32os to 64os on xps 420

You will have to a fresh install to vista 64, you cannot upgrade to it. Put in your DVD, restart, when the Dell logo appears press F2. Go into your BIOS and rearrange your boot options so your DVD drive is the boot drive. Restart the machine and boot off the disc. However, before you do this make sure you have all your 64 bit drivers downloaded from Dell, you will need them after you install Vista 64bit.

Once you get the OS loaded do not let it update yet. Go to device manager and open it up to look for any devices with a yellow ! or red X next to them those will be the driver you will need to go to the dell Drivers page to download and install.

All the drivers you will need are available on the Dell web site - just put in your service tag.

Most importantly - copy your data files (word, excel, music, pictures etc..) BEFORE doing anything - they will be gone along with your applications once 64-bit is loaded (definition of clean install as noted above). 

I just done it on my XPS 410 with no trouble.

I downloaded all the drivers I tought I needed and put them on a cd and left it in the PC and I don't know if windows took them from the cd but everything worked fine after installation.

Your old Windows will show in  a file X86 I think,

Claude

thats great information from you all. Thanks very much for that. I await my dvd with anticipation. One thing i meant to ask, is that with the os going to 64 can i now go from 3gb to the 8gb maximum?

Yes

How do you go about getting the 64bit OS from Dell?  How much does it cost?  I just got a new XPS730, and want to upgrade, but don't want to have to go spend another $100+ on the DVD if there's a way around that. 

thanks Hanspuppa. Thats really good info as to what to do in order.

I just perused the dell site ready to download files, and theres 72 lol!!!! I surely dont need them all????? I know theres lots in video and the nividia is applicable to me so that narrows it down a lot.

Hello sludge123, I am sorry to say that you will need to do a fresh reformat and fresh install going to the Vista x64 OS. You should download all the x64 drivers from Dell before you start. The original release of the SATA drivers will be loaded during the install process but the other drivers may not . Be sure to backup all your data first. After the OS install completes, install the latest chipset drivers first and then the other drivers, video, audio, etc. Then install your anti-virus program, and go to Microsoft and download and install the updates that you may need. It has been my experience to not download and install the video and audio drivers from MS because of incompatibilities that cause issues, but rather go to the vidoe card manufacturer site and use theirs. The Dell audio drivers work well enough but they are older ones and newer ones can be found on the Internet, but I cannot tell any difference in them. You then will have to install all your programs. You will really like the x64 OS after you get it up and going. Hope this helps.

I got my Dell 64-bit version of Vista Ultimate by going to Dell on-line tech support chat and requesting it.   I had a copy within a day or two.

Hello sludge123, You want need all those drivers. Just search for the ones you need.

There should only be a handful of them. Download and use the Nvidia drivers from Nvidia.

You can ignore most of the others, just check your hardware and see if there are any for yours.

Hope this helps.

ive completely cocked up and dont know what to do.

\ive put in the cd and its loaded. Its now asking for the drivers. |When i put  in the downloaded drivers, none ofthem are showing up. Which driver should i be using?