Windows 64 Bit Compatibility Question

Hi

I am currently using Windows XP SP 2 32bit, I am thinking of installing the
64 bit version because of the 3.5GB RAM limitation.

The questions I have is about softwa

1) I use Office 2007 will this still work?
2) I use Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005, will this work?
3) I use Virtual PC 2007, can i run 32 bit applications inside of this on a
64 bit system?

Regards

D

DMc2007 wrote:


I am currently using Windows XP SP 2 32bit, I am thinking of installing the
64 bit version because of the 3.5GB RAM limitation.


You're not thinking, since then you would have recognized that there's no
such limitation if you simply use PAE. The only limit is the 2/3 GB user
mode address space per process, and maybe some duble buffering for drivers
which are not PAE aware.

The questions I have is about softwa

1) I use Office 2007 will this still work?


Counter question: What does "work" mean in terms of Office 2007?

Short to say, it will still launch as before and behave as before. Which is
insufficient for any sane scenario or reliable usage.

2) I use Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005, will this work?


Same as above.

3) I use Virtual PC 2007, can i run 32 bit applications inside of this on a
64 bit system?


Yes.

Windows XP SP2 and later by default on NX capable processors
enables PAE in order to enable NX, but limits physical
address space to 32 bits for driver compatibility reasons.


Sebastian G. wrote:
DMc2007 wrote:


I am currently using Windows XP SP 2 32bit, I am thinking of
installing the
64 bit version because of the 3.5GB RAM limitation.


You're not thinking, since then you would have recognized that there's
no such limitation if you simply use PAE. The only limit is the 2/3 GB
user mode address space per process, and maybe some duble buffering for
drivers which are not PAE aware.

The questions I have is about softwa

1) I use Office 2007 will this still work?


Counter question: What does "work" mean in terms of Office 2007?

Short to say, it will still launch as before and behave as before. Which
is insufficient for any sane scenario or reliable usage.

2) I use Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005, will this work?


Same as above.

3) I use Virtual PC 2007, can i run 32 bit applications inside of this
on a
64 bit system?


Yes.

You need to re-read the information relative to PAE and
Windows XP. Regardless of PAE, Windows XP is still limited
to 4GB.


http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system...AE/pae_os.mspx

Windows and PAE
Windows Version Support
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows XP
AWE API and 4 GB of physical RAM

Windows XP SP2 and later
AWE API and 4 GB of physical address space

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system...AE/PAEmem.mspx



Sebastian G. wrote:
DMc2007 wrote:


I am currently using Windows XP SP 2 32bit, I am thinking of
installing the
64 bit version because of the 3.5GB RAM limitation.


You're not thinking, since then you would have recognized that there's
no such limitation if you simply use PAE. The only limit is the 2/3 GB
user mode address space per process, and maybe some duble buffering for
drivers which are not PAE aware.

The questions I have is about softwa

1) I use Office 2007 will this still work?


Counter question: What does "work" mean in terms of Office 2007?

Short to say, it will still launch as before and behave as before. Which
is insufficient for any sane scenario or reliable usage.

2) I use Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005, will this work?


Same as above.

3) I use Virtual PC 2007, can i run 32 bit applications inside of this
on a
64 bit system?


Yes.

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes, once you install an operating system inside a guest you can run the
apps on that.

"DMc2007" wrote in message
...
Hi

I am currently using Windows XP SP 2 32bit, I am thinking of installing
the
64 bit version because of the 3.5GB RAM limitation.

The questions I have is about softwa

1) I use Office 2007 will this still work?
2) I use Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005, will this work?
3) I use Virtual PC 2007, can i run 32 bit applications inside of this on
a
64 bit system?

Regards

D

Colin is correct. I'd only add that you should ensure you have drivers for
your hardware before making the move.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/xperts64
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel


"DMc2007" wrote in message
...
Hi

I am currently using Windows XP SP 2 32bit, I am thinking of installing
the
64 bit version because of the 3.5GB RAM limitation.

The questions I have is about softwa

1) I use Office 2007 will this still work?
2) I use Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005, will this work?
3) I use Virtual PC 2007, can i run 32 bit applications inside of this on
a
64 bit system?

Regards

D

Theo wrote:

Windows XP SP2 and later by default on NX capable processors
enables PAE in order to enable NX, but limits physical
address space to 32 bits for driver compatibility reasons.


That's why you have to enable it explicitly via the /PAE switch.

Sebastian G. wrote:

Theo wrote:

Windows XP SP2 and later by default on NX capable processors enables
PAE in order to enable NX, but limits physical address space to 32
bits for driver compatibility reasons.



That's why you have to enable it explicitly via the /PAE switch.

Enabling the /PAE on Windows XP will still not provide for memory
addressing above the 4GB boundary.

John

Sebastian G. wrote:
Theo wrote:

Windows XP SP2 and later by default on NX capable processors enables
PAE in order to enable NX, but limits physical address space to 32
bits for driver compatibility reasons.


That's why you have to enable it explicitly via the /PAE switch.

"but limits physical address space to 32 bits (4GB) for
driver compatibility reasons."

John John wrote:

Sebastian G. wrote:

Theo wrote:

Windows XP SP2 and later by default on NX capable processors enables
PAE in order to enable NX, but limits physical address space to 32
bits for driver compatibility reasons.


That's why you have to enable it explicitly via the /PAE switch.

Enabling the /PAE on Windows XP will still not provide for memory
addressing above the 4GB boundary.


Actually I just didn't catch the meaning to notice that the above is wrong:
NX without PAE switch limits the *virtual address space* to 32 bits, which
is 4 GB minus PCI address range, 1 MB lower memory, config ROMs etc.

With the PAE switch the virtual address space is extended to 36 bits, but
the physical address range is limited to 32 bits. That is, you can actually
fully use the entire 4 GB, since the memory burned by the reserved areas is
remapped to addresses above the 4 GB virtual address limit.