Satellite Pro Laptops

[#1]

Hi all:

I recently purchased the Satellite Pro S300M-S2142 (and I think a lot of other people did, too!).

When I first booted up I installed the 32-bit OS (Vista Business), but now I'm wondering if I should have gone with 64-bit and whether I will be able to change to 64-bit later.

Thoughts?

Much appreciated!

[#2]

The only practical reason I can see to switch to 64-bit Vista is if you plan to increase the RAM past 3GB or so.  That system will accept 8GB of RAM and you would need to the 64-bit OS to be able to use that much.  As to whether or not you can switch from 32 to 64, I assume you could use the recovery disks and configure from scratch as though new.  Since that will wipe the hard drive, you need to be sure and back up your data files before doing so.

[#3]

Thanks ChristopherC!

I did not get Vista recovery disk with the system. I did get the XP downgrade "recovery" disk. When I first booted up I was given a choice between which OS to install but it was a bit confusing (pun intended). I have ordered another 2gb of RAM to install, so I will be running 4gb total. I know I will only really get about 3.2gb with 4gb installed since the 32-bit OS can only access about that much. I think it will suffice.

I just wonder if I will be able to eventually switch to 64-bit and how that might be accomplished. Would I need to get a Vista recovery disk from Toshiba or is the option available somehow without it? Via BIOS?

I am very happy with the system as is -- will be even happier with 4gb RAM installed. May want to go with 64-bit in the future. Sort of a hypothetical question, but your response is very much appreciated. Thank you!

[#4 · Accepted solution]

I don't have one of those to actually look at, but usually there is a utility that will create the Vista recovery disks from the partition that is on the machine.  Check your User Guide, perhaps page 61.  I don't see a user guide for that specific model but there is an S300/S300M user guide under model S300-2403.

[#5]

You are awesome!

Found info right where you said it would be in User Guide at page 61.  So I can, it appears, easily switch to 64-bit if/when it becomes desirable.

Thanks, ChristopherC.

[#6]

You're very welcome.  I'm happy to have been of help and thanks for letting us know.

[#7]

UPDATE:  On advice of friend, went ahead and switched to 64-bit by using recovery method described in User's Guide at p. 61, etc.  Figured now was the time to do it before I load the machine up with a lot of stuff requiring backup. 

The transition went well.  Some of the software that was installed in 32-bit mode did not install, e.g., Picasa2.  That's ok with me -- I think it was bloat anyway.  I had previously installed another 2gb of RAM, so now it is all being utilized.

Thanks again for all assistance.

[#8]

I'm glad to hear the changeover went well.  I've got Vista Ultimate 64 running on a Dell at home that has 12GB of RAM and it really screams, especially on multimedia stuff.  I love it.  There are 32-bit programs installed and they have their own program files folder as well as a 32-bit version of Explorer for use with sites that use plugins that don't play nicely with 64-bit.  So far I haven't found anything that won't run.  I think most of the problems occur on programs from lazy vendors who use the 16-bit version of the Windows program installer.  That won't work but everything else I needed is working fine - even a couple of old legacy programs.

Chris