laptops are a different animal.