XP64 or Windows 7 64... THAT is the Question!

SEA · 10-23-2010, 12:14 PM

I have XP64 loaded and running but my old faithful WaMi 192X doesn't like the XP64 drivers (beta).

So... I either:

A. Load Windows 7 64bit and download their drivers or...

B. Get another interface (which I REALLY would like anyway). I'm getting ready to order the Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 ;-)

However, while I'm here waiting on my new interface.... I'm trying to install a new 320 gig hard drive and load Windows 7 64bit, BUT... when I do, I get this message.

"A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB Flash Drive, please insert now"

Now earlier today I was thinking "What if I just go with XP64 and forgo all this "rigmarole"

So what's your take Reaper addicts!

Jamie

norbury brook · 10-23-2010, 04:19 PM

all versions of Xp are going to be obsolete very soon so I don't see any point in using anything other than windows 7

MC

pixeltarian · 10-23-2010, 04:54 PM

windows 7 32 bit. the pros outweigh the cons.

Ed Zeppeli · 10-23-2010, 06:24 PM

I quite like Windows 7. It's one of their better ones.

Jae.Thomas · 10-23-2010, 06:26 PM

depends on ram.

up to 4 gig with no prospect of upgrading - windows 7 x86

over 4 gig, period - windows 7 x64

end of story.

mr. moon · 10-23-2010, 08:42 PM

I'm sticking with WinXP x64 well past the time Win7 SP1 is rolled out. I administer 350+ PCs at work with Win7 x64 and it's been nothing short of a nightmare. If you're forced to make the move to Win7 x64 due to drivers, I would just make sure to test any/all M$ updates before you roll them out as they're currently trying to patch the core OS so many of the updates can really FUBAR applications and drivers.

joelsampson · 10-24-2010, 02:54 AM

Windows 7 64-bit - it's the future. I was an early adopter (it's a long story). All software written in the last ten years ran great and all hardware with some driver updates.

I'm using MOTU I/O for both MIDI and audio - works solid. As does a M-Audio Fast Track Pro and a little ProSonus FW audio interface. Printers and scanners were not a problem.

Of course, REAPER runs like a hose! As does Acid and Sonar if you want options.

Jim Roseberry · 10-25-2010, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SEA

I have XP64 loaded and running but my old faithful WaMi 192X doesn't like the XP64 drivers (beta).

So... I either:

A. Load Windows 7 64bit and download their drivers or...

B. Get another interface (which I REALLY would like anyway). I'm getting ready to order the Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 ;-)

However, while I'm here waiting on my new interface.... I'm trying to install a new 320 gig hard drive and load Windows 7 64bit, BUT... when I do, I get this message.

"A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB Flash Drive, please insert now"

Now earlier today I was thinking "What if I just go with XP64 and forgo all this "rigmarole"

So what's your take Reaper addicts!

Jamie

FWIW, Replacing the audio interface will be necessary soon (even if you put it off for the moment)... so I think it makes sense to be planning for that.

Regarding the OS, Win7x64 is the only choice if you're looking toward the future. That said, if you're running old hardware, Win7 is more bloated (happens with each new OS) and runs best on recent make hardware.

JonnyHomes · 10-26-2010, 02:47 AM

Windows 7 X64 has been a difficult experience for myself and my searches around the internet show me I'm not the only one. It seems that Win 7 doesn't play nicely with others when it comes to audio.

It's nice to know that Win 7 can work well for people (as there are people in this thread who swear by it) but if I were you, I would stick with XP. I wish I had.

norbury brook · 10-26-2010, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonnyHomes

Windows 7 X64 has been a difficult experience for myself and my searches around the internet show me I'm not the only one. It seems that Win 7 doesn't play nicely with others when it comes to audio.

It's nice to know that Win 7 can work well for people (as there are people in this thread who swear by it) but if I were you, I would stick with XP. I wish I had.

If you have drivers for your hardware then I don't see how windows 7 x64 doesn't play nicely with others for audio.

Here's two things windows 7 is better than xp for audio wise.

1: better multi threading/scaling
2: the GUI on windows 7 runs from your graphics card not your cpu like in Xp so there's now less chance of any interference from the GUI.

There's also a lot of very useful general day to day things that i find useful too.For example, using the windows+up/down/left/right arrows to Maximise/minimise or maximise to left or right of screen so two windows can be maximised side by side.
Or quick launching your programs with 'windows key + 1-10' opens the corresponding numbered program on your taskbar.

Right clicking on the program icon in the task bar gives you a recent projects menu.

there's loads of other stuff to that just makes the day to day usage a better experience than XP.

MC

Ed Zeppeli · 10-26-2010, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonnyHomes

Windows 7 X64 has been a difficult experience for myself and my searches around the internet show me I'm not the only one. It seems that Win 7 doesn't play nicely with others when it comes to audio.

It's nice to know that Win 7 can work well for people (as there are people in this thread who swear by it) but if I were you, I would stick with XP. I wish I had.

It seems Win 7 plays nicely with audio here! In fact, it's been flawless on my two year old machine.

mtsproductions · 10-26-2010, 06:35 AM

Just downloaded Win7 64 Upgrade from Microsoft for $64.95 (student discount)

I am not really looking forward to re-installing and re-authorizing everything like Komplete 7, but another 4gb of ram is defenetly worth it, XP 32 has been flaky with my setup lately so I went for the upgrade. XP 64 bit only works with a special recipe that includes a hand full of drivers at which point you might as well be using a self contained system like pro-tools.

arkima · 10-26-2010, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtsproductions

Just downloaded Win7 64 Upgrade from Microsoft for $64.95 (student discount)

Well done! That's awesome mtsproductions - congrats!

@SEA
Well, I just wanted to say that I'm running XP64 and have for a while but for a number of reasons I'm actually pretty sold on upgrading to Windows 7 x64 when I can afford it.

I'm not sure if I'm right but I've been under the impression that Midi devices in general will show and work better on Windows 7. Also, that because it can run in XP mode - I'm hoping that means if the need arises you can run 32 bit hardware drivers in this mode - but I'm not up to speed with how this all actually works.

Compatibility with newer hardware on XP64 is a bit of a concern I reckon. Do not buy a new graphics card (unless you know otherwise) to run on a XP set up. I had to replace a dead Graphics card some time back and bought a 2 series nVidia card and after experiencing a fair bit of re-drawing issues (mostly in Reaper but a few here and there's too) I've read up and found out because of the way XP handles 2D graphics (which is basically everything you'd use apart from 3D games) there's a lot of new and kind of new cards (nVidia and ATI) that don't get on with XP when it comes to drawing 2D.

I think my set up would be working better on XP64 if I had made more informed hardware choices....

Anyway, I hope this post will be of some good food for thought in your quest.

bonfilio · 11-08-2010, 06:12 PM

"A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB Flash Drive, please insert now"

This sounds completely backwards, but generally this error happens if you have a USB drive (flash, phone, HDD, whatever) plugged in during the initial partitioning part of installing. Windows won't install to removable media and most bioses will report USB storage media as HDD media on boot and Windows generally gets very confused. Unplug everything USB except mouse and keyboard.

Go with W7. XP64 was awesome, but it's heyday is long past.