How do I find 64 bit drivers?

[sundoulos_]

I have an AMD Athlon X2 64 bit processor currently running xp pro 32 bit and would like to upgrade to 64 bit xp pro to take advantage of the extra RAM and HDD space I cannot currently utilize. My computer is an ACER Aspire and their support site is not user friendly to locate non-factory installed drivers for other bit OS. It shipped with Vista HP 32 bit, but being a midrange system, it creeped along. Anyone that could point me in the right direction please??

 

[gbhall]

GO to Everst Home edition, http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html download and run it. It should accurately identify your motherboard and chipset and will frequently give you a link to the correct site to download them

 

[sundoulos_]

Thanks! Will go right now.

UPDATE:

I have downloaded, installed, and run Everest. No luck on identifying chipset (unknown). I have a lot of motherboard info, but what I get from it is that ACER made it and then I get the product # (EM61SM/EM61PM) but not sure where to go from here.

What will I ABSOLUTELY have to have to migrate? I mean which drivers will have to be 64bit versions for my computer to operate? I can probably find most through Google, patience, and persistence - but any help locating them is VERY much appreciated.

 

[fullmetalvegan]

You'll need a 64-bit operating system, can't run 64-bit drivers on a 32-bit OS. Once you install a 64-bit operating system on your computer, windows automatically fetches what 64-bit drivers it can and everything else is easy to do. When you download a program or driver from a certain site, you just click the 64-bit version.

If they don't have one, such as most games and software aren't 64-bit, the regular 32-bit (x86) files are just installed in a folder called Program Files (x86). Basically, 64-bit can run both 32 and 64, whereas 32 can only run 32. So you're at no disadvantage at all with a 64-bit os. Don't be fooled by people saying 64-bit is a problem cause you need 64-bit drivers/programs for everything, because there are drivers for 10/10 of the things i use for 64-bit and 32-bit software runs on my 64-bit PC fine.

Only certain rare programs require themselves to actually be 64-bit to run on a x64 computer, I think out of everything I use only PeerGuardian won't work yet.

 

[sundoulos_]

I do have XP Pro retail 64bit.

My question is in regards to what drivers will I need to have the 64bit version of to install the 64bit OS?

Just like I have to have 64bit versions of some programs (Autodesk and Comodo for example) because the 32bit versions will not run on a 64bit OS (I have 64bit Vista on another system and have ran into this before) what hardware drivers are most likely to be 32bit/64bit specific? My experience with XP is when you install fresh w/o a factory restore and you do not have the drivers BEFORE you switch - you are screwed. That is until you crack the case to find what you have (video cards, sound, on board stuff, sata controller....) to then spend hours trying to locate the right drivers for the hardware you have. Device manager tends to be no help except to ask you where it should look and showing you a yellow "!" to let you know it isn't working.

 

[gbhall]

My understanding is the 64-bit operating system should run any 32-bit programs with no trouble. A 32-bit system will not run 64-bit specific programs (of which there are very few). Everest not being any help may because your system is new, or perhaps there is not a specific Vista version of Everest. Try other software to identify components such as Aida32 and belarc advisor. All good, but vary in their coverage - these guys are amateurs, dont forget, they have not got sheds-full of modern PCs.

Since you know the product id there should be no real problem getting the drivers, as long as Acer ever did support XP 64. They might not have done, in which case you can go to the motherboard manufacturers site for chipset drivers (wont be Acer !), and similar for other peripherals. I advised a gent a week ago to try drivers for a slightly earlier model of his laptop on XP (downgrade for same reasons as you !), and they worked superbly, he says.

Oddly, the Acer support is down as I try.....

 

[sundoulos_]

My understanding is the 64-bit operating system should run any 32-bit programs with no trouble.

For the most part this is true; however, I am aware of two that will not work:

1. Zone Alarm (had to use Comodo, as they have a 64 bit version)
2. Autodesk AutoCad (must use 64 bit version)

I have had no problem with anything else I have ran or am running on either XP Pro (32 bit) and Vista HP (64 bit).

BTW Everest says the mfg of my motherboard is ACER. Does not tell me anything re: chipset. How can I find this out? I do have the 32 bit XP drivers (as well as the 32 bit Vista ones) - but will this work if I load XP 64 bit?

I attached a .txt of all available drivers from ACER site for my model

 

[gbhall]

Everest should have a page under Motherboard for 'chipset' which should say things like Northbridge Via VT8380 K8M800. In this case, if I looked up on the Via site for the K8M800 chipset I would get the motherboard drivers.

It also tells me the southbridge is Via VT8237.

Didi you get a look at the other PC system analysers I recommended?

Have you looked inside the driver Zip files for XP, there might be 64-bit and 32-bit versions together (though I doubt it)

 

[LookinAround]

Why don't you try SIV (System Information Viewer to report system components and please report if you have better luck.

/**** Edit ****/
You may also find this Microsoft article helpful
"Overview of the compatibility considerations for 32-bit programs on 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP"

 

[sundoulos_]

Everest should have a page under Motherboard for 'chipset' which should say things like Northbridge Via VT8380 K8M800. In this case, if I looked up on the Via site for the K8M800 chipset I would get the motherboard drivers.

I found the page and it is blank. If I look at the "summary" under chipset, it says "unknown".

And no, I have not tried anything else yet but I will try each of your suggestions tomorrow (gbhall & lookinaround) when I get in from work and will let you know how they work out.

Thank you!

 

[fullmetalvegan]

My question is in regards to what drivers will I need to have the 64bit version of to install the 64bit OS?

Ah, I see. Well, I assume you'd need the 64-bit version for all your drivers, but I'm not sure. When I installed Vista Ultimate 64-bit everything happened automatically, I didn't need to look for drivers anywhere, everything just worked.

The only time I ever use 64-bit is when a driver or program specifically lists having a 64-bit version, otherwise I just choose the 32-bit version. But as far as core drivers go, I think Vista covered all my 64-bit drivers, so maybe XP doesn't offer as good 64-bit support if you've run into a problem with this before. For me, Vista 32-bit and 64-bit installed the exact same way, I had no dramas with drivers at all.