Upgrading OS on a Scan 3XS System

[Gatebasher_311]

Hi All,

Well I can tell that I'm new to this high performance PC thing, because I've made a big mess-up and I've only had my Scan PC for 1 day.

I've bought a sweet XP 64 system that's running great. I've also bought a new Matrox RT.X2 card from a trade show and I've unpacked everything, put the card in the computer and started the install process.

AND

I find out that this card has 64-bit support, but NOT FOR XP 64!

I'm a bit mad, but I'm wondering if it's easy to do a straight upgrade to Vista Ultimate 64 using the settings and all the cool stuff that the guys at Scan have done for me?

I'm an idiot, and possible 700 pounds out of pocket for the Matrox card.

Thanks All,
Clint

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Gatebasher 311

I have contacted Matrox to see if there is a workaround for this card and will let you know as soon as they get back to me...

If you were to upgrade the OS to Vista 64 you would need to buy a Vista 64 Upgrade disk but let me see what Matrox come back with first

Ben

[Gatebasher_311]

Thanks Ben for looking into this for me.

I'd appreciate anything that you can find out from me. I'm a bit scared going back to my boss saying that we are not able to use the Matrox card.

So is all the RAID and overclocking info saved in the BIOS or something, & not on the boot drive? Also, where is the Acronis image hidden? Just want to make sure I have all my bases covered if an upgrade is needed.

Thanks,
Clint

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Gatebasher 311

I have had a reply from Matrox and unfortunately its not good news

"Unfortunately the RT.X2 card does not support that operating system XP 64-bit. Here are the minimum system requirements:



The Matrox RT.X2 editing system requires the following minimum system configuration:

Microsoft Windows Vista Business or Ultimate (32- or 64-bit), or Microsoft Windows XP Professional (32-bit) with Service Pack 3
Chassis with adequate cooling
PCI Express (PCIe) slot available
2 GB of RAM (4 GB of RAM is recommended for Windows Vista 64-bit)
Two processing cores - either two physical single-core processors, or one physical dual-core processor
Display card that supports Microsoft DirectX 9 and has at least 512 MB of onboard memory (or at least 256 MB of onboard memory if you’re using a release prior to Mx.tools 4.0)
Separate NTFS formatted hard drive for A/V content
"

Looks like the only option unfortunately is an upgrade to Vista or install XP32 Bit on the system

Regards

Ben

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Gatebasher 311

The Raid info is saved in the bios on most boards, as I dont have your build details I can't confrim this 100% without these, if you have an Asus board however the settings are saved in the Tools Asus OC Profile section

The Acronis Partition is stored on a second drive if you have one in the system so that in the event of a drive failure on the OS drive you can replace the drive(s) and reload it, you can also carry out incremental backups and schedule Acronis to do this as well

PM me your build number or give us a call on the support lines

0871 4724756or 0871 4724743

Cheers

Ben

[Gatebasher_311]

Hi Ben,

I can't figure out how to PM you.... oh well.

Here's my build number 28435.
Basically that's my system, but I need to add the Matrox RT.X2 LE card and I'll install Adobe CS4 Master Suite as well.

What are the pros/cons for upgrading to Vista Ultimate 64 and doing a fresh install of Vista Ultimate 64?
Is there any thing that you guys put on the system drives that I should do a backup of first? I've only had the computer a day, so there's no personal files or programs installed yet.

Do you guys sell both the upgrade and full version of Vista Ultimate 64? Am I pretty much stuffed with the XP 64 license that is on my computer now since it's OEM?

Thanks Ben,

Clint