Windows 7 RC 32bit or 64bit Poll

[Randle]

Okay, so I'm currently downloading 64bit Windows 7
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/window ... nload.aspx

I was convinced by this article and my 4GB of Ram to take this option instead of 32bit even though I know some old programs may not work...
http://gizmodo.com/5133771/why-you-shou ... -windows-7

Which version of Windows 7 RC are you installing and why?

[t140568]

Downloaded the 32-bit version this morning. Why? Only one PC in the house has 64-bit capability, and for testing purposes, the 32-bit will be good enough for me.

Incidentally, I downloaded it this morning at 1548KBps and it took 26min, 56sec for all 2413MB!

[Speeder.dk]

I'm downloading the x64 version as we speak... Speed: 2,03MB/sec ... I'm using 64bit because it, in my opinion, uses my hardware more effectively. I'm going to install it on a dualboot with OSX on my X61s (I use 2 harddrives, one for Xp+Ubuntu and another for OSX and Win7)...

/Speeder

-Edit-
Maybe the title of the forum should change to Windows 7 Beta/RC?

[archer6]

I'm using two hard drives in my T500. XP Pro in the Mainbay, and Win 7 64-bit in the Ultrabay.

[yak]

Downloading the German 32bit version right now, 4 MB/s. The whole iso will download in little over 10 minutes .

Luckily the download works in Firefox with their Java downloader. When I was trying to get the beta, I had to use IE. Yuck!

I'm getting a 32bit version as I don't have a 64bit capable machine right now, although I may eventually update the CPU in my T60 to a Core2Duo. I definitely won't give up on the T60 as I need its 4:3 display.

I'm still not sure if and how to install together with my current Vista because when I installed the official Windows 7 beta in the UltraBay, it screwed up my Vista file system forcing me to reinstall it. When it did it the second time I immediately got rid of it. Ok, beta, my fault, but I'm concerned now. I don't want to remove the main drive when I start the 7 up, too much hassle.

[archer6]

I'm still not sure if and how to install together with my current Vista because when I installed the official Windows 7 beta in the UltraBay, it screwed up my Vista file system forcing me to reinstall it.

Here is how I have my T500 setup. I remove the Mainbay HD. Then I install the 2nd HD in the Ultrabay. Using an external USB CD/DVD drive I install Windows 7 to the ultrabay drive. Then I put the mainbay drive back in. Now when booting it boots to the main drive just as it normally would.
If during power up I press the F12 key I get a boot menu which allows me to choose the ultrbay drive to boot into Win 7.
Now both OS's are seperate and do not affect one another. Also I can remove the ultrabay drive & use the ultrabay optical drive without having to make changes.

[GomJabbar]

I did it just like archer6. If you don't have an external DVD drive, you can remove the main hard drive and put your 2nd hard drive in the main hard drive slot to do the install. After the install, remove the 2nd hard drive from the main hard drive slot and put the main hard drive back in. Then remove the Ultrabay optical drive and with the 2nd hard drive in the adapter, insert it into the Ultrabay. End result will be the same as with the method archer6 laid out.

[donzoomik]

Basically i'd perfer 64bit, but localized RC that i'm testing is only available as 32bit. 1GB of RAM (that i don't really use except cache) gone to waste.

[SafeHarbor]

I put the 64-bit version on the T61p. I'm a bit hesitant about the Ricoh updates as they crashed the laptop under the .7000 beta version. The config currently is Ubuntu on the 320 GB drive with Win 7 RC in the top 99 GB of it and Vista Home Premium on the original 100 GB drive in the ultrabay. I'm going to try the 32-bit version on the R52.

[RealBlackStuff]

I'm going to try the 32-bit version on a fresh 40GB HD in my R52 (with Intel graphics).
See if that works.

