WARNING

[Cope This 719]

Without sounding too melodramatic I have just learnt a valuable lesson. In the quest of getting a better operating Elements Version 7 I bought an additional 4Gb of ram to go with my already existing 4 Gg making a total of 8 Gb.

Now this may sound O.K. but unless you are operating a 64 bit machine you have wasted your money in buying additional ram. I have been informed that Vista 32 bit will only address 4 Gb.

So if you have a 32 bit machine you are limited to 4 Gb.

I guess this means that I will have to save up and buy Windows 7 together with a super-duppa graphics card

Bye for now John

[Bobby]

Yup, that's correct. But all PCs these days are 64-bit machines - you mean you have a 32-bit Operating System and yes it can only address a bit less than 4GB of RAM. But you should be able to get a 64-bit upgrade that will work OK.

[Steve Grisetti]

Of course, there are challenges with 64-bit operating systems too. Some 32-bit drivers don't have updates -- so, if you go to Windows 7 64-bit, you may find your printer no longer works. And, as people who've tried to run Premiere Elements on Windows 7 64-bit know, sometimes the program can't access hardware (your DVD burner, for instance).

So, although Bobby is right -- manufacturers and big box stores are pretty much forcing Windows 7 64-bit machines on the public. Most consumers would do better to stick with 32-bit for the next couple of years.

So I wouldn't rush into a 64-bit upgrade just to take advantage of those new RAM chips, John. In fact, it's pretty unlikely that most of your software will even benefit from your having more than 4 gigs anyway. And the other liabilities may outweigh the other benefits.

[Bobby]

...Most consumers would do better to stick with 32-bit for the next couple of years...

I noticed in my last visit to Dell that they now offer more PCs with 32-bit Windows 7 than before - I think they are sensing this trend.

I agree that, at least for PRE use, that 32-bit is still the way to go. My quad processor video PC that I got about two years ago was originally Win7-32 (but came with 64 upgrade DVD), planned to upgrade to Win7-64, but I have had no motivation to actually do the upgrade.

[Gerlinde]

I must say, I am glad I followed the advise I got here on the board about a year ago and upgraded to 64-bit system. Never had any problems at all. I use 3 different video editors, none of them is a 64-bit program, but all work great in 32-bit compatibility mode.

Even my old Wacom Graphics tablet works without a problem. It's not supported anymore, but I was able to find a Vista 64-bit driver and it does the trick.

Being able to take advantage of the 4gb of installed RAM on my notebook made a big difference.

[George Tyndall]

Of course, there are challenges with 64-bit operating systems too. Some 32-bit drivers don't have updates -- so, if you go to Windows 7 64-bit, you may find your printer no longer works. And, as people who've tried to run Premiere Elements on Windows 7 64-bit know, sometimes the program can't access hardware (your DVD burner, for instance).

Steve, I assume you are referring to situations in which one upgrades one's existing computer with a 32-bit OS to Win 7 64-bit -- and that you are not referring to those who purchase a machine with Win 7 64-bit pre-installed.

Is that correct?

[Steve Grisetti]

Actually, I don't believe any typical computer users should be using 64-bit bit Windows, George. There's no advantage to it -- and there are a number of potential issues with drivers.

But some people, like Gerlinde, did make the move and have had no problems.

I just think it's too soon, especially for the consumer market.

[George Tyndall]

Actually, I don't believe any typical computer users should be using 64-bit bit Windows, George.

So, I'm just very lucky that the system I describe in my signature works perfectly?

[Chuck Engels]

The issues usually come in with consumer level printers and other devices, many do not have compatible 64 bit drivers.
Other than that there shouldn't be any issues normally.

[Bobby]

Even though mostly retired, all the newer PCs I see these days have 64-bit OSs. Drivers are sometimes a problem for older hardware, but the newer stuff seems to be adequately drivered. When people buy, they don't even look any more and just learn to handle any issues, if any at all.

I think the race is run and 64 is here to stay.

[Bob]

I've had Windows 7 64-bit since it was first released (I preordered the upgrade). I've had no problems with it. And, Premiere Elements 7 runs great on it -- I've had no problems with that either.

I did my homework and ran the upgrade advisor to identify hardware and software software incompatibilities and took care of those before upgrading. In some cases that meant doing some firmware upgrades. In others, it meant buying some new software. And, of course, I had to locate a few 64-bit drivers for my older hardware and/or software which weren't included in the shipping OS. I did have to let go of a few 16-bit DOS era command line utilities, but I should probably have done that a long time earlier. I have no regrets. And, on the plus side, I was able to step up to Adobe Production Premium CS5, which requires a 64-bit OS, when that became available. I have had problems, but they have been issues with whether an application supported Windows 7, not 64-bit vs 32-bit.

I agree with Bobby, 64-bit is here to stay, and, in general, I see no reason not to buy a new computer with Windows 7 64-bit installed. Upgrading is a different issue, and you must exercise due dilligence if you go that route.

Premiere Elements is still a 32-bit application. Even if you upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit, Premiere Elements cannot access all that extra memory. The 64-bit operating system will be able to make use of all that RAM and it can be an indirect benefit to Premiere Elements. But, don't expect miracles.

[George Tyndall]

Premiere Elements is still a 32-bit application. Even if you upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit, Premiere Elements cannot access all that extra memory. The 64-bit operating system will be able to make use of all that RAM and it can be an indirect benefit to Premiere Elements. But, don't expect miracles.

Bob, after I experienced problems with PRE9, I opened PRE7 and, as an experiment, attempted to send a 498-slide (all HD) show, including a 700MB WAV audio file, from PSE7 to PRE7.

I got a warning from PSE7 that this might take a very long time, however, the show in fact appeared on the PRE7 timeline in less than a minute -- and played back perfectly, un-rendered and in Full Screen view, on the 52-inch Samsung LCD TV that I use for both editing and playback.

But with PRE9 and a much smaller show, I experienced 3 crashes AND the playback was erratic.

Please comment on the likely reason(s).

[Bobby]

...Upgrading is a different issue, and you must exercise due diligence if you go that route...

I have not recommended upgrading the OS in recent memory. It usually isn't worth it - you spend about $100, perhaps more, and are still stuck with old hardware. If you have to upgrade the RAM, etc. the cost is even worse. I recommended to all my clients to keep your old PC until you need to upgrade, then buy new and start afresh with the latest and greatest.

[Bob]

...Please comment on the likely reason(s).

I can't say all that much. I don't have PrE9, so I have no direct experience with it. It's unlikely to be the result of the OS as both versions see exactly the same environment and only PrE9 has problems. That definitely points the finger at PrE9. I've seen comments that PrE9 has a bigger footprint than PrE7 and requires more resources, but nothing with details or specifics. I'm just speculating, but Premiere Pro and Premiere Elements used to share some core code. Now that Premiere Pro has gone 64-bit only, I'm guessing that at some point Adobe had to freeze the 32-bit core and the Elements team is now having to maintain and extend that version of that core -- something they haven't needed to do before. I wouldn't be surprised at all if bugs were introduced. And, I expect that the Pro and Elements versions will continue to diverge at the core. Pro has also gone to a new display/playback system (Mercury) that I doubt will make it to Elements, perhaps the Elements team had to retrofit an older playback engine on the newer core. It does appear that the playback is not as efficient as before. LIke I said, pure speculation. Maybe none of that is true.

[George Tyndall]

I can't say all that much.[That sentence is followed by nine lines of text.]

You said a lot, Bob, and all of it was thought-provoking.

Thanks once again for taking the timeto share your expertise.