New Computer, New Problems

[Hero]

In a bit of a pickle.

Got a hand-me-down PC that has WinXP x64 loaded on it. Has Adobe CS4 software. It easily outclasses my old comp.

Issue is, I cannot fin x64 drivers for my scanner (for teh arts) and webcam (for teh streaming of teh arts) at all. For the cam, anything past XP 32-bit is not supported and for some reason, my scanner does have Win7 support...

So is there a way to trick the OS into booting 32-bit drivers? Do I need to bite the bullet and rollback to a 32-bit OS?

[kedawa]

Dual-booting XP and 7 would probably be best.
I wonder if you'd have direct access to the USB ports from a WinXP virtual machine. That might be something to look into.

[Hero]

Dual-booting XP and 7 would probably be best.
I wonder if you'd have direct access to the USB ports from a WinXP virtual machine. That might be something to look into.

I did notice that it has the option of booting into 32-bit, but then the system says that it isn't actually there. Is there a way to add it in without losing the 64bit version? I have a 32 bit WinXP disc lying about somewhere...

[kedawa]

I'm not sure how it works with Windows 7, but in the past I've always had to install the older operating system first in order for it to dual boot.
It may be possible to install XP now somehow, but it would probably require you to monkey around with the master boot record.
Since it's a new computer, I would just erase the hard drive and make two or more partitions, then install XP on the first partition, and after that, install 7 on the second.

[Shin Johnpv]

Win XP 64bit was an only partially supported OS and MS dropped it like a fucking rock. You're not going to find drivers for it for most things. Go to newegg and buy Windows 7 64bit OEM.

[kedawa]

I'm dumb and didn't even realize you were talking about XP64. It's pretty much crap, but you can dual boot 32/64 if you really need to.

[Hero]

I'm trying to make it usable for the following:

• Artwork (lots of scanning, PhotoShop & Illustrator, Flash, maybe 3DS Max)
• PC Gaming (finally)
• Day to day emails, forum crap

So my biggest concern is that this thing is already preloaded with CS4 Master Collection, and I wasn't given the discs so I could reinstall. I really want to keep the software that's already here, otherwise I would go back to WinXP 32-bit or up to Win7 64 in a heartbeat.

I also have my older HDD I with winxp 32-bit and was thinking of putting that in this - but then I'd have to make sure the motherboard/bios supports and recognizes and will boot to the 32-bit version...and even then, I'm not entirely sure how I would get one OS to recognize the files on the other...

[epmode]

I don't think that moving your old XP 32 HDD into your new machine will work very well, if it even works at all. When you're dealing with completely different hardware, it's a good idea to start from scratch. Hell, even if you can get your old 32 bit install to work, you'd still have to reinstall the Adobe software, right?

If you're interested in gaming, I'd suggest staying away from XP entirely. Use the XP64 build for the Adobe stuff, dual-boot into Windows 7 64 (on a separate HDD) for everything else. You're already halfway there since setting up a dual-boot machine requires you to start with the older OS before installing Windows 7.

[kedawa]

You could also put in a removable hard drive bay and just swap in the XP64 drive for doing graphics stuff.
Use your old hard drive to install Windows 7.

[Shin Johnpv]

So my biggest concern is that this thing is already preloaded with CS4 Master Collection, and I wasn't given the discs so I could reinstall. I really want to keep the software that's already here, otherwise I would go back to WinXP 32-bit or up to Win7 64 in a heartbeat.

You should be able to dual boot with win7 64 fine, if I remember right. Specially since the old OS is already the installed one. Maybe some one here can correct me on it.