joeMan
06-08-2006, 03:49 PM
I have been running XP Pro x64 for about three months now. I tried it last year but bailed out after about a week because of lack of drivers support in too many areas. I decided to give it a go again since there are more drivers out for it now. I did have to upgrade my printer in order to do so but that was it hardware wise. I needed a new printer anyway. Everything has been working just fine without any issues or annoyances so I thought I'd post what I am running. The config in my sig is what I am running it on.
I should say first that I tried to do a 2x36GB RAID0 install but the nForce4 x64 F6 RAID (http://us.dfi.com.tw/Upload/Driver/NF4F6RAIDX64.exe) driver package gave me hell. It would F6 load just fine but then would freeze every time during NTFS format phase -OR- during install if I skipped the format. I fought with it for about 4 hours and finally gave up and went 2x36GB single drives in non-raid. It can be done however, and there is plenty of discussion around on the web as to workarounds for this if you really want to get it rolling, so Google it if you want to tackle x64 with RAID0 installing on nForce4.
Foregoing RAID and just installing on a single drive went very smooth. Once XP x64 finished installing, I loaded things pretty much in this order, rebooting as necessary:
Chipset Drivers ~ nForce 4 AMD v6.69 (http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/nForce/standalone/6.69/nForce4_amd_6.69_winxp64_english_whql.exe)
GPU Drivers ~ ForceWare v84.25 (http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_winxp_2k_64bit_91.31.html)...but, I now use the betas found here (http://www.nvidia.com/content/license/location_0605.asp?url=http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/91.31/91.31_forceware_winxp64_english.exe)
Sound Card Drivers ~ X-Fi Fatal1ty v2.07.0004 (http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/8859/0xC48D0B06/SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_07_0004.exe)...betas found here (http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/9536/0x1CA6378A/SBXF_PCDRVBETA_LB_2_09_0001.exe)
AMD 64-bit X2 Dual Core CPU x64 Driver - v1.3.1 (http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/utilities/amdcpusetup.exe). I loaded this a few weeks after I had it all running stable...I found out about it from Jim here at BE.
Chipset Monitoring ~ nF4 Smart Guardian for x64 (http://us.dfi.com.tw/Upload/Driver/NF4%20Series_XP64SG.ZIP)
Printer ~ x64 Drivers are available for Canon PIXMA MP780...check into your specific model before making the jump.
Then I went to Microsoft Update (http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us) and applied all available updates
Next, I applied virtually all of the usual tweaks I do to any 32-bit XP install...found in this OUTSTANDING guide: Tweakguides Tweaking Companion (http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html) Copyright © 2006 Koroush Ghazi. I found no issues with any of these tweaks despite the fact that the guide is a 32-bit XP guide.
Following I will list all the programs I installed. First the ones that installed themselves in the regular (Native 64-bit) "Program Files" folder, then those that installed themselves in the compatible 32-bit "Program Files (x86)" folder...
Program Files:
7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) ~ free alternative to WinZIP or WinRAR
avast! 4 Home (http://files.avast.com/iavs4pro/setupeng.exe) ~ free anti-virus
O&O Defrag 8 Professional (http://www.oo-software.com/en/) ~ 30-day trial, an Alternative to Windows Disk Defragmenter. If link is slow try CNET Download.com or MajorGeeks
Prime95 x64 (http://mersenne.org/gimps/p64v2414.zip) ~ Yes, it runs as a native 64-bit (no *32 by it in Task Mgr)
Program Files (x86):
CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-134.zip)
TweakNow RegCleaner (http://dl.filekicker.com/send/file/142204-6155/RegCleaner.exe) ~ free registry cleaner
Adobe Photoshop CS
Adobe Reader 7.0.x (http://www.adobe.com/go/gntray_dl_get_reader)
Active@ Undelete
Ahead NERO v6.x (latest updated version)
Cyberlink PowerDVD
Intuit QuickBooks Premiere 2005 (I remember it being tricky to install, but runs just fine)
Lavalys EVEREST Home Edition (free version is hard but not impossible to find :mischeif: )
MS Office 2003 Professional
RegSupreme v1.3 (http://www.macecraft.com/downloads/RegSupreme_setup.exe) (found at jv16.org)
Spybot S&D v1.4 (http://www.safer-networking.org/)(safer-networking.org)
Trillian Free v3.1 (http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/) (Cerulean Studios free chat client. Consolidates AIM, Yahoo! chat, MSN chat, IRC, and ICQ all into one slick prog)
Winamp (http://download.nullsoft.com/winamp/client/winamp523_lite.exe)
World of Warcraft
Also good to know ~ IE 64-bit works great except there is no Flash Player or Shockwave Player support for it...ya, really. So you can use the 32-bit IE which is also built-in to x64 and it runs everything as normal. However, I have been using the IE7 beta for x64 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=64069) and it is the shizzle yo, so check it out.
