Windows XP upgrade

[Aethian]

Okay it's my day off and I have decided that I'm going to upgrade Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro 64bit.

Put the disk in the drive, hit reboot and wait for it to tell me to hit any key to load from the disk. I hit space and...it loads into windows but not off the disk. Okay try again and reboot this time hitting enter! Yea no such luck. So I figure it's because my keyboard is hooked up USB so I go get the OLD keyboard and hook it in. Try the first two tries again and get the same result.

So I called the customer service department and get treated like a three year old and insinuated that I'm not smart enough to own a computer.

It hurt.

ANYHOO... If anyone knows what I can do to upgrade the machine so that I can use some programs on my machine that need the 64 bit...please help. I want to get this upgraded but I don't want to have to buy the full program and loose all of my files again.

[Aethian]

Now I've been in there but don't understand how I make it look at my cd drive first.

[Pedersen]

This is not an upgrade. Do not attempt to install in-place. Doing so will make your life miserable.

The reason for this is that Windows XP is built from a majorly different codebase from Windows XP 64. In fact, XP64 comes from Windows Server 2003. As a result, who knows what will happen with the files that will be left over. XP64 might try to load driver files from 32-bit, and cause major instability (or worse).

It sucks, but reformat the drive. Anything less will make you very unhappy.

Plus, stupid question time, is your CPU a 64 bit processor? If not, the loader might be doing exactly what it was designed to do. Namely, it might be detecting that it can't install, and booting off the hard drive without telling you it can't do anything.

[Aethian]

Since the last people to touch my machine repaces the screws with rivots I don't know. But I have a feeling not everything is the way it's supposed to be inside. I can't even clean my own fans out now! *cries*

Well damn on it not being able to be loaded on and thanks for the heads up. I'll let the professor know who keeps telling me to install it and maybe she will think of something else to say. Probably not but one never knows.

Okay then new question... I've downloaded the updates from windows and when they try to install ALL fail. Even when I tried to update the drivers to my monitor it was a FAIL. I have Windows Live OneCare running that I really didn't want but Mom surprised me with. Could that be making them fail and if it is how do I turn it off to install the downloaded updates?

[volatile]

Is there any specific reason why you are "upgrading" to 64bit? Unless you have a 64bit processor you aren't getting any kind of advantage for switching to that. If anything the only thing you should do is switch to XP Pro if your school requires it.

[Aethian]

Is there any specific reason why you are "upgrading" to 64bit? Unless you have a 64bit processor you aren't getting any kind of advantage for switching to that. If anything the only thing you should do is switch to XP Pro if your school requires it.

Professor is requiring it and requiring work to be done on a program that supposedly only runs on XP Pro 64.

[volatile]

Professor is requiring it and requiring work to be done on a program that supposedly only runs on XP Pro 64.

This is pulled directly for the Microsoft site:

"Important: Windows XP Professional x64 Edition cannot be successfully installed on x86 (32-bit) systems or 64-bit Intel Itanium–based systems. 32-bit device drivers are not supported on Windows XP Professional x64 Edition."

So basically, you can use 64 bit processor to run 32 bit Windows XP but not the otherway around. Even if you could you wouldn't be able to address beyond 4gb of memory or utilize the extra regsiters in a 64 bit processor because the underlying instruction set doesn't support it. If you decide to upgrade your processor and install this note that you may have problems running your old programs on it. Specfically, if your 32 bit program tries to access a dll that was designed for 64 bit operations it will not work. I believe you will also have to find 64 bit drivers for all your hardware components if they are not automatically recognized during the installation process.

That being said....it is kind of wierd that the professor would have you using a program that can only run on a 64bit platform....what exactly is it?

[Aethian]

Oracle SQL Plus

[volatile]

I would double check and make sure that is the case. I can't find any documentation that specifies needing a 32bit operating system to run it.

[Aethian]

I would double check and make sure that is the case. I can't find any documentation that specifies needing a 32bit operating system to run it.

The professor said it needs a 64bit os to run it which was why I was trying to upgrade from XP home to XP Pro 64.

[Eric the Grey]

Since the last people to touch my machine repaces the screws with rivots I don't know. But I have a feeling not everything is the way it's supposed to be inside. I can't even clean my own fans out now! *cries*

Well damn on it not being able to be loaded on and thanks for the heads up. I'll let the professor know who keeps telling me to install it and maybe she will think of something else to say. Probably not but one never knows.

Okay then new question... I've downloaded the updates from windows and when they try to install ALL fail. Even when I tried to update the drivers to my monitor it was a FAIL. I have Windows Live OneCare running that I really didn't want but Mom surprised me with. Could that be making them fail and if it is how do I turn it off to install the downloaded updates?

Ok, first off, what kind of moron rivets a computer closed????? Whoever that SOB was, keep them away from your computer in the future.

Next, as far as a way to run the 64-bit OS, give Virtual PC a shot. I is suppose to be able to run the 64-bit version of XP. Just make certain your PC is up to it. It will probably run slow unless you have a pretty buff machine.

Finally, for windows updates, try them one at a time. Sometimes a single update will fail, causing all the others to fail as well.



Eric the Grey

[LostMyMind]

Oracle SQL Plus

Your professor is requiring you to install the actual database server? I don't see how he can ask students to install a very expensive database server on their own computer.

The Plus part of Oracle's server is a browser interface:

iSQL*Plus is a browser-based interface to SQL*Plus. iSQL*Plus is shipped with the Oracle10g Database Server.

So it don't make sense at all that it would require any specific OS. Unless the professor has a program that was written for Windows XP64 that he wants everyone to use to connect to his Oracle server.

[Aethian]

See now thats what I thought that she just wants us to connect to her. But when I told her I was having problems logging in she demanded to know if I had Win XP Pro 64 and when I said no she got very exasperated and gave me a look like I was dumb and then said "Well then don't you think thats why your having the problem?"

*twitches*

[Aethian]

Ok, first off, what kind of moron rivets a computer closed????? Whoever that SOB was, keep them away from your computer in the future.

*snip*

Finally, for windows updates, try them one at a time. Sometimes a single update will fail, causing all the others to fail as well.



Eric the Grey

Yea their office is never allowed to touch my machine when he's on duty. The other three repair guys are cool and I'll be taking my computer there Monday for a clean out and hopefully to get screws back in.

Whoo now only 87 of them fail and not all 91.

[volatile]

See now thats what I thought that she just wants us to connect to her. But when I told her I was having problems logging in she demanded to know if I had Win XP Pro 64 and when I said no she got very exasperated and gave me a look like I was dumb and then said "Well then don't you think thats why your having the problem?"

*twitches*

The professor is completely wrong. If that were true then content that is hosted by a Unix system would not be consumable by Windows based machines...which is false. I would talk with an IT staff member at your school to get that straightened out. Is the professor sure that a user account was created for you?