64-Bit Win 7? Pitfalls?

I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
son's college computer.

Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
version of Win 7 64 bit?

Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
printer?

I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
I should be asking?

Thanks in advance,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

On 7/28/2010 1:57 PM, wrote:

I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
son's college computer.

Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
version of Win 7 64 bit?

Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
printer?

I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
I should be asking?

Thanks in advance,



The 'student versions' of Windows are identical in every way to the
software you can buy in a store; they just cost less. Keep in mind that
these are upgrade versions.

You'll need 64-bit drivers for 64-bit Windows, but 64-bit drivers are
available for most any hardware that you can buy today.

Why do you need to install Windows from scratch?

--
Daddy

Daddy writes:

On 7/28/2010 1:57 PM, wrote:

I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
son's college computer.

Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
version of Win 7 64 bit?

Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
printer?

I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
I should be asking?

Thanks in advance,



The 'student versions' of Windows are identical in every way to the
software you can buy in a store; they just cost less. Keep in mind
that these are upgrade versions.

You'll need 64-bit drivers for 64-bit Windows, but 64-bit drivers are
available for most any hardware that you can buy today.

Why do you need to install Windows from scratch?

The computer would come with a 32-bit OS (Probably XP, as if you get
the "Downgrade to XP" option you can get media. So I would install
the 64 bit version clean. Which I have not done before...

Thanks,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

In article ,
says...

I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
son's college computer.

Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
version of Win 7 64 bit?

Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
printer?

I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
I should be asking?

Thanks in advance,


I wouldn't do it. Tho they say 95% of the 32 bit programs work in 64bit
environment, if your son has any specialized software (ie: engineering
programs, etc..) they might be the 5% that don't cooperate. Of course
there are ways around this like virtual drives or dual boots, if you
have to go that route.

I'm now dealing with 7 64bit (new laptop 'cause old one died) and I'm
finding some pitfalls. Some of it tho I think has to do with hardware,
other 3rd party software clashes and last, my lack of knowledge in win 7
and using the dell 1564.

Now on the other hand, I think this is the OS of the future and it is
very stable for me. I'm forcing myself to deal with windows 7 because I
want to be a power user like before when I was in XP. This will take me
several years before I'm satisfied with myself but I did it in XP so I'm
sure I can do it again.

In article ,
RnR wrote:
In article ,
says...

I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
son's college computer.

Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
version of Win 7 64 bit?

Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
printer?

I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
I should be asking?

Thanks in advance,


I wouldn't do it. Tho they say 95% of the 32 bit programs work in 64bit
environment, if your son has any specialized software (ie: engineering
programs, etc..) they might be the 5% that don't cooperate. Of course
there are ways around this like virtual drives or dual boots, if you
have to go that route.



Ask the university bookstore if any of the software is tied to a 32
bit OS.

IMO, 64 bit windows is a big win and I wouldn't do a fresh install of
32 bit Windows unless it was absolutely unavoidable.

--
Al Dykes
News is something someone wants to suppress, everything else is advertising.
- Lord Northcliffe, publisher of the Daily Mail

On 7/28/2010 3:21 PM, wrote:
writes:

On 7/28/2010 1:57 PM, wrote:

I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
son's college computer.

Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
version of Win 7 64 bit?

Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
printer?

I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
I should be asking?

Thanks in advance,



The 'student versions' of Windows are identical in every way to the
software you can buy in a store; they just cost less. Keep in mind
that these are upgrade versions.

You'll need 64-bit drivers for 64-bit Windows, but 64-bit drivers are
available for most any hardware that you can buy today.

Why do you need to install Windows from scratch?

The computer would come with a 32-bit OS (Probably XP, as if you get
the "Downgrade to XP" option you can get media. So I would install
the 64 bit version clean. Which I have not done before...

Thanks,



1- You can only install 64-bit Windows on a computer with 64-bit hardware.

2- As I said, the student version is an upgrade, and 32-bit Windows
can't be upgraded to 64-bit Windows.

