Well....
I'd say stick to 32-bit unless you have a specific reason to want 64 bit (and your CPU supports 64bit!) You can see if you're currently running a 32 or 64 bit version of Windows by Start->Run, enter
sysdm.cpl. The General tab shows you the OS. Look for
System Type x86 is 32 bit, ia64 is 64bit.
And to follow up on your earlier question re: using Vista drivers on XP
1. I can't tell you with 100% certainty whether it's OK or not OK to do this
2. BUT, i can tell you that, personally, i wouldn't want to be running Vista only drivers under XP
- Note what we're calling "Vista" drivers here are drivers that are only certified and tested to work with Vista
- That makes me lots less confident of what i'm using to run on. Which is very important if a problem occurs down the road (like blue screen crashes) (and those hard-to-figure out problems do happen from time-to-time) In such a case, I'd sure want to be confident in ruling out the underlying drivers as an XP/VISTA anomaly because they aren't tested and certified for XP.
As for other questions, some good (free) driver tools i'd recommend
DriverView
Creates a list of all installed driver files (and displays their version numbers, company, etc.). Note: it shows driver
file version numbers. When you install a "driver" you install one or more
driver files. The driver version number is not necessarily going to match the version number of each driver file (in fact they usually don't)
DriverMax
1. Creates a report of installed drivers (and lists driver version number)
2. Allows you to backup all your drivers. Very handy cuz should ever need reinstall XP you can reinstall all needed drivers from the backup instead of needing to hunt them all down on the web again.
Msc other stuff
To see driver version and/or driver file version number using Device Manager:
- Open the device Properties sheet
- Driver tab shows the driver, version, release date
- Click Driver Details button to see a list of driver files. Click on each one to see version number, etc.
You can use both DriverMax and Windows Device Manager to search for newer driver versions. Take their answer as being "possibly" correct. You should verify yourself.
Know that when looking for drivers, you often find a device driver available from several different sources. Apply this priority order when choosing which to use:
- System Provider (company who built your computer, e.g Dell or HP)
- Motherboard Vendor (company who integrated the mobo chipset onto the PC board and sells it as a working unit. Mobo vendors often simply re-distribute the standard chipset drivers. HOWEVER, sometimes (and is perfectly correct when they do) the mobo vendor makes some changes to work on / or how they want things to work on their mobo. In such case, the mobo may make changes and distribute a modified set of chpset drivers.
- Chipset Vendor (company who made the chips integrated on the mobo) Note these chipset drivers won't work correctly if Mobo vendor made changes and are releasing their own drivers
- Chip or Product Vendor (company who made a chip or a product on your computer.) If part of the mobo you prefer mobo drivers. Or is availalbe from System vendor site, use theirs. But if absolutely can't find them you can always try these to see if they'll work