Uninstalling and reinstalling OS - bit of help please

muffler

First off Im not overly familiar with PCs and their working bits so go easy on me please.

One of my young lads was going to buy the new Battlefield 4 game to play on my PC and having checked if the PC was suitable it turns out that Im a bit short on RAM. I need a minimum of 4 Gb but the website he used to check the game requirements states that while there is 4 Gb memory installed in the PC there is only 3.1Gb available.

So I did a bit of rooting around online looking to buy additional memory and on one website (may have been Crucial) where it checks the installed memory type and suggests upgrades it stated that as I was running the 32 bit version of Vista I would need to upgrade to the 64 bit - basically uninstall the current OS and reinstall the 64 bit version.

The reason given on the website for doing this was that the 32 bit version wouldn't recognise any any additional memory above 4gb so therefore not worth installing the additional memory. I also note that while there are 4 slots for memory each slot currently has 1 Gb so I would probably have to buy at least 2 x 2 Gb sticks of memory to overcome that part of the problem.

So how does this work regarding the uninstall/reinstall? Is the same original installation disc used or do I have to buy another one? What other problems if any am I facing by doing this? Is it worth it for one game?

Any help, advice or suggestions would be greatly welcomed. Thanks

unkel

You should be fine without any upgrades

Provided your PC also has these minimum specs:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz, AMD Athlon X2 2.8 GHz or better
CPU Speed: Info
RAM: 4 GB
OS: Windows Vista SP2 32-Bit (with KB971512 System Update)
Video Card: 512 MB AMD Radeon HD 3870 / NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or better
Free Disk Space: 30 GB

In theory, a 32 bit OS can address 4GB of RAM, but in practice this is only a bit over 3GB, depending on the system.

muffler

Cheers unkel. I'm sticking up a screen grab of system details together with the requirements for running the game and as you will see the memory appears to be the only issue.

So you think it will still run okay?

unkel

You'll be fine!

You actually have 4GB and 32 bit Vista SP2. It's a bit of a bug in their requirements software that your machine didn't pass

The prophet dotcom

A 32 bit system can't access 4 gig of ram, you are correct u need to update you system to 64 bit, if you still have the Windows install cd it should be straight forward , be sure to back up any important data first just incase

The prophet dotcom

This explains everything you need to know, there is a bit more to it than I first thought, I will be doing it myself soon to play the same game. Well worth it to make a kids day
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/32-bit-and-64-bit-windows-frequently-asked-questions

muffler

The prophet dotcom wrote: »

Well worth it to make a kids day

Couldn't agree more but......Id be reluctant to do the re-installation unless it was absolutely necessary as Im thinking of other things I have in the PC that may not then work with the 64 bit version. The devil you know and all that jazz

Anyhow I think I'll chance installing the game for him when he gets it and hopefully it works as per unkel's advice. I know very little about these things but I believe from listening to the younger lads here that some of the game settings can be adjusted a bit if necessary.

On a side note I see that game requires 30gb hard drive space. I remember watching one of my sons install a game on their own PC only a couple of years ago and it was about 5 or 6gb and I was thinking to myself at the time that it was around the same size as the hard drive I had on my first PC a number of years ago :eek: Things have certainly changed over the years

unkel

The prophet dotcom wrote: »

A 32 bit system can't access 4 gig of ram, you are correct u need to update you system to 64 bit

You are false, prophet

muffler wrote: »

I think I'll chance installing the game for him when he gets it and hopefully it works as per unkel's advice.

Please go ahead. You'll be fine!

The prophet dotcom

The min spec for the game are 32 bit system so no need to upgrade

The prophet dotcom

And as I said it can't access 4 gig of ram , so says Microsoft
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-hardware/does-windows-8-32-bit-can-access-full-4gb-of-ram/ec40a211-674f-4894-8b92-a68ad79fe5ea

Overheal

It wouldnt hurt you to upgrade, but you shouldn't need to to launch the game and run it.