3- In any case, why do you want to 'upgrade' to x64? What do you hope to
gain vs. x86 Windows?

--
Daddy

Daddy writes:

On 7/28/2010 3:21 PM, wrote:
writes:

On 7/28/2010 1:57 PM, wrote:

I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
son's college computer.

Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
version of Win 7 64 bit?

Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
printer?

I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
I should be asking?

Thanks in advance,



The 'student versions' of Windows are identical in every way to the
software you can buy in a store; they just cost less. Keep in mind
that these are upgrade versions.

You'll need 64-bit drivers for 64-bit Windows, but 64-bit drivers are
available for most any hardware that you can buy today.

Why do you need to install Windows from scratch?

The computer would come with a 32-bit OS (Probably XP, as if you get
the "Downgrade to XP" option you can get media. So I would install
the 64 bit version clean. Which I have not done before...

Thanks,



1- You can only install 64-bit Windows on a computer with 64-bit hardware.

2- As I said, the student version is an upgrade, and 32-bit Windows
can't be upgraded to 64-bit Windows.

Ahh, I did not know that. Deal killer.

3- In any case, why do you want to 'upgrade' to x64? What do you hope
to gain vs. x86 Windows?

Primarily being able to use extra memory for photo and video editing.

Thanks,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)

wrote in :

2- As I said, the student version is an upgrade, and 32-bit Windows
can't be upgraded to 64-bit Windows.

Ahh, I did not know that. Deal killer.



However, you can accomplish what you want by clean-installing Win7 from the
upgrade media. See
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/cle...rade_media.asp .

Back in December the student versions of Win7 were $29, so I was upgrading
a whole bunch of XP and Vista computers for students using Thurrott's
method.

wrote:
I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
son's college computer.

Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
version of Win 7 64 bit?

Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
printer?

I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
I should be asking?

Thanks in advance,


it is probably a good idea to contact your sons college and talk to the
college store or computer center. they often have package deals that
are very complete machines with full warranties for students. most
colleges align themselves with a particular vendor or two which often
means they have an on site tech with replacements parts at the ready
which greatly reduces down time.

the caveats of windows 7 64 are most commonly lack of compatibility with
older printers (must check the availability of drivers for your
make/model printer or simply resign to buying a new one) and with
certain vpn software products (vpn is used to connect remote computers
to other networks, ie office working connecting to office) but you
probably don't have to worry about that.

not sure why you are asking about the operating system and installing
it... dell doesn't sell any latitudes without operating systems.

but you should go for the academic pricing on office...
http://www.microsoft.com/student/office/en-us/

here's a good deal on the e6510
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...en&s=bsd&cs=04

In article ,
Christopher Muto wrote:
wrote:
I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
son's college computer.

Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
version of Win 7 64 bit?

Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
printer?

I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
I should be asking?

Thanks in advance,


it is probably a good idea to contact your sons college and talk to the
college store or computer center. they often have package deals that
are very complete machines with full warranties for students. most
colleges align themselves with a particular vendor or two which often
means they have an on site tech with replacements parts at the ready
which greatly reduces down time.

the caveats of windows 7 64 are most commonly lack of compatibility with
older printers (must check the availability of drivers for your
make/model printer or simply resign to buying a new one) and with
certain vpn software products (vpn is used to connect remote computers
to other networks, ie office working connecting to office) but you
probably don't have to worry about that.
k

If the campus uses a vpn, they will give you the latest software. The
bookstore/computer center will give you good info.

IME, hp retail printers and scanners and AIO devices are the worst for
forward compatibility. I have a Canon scanner I have not been able to
get to work. A new and better scanner is about $60.

Photography IMO definitly indicates 64 bit windows and no less than
4GB ram. My new $600 laptop has that and I can easily edit huge files
in photoshop and photoshop elements.

--
Al Dykes
News is something someone wants to suppress, everything else is advertising.
- Lord Northcliffe, publisher of the Daily Mail