Are 32-bit pc ext hard drives compatible with 64-bit pc?

Hi,

Right now I have a 32-bit pc. I have 7 external hard drives. I recently purchased a 64-bit barebones and now I'm wondering if my external hard drives will work with the new system. Would there be any adapters, etc?

Denise

 

hard drives havent changed any old hard drive can work in any modern PC, so you're in the clear.

64 bit applies to the operating system and software only, and hardware corresponds to the type of motherboard and processor you have.

 

I'm not sure if you're asking me if I have a 64-bit processor (imagine me putting this thing together? it's going to be a trip) or if external hard drives that are connected to a 32-bit pc can always be connected to a 64-bit pc with no problems, so it's easier for me just to give you the url and you can tell me if they can be connected or not . . .

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2226940&Sku=B450-2305 A

I also bought Windows XP Pro X64 (OEM, full version) for it.

Denise

 

sorry, i thought i was being more clear.

simple answer, the hard drives will work fine on the new computer.

now, completely unrelated, I was just trying to shed some light on the whole 64 and 32 bit mumbo jumbo for you

a hard drive is a hard drive. They only vary in speed and type of connection: Serial ATA (SATA) circled in red below, and Parallel ATA (PATA or just ATA) circled in blue below. For external hard drives, there can be various types of drives inside the enclosure, and they connect using USB or Firewire.

Any hard drive can be formatted in different file systems (Windows 2000 and XP use NTFS) and any OS can be installed on it, either 32 bit or 64 bit. Of course, to use a 64 bit operating system, it would require a 64 bit processor, which your new system has.

sorry if i'm confusing you

 

Thanks for the explanation . . . it did wonders. Now I can go to sleep tonight with happy thoughts and your explanation opened up a better understanding of processors and operating systems in regards to other hardware and peripherals . . . BIG Thanks

So I have one last question about the external hard drives, and now also my present C: drive. They've been formatted for Windows XP Pro 32-bit. Do the external hard drives have to be reformatted to 64-bit to work with the new 64-bit operating system? And can I reformat my present C: drive to work with the 64-bit operating system. I'm guessing yes but I've seen snow in July.

Denise

 

for the external drives, they are simply formatted, either in the NTFS or FAT32 File system, and do not have any operating system on them, so they are fine as is.

for the current 'C' drive, which is your Windows OS drive, you will need to reformat and install WindowsXP X64. I highly recommend backing up the information you wish to keep from your C drive to the externals, and then doing a fresh reformat and new install of XP X64 once the hard drive is moved to the new machine. If you need any tips on that, search around a bit (installing Windows is pretty common across the board, X64 is not much different than 32 bit XP) and if you still need tips, make a new thread when you're ready best of luck!

 

Ok, now it makes more sense. . . only items that have an operating system have to be reformatted to 64-bit.

I read somewhere that I should make sure that I have all the drivers for everything, even if they need to be updated. Some of my equipment came with disks that contained drivers and I still have them, but I have no clue about other items that may need drivers. My monitor, keyboard, and (I believe) my mouse required no drivers . . . just plug and play. I have a combo modem/router . . . does it need a driver?

My new audio and video cards came with their own disks so I'm sure the drivers are on them, and I bought a new DVD/R/RW CD burner that has it's own disk also. What other drivers will I need?

And the last thing, my printer bit the dust a few days ago. I was looking for a 64-bit printer but I didn't find one, so I'm assuming that any printer I like will be ok. Is that correct?

Denise

 

Its a good idea to have drivers handy just to make installation smoother, but the only one you 'need' on hand is the network driver, so you have internet access to find the rest of them. The internet likely has more up to date drivers than are on the CD's that came with the hardware, so Its always good to look there.

the drives you need are as follows:

1) Network driver (often contained in the motherboard chipset driver package when on-board)
2) Motherboard Chipset Driver
3) Graphics Driver (video card)
4) Sound Driver (often contained in the motherboard chipset driver package when on-board)
5) Printer driver. While many printers work with the drivers included in Windows, others dont work as well. Especially X64, it would be a good idea to look for a 64 bit printer driver before buying a printer. So to summarize, any printer is compatible with 32 and 64 bit OS, IF the developers ahve made a driver that allows it to.

most of those drivers can be found here for your motherbaord http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdownloads.asp?model=tforce+6100-939

However, if you bought additional audio and video cards, be sure to disable the onboard ones in the BIOS, and dont install drivers for the onboard ones.

As for the router/modem, it shouldnt require a driver, as it is essentially a mini computer who's sole job is managing your network.

 

I went to the Biostar website and couldn't find a driver for printers so I wrote an email to their tech support, asking them what drivers they have for printers.

I didn't buy additional audio and video cards. I'm going to use the onboard ones for now. I'm not into gaming but I do watch movies on my pc, so I'll probably wait to upgrade and buy audio and video cards in the future.

Thanks for the tips.

