[o2mcgovem]

Hi! Today, I got a shiny new dell laptop (Inspiron e1501) but I'm having a bit of trouble over the 64-bit processor I think I've got.

In the wizard thing on the Dell website, I selected the AMD Turion 64 X2 processor which is a 64-bit processor. But, Dell have installed a 32-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium on my laptop, I think. When I click Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System, it says System type: 32-bit Operating System.

How do I get it to update to say 64-bit processor? Do I miss out on the benefits of having a 64-bit processor because it's set to 32-bit? All this stuff is kinda confusing

Thanks.

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You dont miss out on much, its slightly harder to get drivers for, Its moderately faster than 32bit for somethings and if you have a choice its better to get but unless you get it to start with you aren't going to be able to get it without buying it and if you have 32bit vista already it ain't worth buying.

[warriorscot]

You dont miss out on much, its slightly harder to get drivers for, Its moderately faster than 32bit for somethings and if you have a choice its better to get but unless you get it to start with you aren't going to be able to get it without buying it and if you have 32bit vista already it ain't worth buying.

[o2mcgovem]

So there's no setting or anything I can change?

Argh. It's a bit frustrating, because Dell have sold me something that I can't really use to it's full. I checked the installation media and it says "Home Premium 32BIT" so it doesn't have 64-bit on either.

[rumble291]

64 bit operating systems just mean that the operating system can process 64 bits of information at one time so its suppose to be faster but its really not worth the extra money. 64 bit OS's just make things load faster really on internet explorer you really notice the difference in speed on the 64 bit explorer but the downside on 64 bit is that some programs dont work and software is hard to find but with vista because its pretty much made for 64 bit processors you will find alot more drivers yet they will only be in beta testing stages atm as vista wasnt released long ago.

[o2mcgovem]

Right... so 64-bit is useless on my laptop then. Okay... Paying extra for 64-bit was such a smart move.

[admin]

If you want 64-bit, contact Dell and request it. But first understand that there's very little benefit at this time, and many likely headaches. Driver support for 64-bit Vista is very weak, especially with Dell systems.

[o2mcgovem]

Okay, I'll leave it then. I don't like speaking to Dell... I had to phone a number to activate Windows (is that Dell or Microsoft?) and I couldn't really understand the woman on the phone. I think it was one of those call centres that're in another country. She was asking questions like "Is this genuine Microsoft software? How many computers have you installed it on?" and I got the feeling she was trying to make me admit to pirating Windows or something.

Thanks for all the help

[warriorscot]

That would be Microsoft she would have been in india i think the call center is in Bangalore, some people can have trouble with the accent if you aren't used to it. She probably was trying to catch you the new method they are using to pirate vista is a brute force hack basically using the fact that modern computer can number crunch so fast that they are generating keys until one works.