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GooberSeven
11 Posts
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May 11th, 2007 10:00
Is this a 64 bit processor?
2.8GHz
Dual Core
Intel Pentium D 915 Processor with
2x 2MB L2 Cache and 800MHz FSB
GooberSeven
11 Posts
290
0
Posted May 11th, 2007 11:00
ejn63,The Dimension 520 came with Vista Home Basic.I want to upgrade to Vista Ultimate.Should I install the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Ultimate.Would I just need the upgrade version of Vista Ultimate?- Some questions to answer first: Is all your hardware 64-bit compliant? That is, check to be sure your printer, scanner, mouse, etc. - all peripherals - have 64-bit drivers. Many do not, and 32-bit drivers won't work. Also check all the software you use - you may wind up having to upgrade to 64-bit versions of some software. Not all 32-bit software will run in a 64-bit environment. Then check your RAM. Though 2G of RAM is OK for 32-bit Vista, 64-bit works best with 4G or more of RAM. If you answer all of the above as "yes", then you can use the 64-bit version. You need the upgrade version - it's still not cheap (about $250) for what you get, but it's about $150 less than the retail version of Vista Ultimate.
GooberSeven
11 Posts
290
0
Posted May 11th, 2007 13:00
ejn63,One more question.For my Dimension 520 with Vista Home Basic.I want to completely wipe out the Hardrive. Delete the partitions, format everything.How would I do this?Some years ago I had a machine with the 3.5 floppy drive. I formatted that with the op-sys on it. I copied fdisk and format to it. Booted the machine using the floppy disk.- You can do a clean install with the Vista upgrade DVD's but it requires a bit more work but is doable. Microsoft took out the feature that previous versions of Windows had wherein you could use the upgrade media and when asked to a valid version of Windows like when you if you use an XP upgrade CD you can use a Windows ME CD to make it think you have a valid version already installed on the computer. Here's how to do a clean install with an upgrade CD.Step 1 Boot from your Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade DVDStep 2 When asked to enter your product key leave it blank and uncheck the box that says automatically activate Windows when I am onlineStep 3 on the next screen it will ask you which version of Vista you are interested in select Ultimate because that's what you are using.Step 4 on the installation method screen select customStep 5 if the partition slection screen appears select each partition then click deleteStep 6 allow the installation to continue the rest is fully automatedStep 7 Once you get to the desktop ignore any prompts that tell you to activate as your key will not work because you didn' do an upgrade instlalation and the key will not work You now have a version of Windows that the upgrade edition will accept as proof that you have a suitable version of Windows to upgrde from. Yes the upgrade editions consider a version of itself as an acceptable upgradeStep 8 Go back to your upgrade CD and Click install nowStep 9 When prompted enter your product key and you can either leave the box for auto activation checked or uncheck your choiceStep 10 on the type of install select upgradeStep 11 ignore the go online to get more compatability information and click nextStep 12 the rest of the installtion will be automatic just like the first one and this time you can activate it when you get to the desktop Have fun!
ejn63
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Posted May 11th, 2007 10:00