Preparation advice needed for Win-x64 conversion

Greetings

I am considering converting an existing Alienware dual Opteron 250 Win/XP
Pro system to Win-x64. I have 2 separate hard drives C: and D: with C: being
the boot drive for Win/XP Pro. I would like to end up with a dual boot
system with Win-x64 on drive D: . I tried to do my own research but havent
had much luck other than finding this newsgroup. Do I need to update BIOS,
disk drivers, CD/DVD drivers before I install ? Does anyone have any advice
on what I should do before I convert ? Can someone point me to a link or
other source of information that might help me do my own prep work ?

Thanks for any help

Barry C

 

Check out Charlie Russels recent web cast introducing users to Windows XP
Professional x64:
http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?id=909753

Including his overview of x64:
http://msmvps.com/xperts64/archive/2005/11/29/77166.aspx

I had written something myself a few months back:
http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta/Blog/cns!1ppieQf0aF6k7J0XYrJfhfMQ!1420.entry

 

For more on dual and multiple boot scenarios with x64 Edition (or any
others, actually), you might find the detailed blog I did on this of
interest and use.

http://msmvps.com/xperts64/archive/2005/11/21/76180.aspx

HTH.

 

Congratulations on being one of very few to complete the first step towards
64bit computing: thinking about it and planning before acting. ;~)

Looking for peripheral drivers, if not new 64bit peripherals, may be your
biggest task (assuming your mobo/BIOS, video, chipset, etc. is up to snuff).
It's amazing how many just try installing, often without even looking at the
readme type files that come with the OS first... there's so much info
available, and you deserve honors for making the effort to ask and learn
before jumping in.

Start by browsing your system's website. Or look at the individual
components' sites if you built it yourself. Then do the same for anything
you've added on; in each case you'll be looking for explicit 64bit
compatibility, either built-in or available via downloaded driver. USB
support has been the weakest link for me... but I was fortunate enough to
buy a new 64bit printer/scanner, so that wasn't a problem for me the way it
was for many others. You will likely also need a new modem if you currently
use one to dialout for Internet access etc. Your existing monitor and video
card should work with (at least) the built-in generic drivers, but you'll
likely get better performance with specific drivers for each (all need be
64bit).

You will probably have the best experience if you at least initially dual-
boot x64 Windows (after x32 is already installed) on its own partition or
physical drive (it will install to a primary drive or a logical drive in an
extended partition, and can create and format them for you during the
install process). You probably want at least 8G hard drive space *minimum*
per OS. I'd also advise at *least* 512M system RAM. The biggest problem with
hard drives seems to be with SATAII drives and RAIDs generally; be sure you
have the required driver on floppy and be ready to insert it when the OS
asks for it... the dreaded "F6" prompt. Optical drives shouldn't need
drivers. Nor should older IDE disks.

You will likely need to get new 64bit-capable utilities for your system,
such as a firewall, spyware and virus scanners, disk maintenance, etc.
Networking is largely unchanged.

And what that will hopefully get you is a relatively stress-free
installation and working system your first attempt, probably within an
hour's time of booting to your install disc! Which is a *nice* feeling! :~)