I’m about to cleanse my computer and reinstall Windows.
I’m gonna set up a dual boot system. One boot will be clean and used solely for Ableton Suite 8 and Traktor Pro. The other will be for general use like email, browsing etc.
I can go 32 or 64 bit and wondering which is best. I have a 2.8GHz Core2Duo CPU and 6GB RAM. I’ve got two separate internal drives at 750GB and 80GB with a 1TB external drive. My music is all on the external drive.
My plan was to split the 750GB to two partitions, installing 32 bit XP on one and 64 bit Win7 on the other. The 80GB will be split in two as well, half for a clean backup image of .each OS.
Should I bother with the 32 bit XP.or just install the 64 bit version? I know my RAM will be limited in 32 bit, but am thinking lots of Ableton and Traktor effects etc are still only 32 bit compatible.
You obviously have a multicore processors, installing 32bit would defeat the purpose. Even though Ableton is in 32 bit, you’d want to go 64 bit to use all your RAM.
Hmmm. So a 64 bit XP is best way to go then it seems.
What about effects like dBlue Glitch (one of my favourites)? I used t ages ago on a 32 bit system but as it wasn’t 64 bit compatible, haven’t used it in ages. Did they upgrade it?
A 64-bit XP is the worst way to go by far. It’s quite rarely used and driver support is insanely bad.
You wanna use a 64-bit OS if you have 6GB of RAM for reasons I’m too tired to explain aorn. (And yeah, I realize that Ableton by itself–not sure what goes on if you add VSTs–cannot use more than 2GB.) And when it comes to 64-bit Windows OSes for consumers, Win 7 x64 > Vista x64 > XP x64. (It’s different for 32-bit where I’d say Win 7 > XP > Vista.)
First OS: Minimal, clean and tweaked for performance (particularly audio performance) with Traktor Pro and Ableton on it
Second OS: For whatever else like email, browsing, photoshop, itunes etc
I’ve a XP Pro key, Vista Ultimate key and a Windows 7 Ultimate key, all inherited from upgrades over past few years and machines never sold on so I still own the keys, so can install any of them, whether 32 or 64 bit.
With the above system specs, and for the purpose mentioned, what two OS’s should I install?
That’s what I’m using at the moment. It’s just the one install and got a bit cluttered and bloated though. Hence why I want two separate OS’s, able to keep one clean for just audio production/DJ use.
bloated? uninstall the useless junk the company gives you, hell at least on 7 they dont start you off with the sidebard of ultimate memory waste. what’s the bloat in 7?
I meant random stuff that’s been installed since, then uninstalled (leaving traces) and all the random crap lying around the machine. I just feel it’d be quicker and happier after a little detox, and a dual boot is to stop my audio OS from getting bloated in the future, having the second general OS for general use (and no doubt bloating!).
there’s no need to run ccleaner to reduce the size of the registry (windows doesn’t load the whole registry–old/outdated items will be ignored automatically). it’s kinda superfluous to use ccleaner to remove start-up programs–msconfig is a more direct way to do it.
and what are regular formats of the OS partition gonna do? it’s not that windows get slower from extensive use. it doesn’t get slower if you install additional programs, either.
I tried to dual boot with 64 bit, and couldn’t find some critical drivers I needed for my hardware. It was such a giant pain, and a lot of stuff didn’t work. I did 32 bit instead, and it worked flawlessly. I play videogames and stuff on it, and it never has issues. I’d go with 32 at least until there’s more support.