Okay - please hollar if you find somewhere I messed up.
:rock: jM
NOTE: All links are current as of the date of this post. I will not attempt to maintain the links - but they are easy enough to find on your own once these start flaking out. :D
I should say first that I tried to do a 2x36GB RAID0 install but the nForce4 x64 F6 RAID (http://us.dfi.com.tw/Upload/Driver/NF4F6RAIDX64.exe) driver package gave me hell. It would F6 load just fine but then would freeze every time during NTFS format phase -OR- during install if I skipped the format. I fought with it for about 4 hours and finally gave up and went 2x36GB single drives in non-raid. It can be done however, and there is plenty of discussion around on the web as to workarounds for this if you really want to get it rolling, so Google it if you want to tackle x64 with RAID0 installing on nForce4.
Foregoing RAID and just installing on a single drive went very smooth. Once XP x64 finished installing, I loaded things pretty much in this order, rebooting as necessary:
Chipset Drivers ~ nForce 4 AMD v6.69 (http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/nForce/standalone/6.69/nForce4_amd_6.69_winxp64_english_whql.exe)
GPU Drivers ~ ForceWare v84.25 (http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_winxp_2k_64bit_91.31.html)...but, I now use the betas found here (http://www.nvidia.com/content/license/location_0605.asp?url=http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/91.31/91.31_forceware_winxp64_english.exe)
Sound Card Drivers ~ X-Fi Fatal1ty v2.07.0004 (http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/8859/0xC48D0B06/SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_07_0004.exe)...betas found here (http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/9536/0x1CA6378A/SBXF_PCDRVBETA_LB_2_09_0001.exe)
AMD 64-bit X2 Dual Core CPU x64 Driver - v1.3.1 (http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/utilities/amdcpusetup.exe). I loaded this a few weeks after I had it all running stable...I found out about it from Jim here at BE.
Chipset Monitoring ~ nF4 Smart Guardian for x64 (http://us.dfi.com.tw/Upload/Driver/NF4%20Series_XP64SG.ZIP)
Printer ~ x64 Drivers are available for Canon PIXMA MP780...check into your specific model before making the jump.
Then I went to Microsoft Update (http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us) and applied all available updates
Next, I applied virtually all of the usual tweaks I do to any 32-bit XP install...found in this OUTSTANDING guide: Tweakguides Tweaking Companion (http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html) Copyright © 2006 Koroush Ghazi. I found no issues with any of these tweaks despite the fact that the guide is a 32-bit XP guide.
Following I will list all the programs I installed. First the ones that installed themselves in the regular (Native 64-bit) "Program Files" folder, then those that installed themselves in the compatible 32-bit "Program Files (x86)" folder...
Program Files:
7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) ~ free alternative to WinZIP or WinRAR
avast! 4 Home (http://files.avast.com/iavs4pro/setupeng.exe) ~ free anti-virus
O&O Defrag 8 Professional (http://www.oo-software.com/en/) ~ 30-day trial, an Alternative to Windows Disk Defragmenter. If link is slow try CNET Download.com or MajorGeeks
Prime95 x64 (http://mersenne.org/gimps/p64v2414.zip) ~ Yes, it runs as a native 64-bit (no *32 by it in Task Mgr)
Program Files (x86):
CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-134.zip)
TweakNow RegCleaner (http://dl.filekicker.com/send/file/142204-6155/RegCleaner.exe) ~ free registry cleaner
Adobe Photoshop CS
Adobe Reader 7.0.x (http://www.adobe.com/go/gntray_dl_get_reader)
Active@ Undelete
Ahead NERO v6.x (latest updated version)
Cyberlink PowerDVD
Intuit QuickBooks Premiere 2005 (I remember it being tricky to install, but runs just fine)
Lavalys EVEREST Home Edition (free version is hard but not impossible to find :mischeif: )
MS Office 2003 Professional
RegSupreme v1.3 (http://www.macecraft.com/downloads/RegSupreme_setup.exe) (found at jv16.org)
Spybot S&D v1.4 (http://www.safer-networking.org/)(safer-networking.org)
Trillian Free v3.1 (http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/) (Cerulean Studios free chat client. Consolidates AIM, Yahoo! chat, MSN chat, IRC, and ICQ all into one slick prog)
Winamp (http://download.nullsoft.com/winamp/client/winamp523_lite.exe)
World of Warcraft
Also good to know ~ IE 64-bit works great except there is no Flash Player or Shockwave Player support for it...ya, really. So you can use the 32-bit IE which is also built-in to x64 and it runs everything as normal. However, I have been using the IE7 beta for x64 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=64069) and it is the shizzle yo, so check it out.
Okay - please hollar if you find somewhere I messed up.
:rock: jM
NOTE: All links are current as of the date of this post. I will not attempt to maintain the links - but they are easy enough to find on your own once these start flaking out. :D