[Marin85]

I´m still about to install the RC. As of now, what I don´t like about the Win 7 x64 beta (I´m using it right now) is a small bug inherited from Vista x64 about not properly using previews as icon thumbnails for a given file like .pdf and most video file extensions (this feature should be supported by the corresponding program, in my case Acrobat and K-Lite codec pack). Also, Skype 4.0 seemed to experience some issues with Win 7 x64, which weren´t present under the x86 edition. I´m curios whether they have fixed these in RC. So, I will be probably installing both versions, I mean in the end they are anyway for testing purposes only, so we have to test them all

[yak]

Here is how I have my T500 setup. I remove the Mainbay HD. Then I install the 2nd HD in the Ultrabay. Using an external USB CD/DVD drive I install Windows 7 to the ultrabay drive. Then I put the mainbay drive back in. Now when booting it boots to the main drive just as it normally would.
If during power up I press the F12 key I get a boot menu which allows me to choose the ultrbay drive to boot into Win 7.
Now both OS's are seperate and do not affect one another. Also I can remove the ultrabay drive & use the ultrabay optical drive without having to make changes.

Thanks for the tip but that wasn't my problem.

Initially I did the installation the wrong way and kept the main drive in the laptop but I managed to restore it to the previous state and installed Windows 7 (beta) again, this time with the main drive removed.

The problem was that as soon as I booted into Windows 7 (with the main drive back in) and the main drive was mounted, its file system got corrupted (or at least it seemed so). After going back to Vista, the problem didn't show up immediately but after a while I would get to the corrupted files and the system would complain about damaged files. Running chkdsk resulted in destroying all files permissions yielding Vista unbootable.

After reinstalling Vista, I didn't boot into Windows 7 for some time and everything was ok. Then I tried it once again and soon after I got the exact same problem in Vista. A second reinstall was immediately followed by removal of Windows 7. Since then Vista works without a glitch.

That's why I'm concerned about trying it again (this time the RC). I don't know what exactly caused the corruption and if it was a 7's bug, I don't know if it was fixed in the RC.

I probably should backup the main drive and give it a try. If the thing happens again, I should report it to Microsoft. I just don't know if I have enough time to go through all this.

[neenee]

64-bit on SSD in my T400, 32-bit on my desktop, both work fine, no driver issues.

[GnatGoSplat]

Started with x64 on my Z61t, but had to downgrade to 32-bit because there are no 64-bit drivers for my Adaptec Cardbus SCSI which I need to drive my oscilloscope. I need to replace it with a USB SCSI adapter so I can use VMWare and a 32-bit guest OS to run my scope.

[blynch]

32bit for me. OneNote print drivers do not work with 64bit, so 32bit is a must for anyone using OneNote for notes. (you need the driver to put powerpoints or pdf files into onenote)

I had the 64bit beta a few months ago and after realizing this I stopped using it. The next version of Office will have this fixed, supposedly, so I will switch to 64bit then.

[Randle]

Onenote print drivers don't work! grr... That's annoying. I print to that program all the time but probably less often than bullzip pdf printer, so its not a deal breaker

[bigwormie]

i too need onenote print so 32 bit on x61t and 64 bit on desktop. fyi there is a solution to this recently for 64 bit but not as good as native print to onenote support.

[jdhurst]

It matters less to me now than it did. I downloaded the current Windows 7 assessment tool from Microsoft and ran it today. It says my T61p 64-bit machine won't run Windows 7. The Lenovo tools generally failed the test (although new Lenovo tools may come out, but not for my now obsolete T61p). Further, my use of Internet Explorer and email (Outlook) is such that it said both of these are not compliant. My Vista structure has been pruned of anything Vista and then the basics failed as well.

So I had intended to replace my IBM Desktop with a certified Windows 7 Desktop. That would work. But I had intended at the same time to purchase a new (larger, faster) hard drive for my T61p and put Windows 7 on it, but that looks suspect at this point in time. New drivers may change things, but I am not holding my breath. ... JDH

[pae77]

Win7 RC build 7127 x64 is running amazingly well on my T61p (see sig for specs). Way better than it ever ran before, in fact. It feels like it's been turbo charged. Loving it.