Denise

 

The link he provided above will take you to your motherboard manufacturers website and you will see the available downloads for the bios (which you want to stay away from right now!! But there are also the downloads for the onboard Video, and the motherboard chipset, which you want to get the 64bit version. Just click on that biostar link in post # 8 and you will see the available downloads in red lettering!!

As far as you printer goes...you don't get that driver from the motherboard manufacturer...that you have to find at the website of your printers manufacturer. If you have trouble finding it, tell us what exactly is the make and model of your printer, and I'll help you find it.

Roger

 

My printer died just a few days ago so I'll have to buy a new one for the new pc. I want to make sure that the printer has drivers for 64-bit systems. I'm sure that a lot of them don't since x64 is relatively new. So I'm doing things a little backwards . . . I'll be buying a printer to suit the software instead of having software that suits the printer. How will I know if a printer is compatible with a 64x operating system? I haven't seen any that boasts that.

I do very little printing so on a scale of 1 to 5, a 2 is good enough for me. Normally, I print out only about 10 to 15 pages max a week, sometimes none.

Roger, I opened the boxes and browsed the manuals a bit. Progress! I didn't do anything with the parts because I ordered an anti-static mat and wristband and the mat came in the mail on Saturday but I'm still waiting for the wristband.

Denise

 

Don't know what you have in mind for a printer but being the fan of HP that I am...here is one example, as it does have a driver for 64 bit windows (which has to be downloaded). It is a printer/scanner/copier/fax all-in-one.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...all_in_ones&subcat1=&catLevel=1#defaultAnchor

one step at a time!!!! And it is always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to ESD (electrostatic discharge)!!!!

Roger

 

I downloaded and saved these updates to a folder:

Chipset
NF410_826_WINXP64_.EXE
nForce 410 chipset driver

Video
GF6100_8133_XP64.EXE
GeForce 6100 graphics driver

Do I burn them onto a disk as data? The reason I'm asking is because I was trying to do a sfc scan yesterday. I put my Windows XP Disk with SP1 in the ROM drive. The scan ran about 75% and then it asked me for the SP2 disk, which I don't have. I have the file in my pc . . . I downloaded it from Microsoft but the scan wouldn't accept the file from my pc. I burned SP2 onto a disk as data but it wasn't acceptable to the scan either and I had to terminate the scan.

Denise

 

You can just burn those .exe files to a disc using the built in XP burning wizard, and when you need to access those files in order to install them, all you have to do is put the CD you made into the drive and once the computer reads them, you can go into "My Computer", double click on the drive that cd is in, and then it should open that disc and you will see all the files you have burned onto that disc. In order to start the install of said particular file, you just double click on that .exe file and it will start the necessary procedure to install.

FYI...as long as all of the files combined don't exceed the capacity of the cd you are burning on (typically 700mb) then you can burn them all at once onto the same cd, and that will save you from using a disc for each one.

Hope that makes sense!!

Roger

 

I don't have an XP Burning Wizard. I have Nero software and it asks me what I want to do. The options are: make a data disk, make a music cd, make a video or super video cd, or copy entire disk. When I get my new DVD/CD R/RW burner installed in the new pc, I'll have more options, but I don't know what those options are yet. What program do you use?

I checked out the HP All-In-One and it's a really good. I did some checking around and found it about $11 cheaper with black and color ink cartridges included at PC Rush.com. They have excellent customer satisfaction and overall rating. Thanks for finding it for me

Denise

 

If you have Windows XP, then you have the XP built in burning wizard.

All you have to do is one right click on the file you want to burn, and in the little pop up menu, hold your mouse over send to and another menu will pop up and click on the the drive you want to send the file to (obviously whatever drive is your cd burner) and then you should see a little balloon pop up down by the clock that says you have files ready to be written to disc...ignore that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/rogval/sendto.jpg

Then after you have done the send to thing on all the files that you want to burn...just go to my computer double click on the burner drive that you just sent all those files to, and it will open that drive and you will see all the files that are waiting to be burned.

In the upper left hand corner, you will see a title that says burn these files to disc or something to that effect. Click on that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/rogval/write.jpg

follow the wizard instructions.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/rogval/wizard.jpg

By the way...ofcourse you want to make sure you have you blank CD in the drive ready to burn, before you tell it to burn!!

Hope that makes better sense!!

Roger

 

I don't have those options. When I right click, I can send a file to every drive except my DVD Rom/CD burn drive, maybe because it's not a DVD burner. The option that I get is to send it to IncD. When I sent it to IncD, I received a message to insert a disk in the drive. I already had a disk in the drive.

I can burn data disks, mp3 disks, cd disks, vcd disks and svcd disks, but I can't burn a DVD. It doesn't have the capability. But I do have a new DVD/CD burner now that I'll be putting into the new pc.

Since I can't make a DVD, will a data disk work?

Denise

 

Yes...a data disk should work just fine!!

Roger