MaxBeagleton
Member
I have been really interersted in the potential of 64-bit Windows and decided to take the plunge after reading much in mags and on the internet (including here). I built the system described in my signature, specifically selecting all hardware to make sure there was plenty of evidence from forums like this and customer hardware reviews (like at newegg.com and cnet.com) that what I select works well in the 64-bit environment.
After I had everything ordered, I went to the manufacturers web site and downloaded the latest bios, drivers and sofware directly from them and burned them to CDs. This has the added benefit of not accidentially installing bloat-ware from the CDs included with the hardware. I did have to redo my CD when Intel released a new bios and RAID driver while I was waiting for the last of the hardware to arrive.
The first attempt at installing the OS went bad early on because I didn't follow my own procedure and tried to install my house printer (on my local network) with the HP install disk. The driver didn't install and left me where I couldn't uninstall it. At the same time (related?) a Windows Defender DLL, MyRgMon, died and I couldn't figure out how to fix it without starting over, so...
Starting over, I installed the OS, then installed the motherboard chipset drivers and other important m/b drivers, like for the LAN. Then came the drivers for the video and sound, all the while rebooting Vista whenever it wanted to. I found on the HP website that the only 64-bit software from HP for my printer were the drivers (this is an excellent hint that the control monitor program is not 64-bit ready). The only thing that kind of bothers me is that I installed beta video drivers and I'm hoping that doesn't cause me problems down the road.
After all the drivers were installed, I visited Windows Update untill it told me there were no other required or suggested updates. I had a little trouble here when updates began failing. Googling on the error number, someone suggested emptying a windows folder might help. It did.
Finally, I installed my AV and other programs (Office 2007 and Zune). (Okay, I admit it, I like MS! There, I said it!) Everything seems really good now and very stable (knock on wood!). I boot to windows (and shutdown) very fast compared to my older 3.2 GHz P4 / XP system. Like Joe Walsh says, "life is good so far!"
After I had everything ordered, I went to the manufacturers web site and downloaded the latest bios, drivers and sofware directly from them and burned them to CDs. This has the added benefit of not accidentially installing bloat-ware from the CDs included with the hardware. I did have to redo my CD when Intel released a new bios and RAID driver while I was waiting for the last of the hardware to arrive.
The first attempt at installing the OS went bad early on because I didn't follow my own procedure and tried to install my house printer (on my local network) with the HP install disk. The driver didn't install and left me where I couldn't uninstall it. At the same time (related?) a Windows Defender DLL, MyRgMon, died and I couldn't figure out how to fix it without starting over, so...
Starting over, I installed the OS, then installed the motherboard chipset drivers and other important m/b drivers, like for the LAN. Then came the drivers for the video and sound, all the while rebooting Vista whenever it wanted to. I found on the HP website that the only 64-bit software from HP for my printer were the drivers (this is an excellent hint that the control monitor program is not 64-bit ready). The only thing that kind of bothers me is that I installed beta video drivers and I'm hoping that doesn't cause me problems down the road.
After all the drivers were installed, I visited Windows Update untill it told me there were no other required or suggested updates. I had a little trouble here when updates began failing. Googling on the error number, someone suggested emptying a windows folder might help. It did.
Finally, I installed my AV and other programs (Office 2007 and Zune). (Okay, I admit it, I like MS! There, I said it!) Everything seems really good now and very stable (knock on wood!). I boot to windows (and shutdown) very fast compared to my older 3.2 GHz P4 / XP system. Like Joe Walsh says, "life is good so far!"