Welcome to the tips n trixs sector for Windows XP Professional X64 Edition.
Hopefully you will find something in here that sense of this version of Windows. This
page mainly consists of questions and answers that arise regularly.
By clicking on the underlined statement below it will take you to
the details of how to carry out the task.
Q.What computers can run Windows XP Professional X64
Edition?
A.Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is designed to work with 64-bit
processors from AMD and Intel that support the x64 extensions to the x86
architecture. These include the Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX, Mobile Athlon 64,
Turion 64, and Opteron processors from AMD, and the Xeon with EM64T and Pentium
4 with EM64T from Intel.
Q.Can I run Windows XP Professional X64 Edition on my
Itanium Workstation?
A.No. The Itanium processor is a 64-bit processor that has a different
architecture than the x64 processors. A version of Windows XP for the Itanium
processor is no longer available. Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
continues to support the Itanium processor.
Q.Can I run Windows XP Professional X64 Edition on my Centrino laptop?
A.No, the Pentium M series of processors used in Centrino laptops are not
64-bit processors and can not use the x64 Edition of Windows XP Professional.
There are x64-compatible laptops currently shipping that are based on AMD
processors.
Q.Why is there no Home x64 Edition of Windows XP? Who
should buy Windows XP Professional X64 Edition?
A.These are closely related questions. The initial target audience for
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is anyone who is running into performance
and memory limits on their 32-bit systems, for example, developers, media
artists, CAD/CAM, scientific workstations and enthusiasts who are running the
most demanding applications, and who require the capabilities of the
Professional Edition of Windows XP. Windows XP Home Edition is targeted at the
home user and has fewer features. At this point, especially with the current
limited driver support, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is not targeted at
the casual home user.
Q.Why is there no driver for my [Insert your device name
here?
A.Windows XP Professional x64 Edition requires that all system drivers be
rewritten as 64-bit drivers, 32-bit drivers will not work. The hardware
manufacturers are the ones who need to write new drivers, and they're working on
it, but it's a resource issue. Writing and certifying a driver takes time and
lots and lots of testing. Resources are always constrained, so the manufacturer
needs to make a business decision about which hardware has priority for new
drivers. This generally means that the focus is on the newest equipment, and
older drivers may take a while, or never be done.
Q.Where is the best place to get drivers for my [Insert
your device name here?
A.The best place to get drivers for any device is the device
manufacturer. However, if you have a lot of different devices, you may find it
awkward to find and get all the drivers you need. The best collection of drivers
I've seen to date is on http://www.planetamd64.com/. This will undoubtedly
change over time, but at the time of this writing, that's where I go when I'm
having driver issues and can't get the driver direct from the manufacturer.
Q.There isn't a 64-bit printer driver for my printer, what
can I do?
A.First, and foremost, tell your printer manufacturer that you want a
64-bit driver. The more a company hears from their users that they want a driver
for a particular model, the more likely they are to shift resources to make sure
that driver gets written and tested.
Q.How do I use the download trial version to make a boot
CD?
A.The downloadable trial version of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
is an ISO image file, you can't just copy it to a CD, you need to actually burn
the image to the CD. For an excellent description of the process with several
different software programs, see How to write an ISO file to CD.
Q.How do I use my SATA drive?
A.Many x64 computers use a combined RAID and SATA controller. These
controllers do not have native drivers in the released version of Windows XP
Professional x64 Edition, so you need to download a driver from your hardware
manufacturer, or the manufacturer of the controller, or from one of the
community sites that are providing driver agglomeration such as
http://www.planetamd64.com/. When you have the driver, you'll need to copy the
driver files to a floppy disk, and use the F6 option to install the drivers
during initial setup.
Q.The installation goes okay, but the first time it boots
up, I get a blue screen? What do I do?
A.This is a problem with SATA drives that don't have a correct driver
loaded during initial installation. New drivers for x64 require correct
"decorations" and while they may appear to be accepted during the text mode
phase of installation, they will fail during the initial GUI boot. For more
information, read changes for vendor-provided storage drivers loaded using F6.
Q.My computer needs an updated BIOS, but the BIOS update
program only runs in 32-Bit Windows. What do I do?
A.This is a tough one until vendors catch up and make their utilities
compatible with x64. Until then, your best workaround is to either set your
computer up for dual booting, or create a special boot hard drive that runs
32-bit Windows XP. This is a great use for an old 4 to 10 GB hard drive that you
have lying around. Open up your computer and carefully remove your Windows XP
Professional x64 Edition hard drive. Plug in your spare drive, and install a
32-bit version of Windows XP on it. Or even a copy of Windows 98 if your BIOS
update program will run from Windows 98. The key is, don't install anything else
on this hard drive – just use it to update the BIOS, and then remove it and put
the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition hard drive back in. And meanwhile,
complain to your hardware manufacturer about the situation.
Q.Why are there two versions of Internet Explorer?
A.There are both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer in
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. The default browser is the 32-bit version
of Internet Explorer 6. The 32-bit version is the default because many sites
depend on components that haven't been ported to the 64-bit version.
Q.Why doesn't spell checking work in Outlook Express?
A.The version of Outlook Express on Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
is a 64-bit version. But the spell checking in Outlook Express is dependent on
Microsoft Office, which is still a 32-bit program. Since a 64-bit program can't
call a 32-bit Dynamic Link Library (DLL), there won't be support for spell
checking in Windows XP Professional x64 Edition until we have a 64-bit version
of Microsoft Office.
Q.What is the SysWOW64 directory?
A.The \Windows\SysWOW64 directory is where 32-bit system files are
installed. 64-bit system files are in the \Windows\system32 directory for
compatibility reasons.
Q.Why do some of my programs install into the Program
Files Directory, and others into the Program Files (X86) directory?
A.Windows XP Professional x64 Edition redirects the \Program Files
directory for all programs that are 32-bit during the installation to the
\Program Files(x86) directory. Programs that 64-bit are installed into the
\Program Files directory.
Q.Will Windows XP Professional X64 Edition support dual
core processors?
A.Yes. If you have a processor that is dual core, Windows XP Professional
x64 Edition will recognize it as two separate processors and give you the
benefit of both cores.
Q.Will Windows XP Professional X64 Edition support two
dual core processors? Isn't that the same as four processors?
A.Almost the same, but Windows is actually licensed per socket, not per
core. So, even though Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is limited to only two
processors, it will see the two dual core processors as two processors for
licensing purposes, and four processors for running Windows.
Q.When will my Technology Advancement Program version
arrive?
A.Good question, I wish I had the answer. As of the time of writing this
column, no one has reported receiving theirs yet. I know that Microsoft is
committed to this program and hopefully you will be receiving your version of
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition soon.
Q.Can I upgrade from the beta or CPP version to the
released version?
A.While it is technically possible to upgrade, it is a bad idea and it
will leave you with an unsupported configuration. It's especially important to
completely clear off any beta versions of files from your machine before
installing the released version.
Q.Can I upgrade from the trial version to the full
version?
A.Yes, you can.
Q.Can I upgrade from 32-bit Windows XP Professional to
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition?
A.No, you can't upgrade. You can use the Technology Advancement Program
until the end of July, 2005, to exchange your copy of Windows XP Professional
for the x64 Edition of Windows XP Professional, but doing so replaces your
existing license with the new license. The actual installation of Windows XP
Professional x64 Edition is a fresh install, not an upgrade. All your programs
will have to be reinstalled, and if you have data on the same drive as your
operating system, it will be wiped out. Make a thorough backup of your important
files before doing the installation.
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