I'd recommend bumping the memory up to 8GB and getting 64-bit Windows 8.1 installed. Or, if you prefer to get 64-bit Windows 7 that should still be available online. Both run more efficiently than Vista.

As for the GPU its old but not gone with the wind. If you plan to upgrade, newer GPUs can take advantage of AMD's new Mantle API which is something they are really pushing with BF4, making new AMD GPUs an excellent choice, especially for this title.

muffler

Overheal wrote: »

It wouldnt hurt you to upgrade

It would hurt my wallet though

Overheal wrote: »

but you shouldn't need to to launch the game and run it.

Not sure I follow what you mean here overheal

Overheal wrote: »

I'd recommend bumping the memory up to 8GB and getting 64-bit Windows 8.1 installed. Or, if you prefer to get 64-bit Windows 7 that should still be available online. Both run more efficiently than Vista.

Probably good advice but what about other programmes and games that are already installed, will they continue to work? Also would there not be an issue with the processor and/or graphics card? Sorry but PC's arent my strongest point but I have read that when you start upgrading one part of the system there is always a chance that other bits and bobs may also need to be upgraded also for them to be "compliant" (probably wrong word) with each other.

Overheal wrote: »

As for the GPU its old but not gone with the wind. If you plan to upgrade, newer GPUs can take advantage of AMD's new Mantle API which is something they are really pushing with BF4, making new AMD GPUs an excellent choice, especially for this title.

Im out of my depth at this stage

muffler

The prophet dotcom wrote: »

you are correct u need to update you system to 64 bit forward

The prophet dotcom wrote: »

The min spec for the game are 32 bit system so no need to upgrade

This is the part I hate when you not only get advice that differs from other posters but the same poster then gives 2 bits of advice that are poles apart

unkel

muffler wrote: »

This is the part I hate when you not only get advice that differs from other posters but the same poster then gives 2 bits of advice that are poles apart

He was a bit upset by my reply, did a bit of research and found out I was right

If the game doesn't run for you, you go out and buy a Windows 8 license and 8GB of memory and I will personally reinstall Windows for you for free if you bring the lot over to me

There's no need for the upgrade, but 8GB and Windows 8.1 will make your PC noticably faster and will give it a new lease of life...

muffler

unkel wrote: »

He was a bit upset by my reply, did a bit of research and found out I was right

unkel wrote: »

If the game doesn't run for you, you go out and buy a Windows 8 license and 8GB of memory

Just out of curiosity (as Im not familiar with this type of stuff) how does "buying the license" work? Is it just a code or similar or do you get an actual disk?

unkel wrote: »

and I will personally reinstall Windows for you for free if you bring the lot over to me

Very decent of you unkel and you might live to regret that :eek: Nah, seriously, I appreciate the offer but as Im up in the forgotten county it might be a tad awkward should the occasion arise. But I wont be beat in any event as I know a guy fairly well who works at this type of stuff although getting hold of him is a bigger problem

unkel wrote: »

There's no need for the upgrade, but 8GB and Windows 8.1 will make your PC noticably faster and will give it a new lease of life...

Again, out of curiosity, what sort of money would that set a man back?

unkel

Windows 8 pro £79.99 shipped. Memory depends on what type you have and how many slots you have in total. Newer memory (DDR3) is considerably cheaper, but let's presume you have 4 slots and 2*2GB installed ATM, then you just need to add 2*2GB DDR2 for £27 shipped. This price is actually very good.

So a bit over €100 but it will give your PC a significant boost

You could always install the game first and if you / he are not happy with the performance, then consider upgrading...

muffler

unkel wrote: »

Windows 8 pro £79.99 shipped. Memory depends on what type you have and how many slots you have in total. Newer memory (DDR3) is considerably cheaper, but let's presume you have 4 slots and 2*2GB installed ATM, then you just need to add 2*2GB DDR2 for £27 shipped. This price is actually very good.

So a bit over €100 but it will give your PC a significant boost

Many thanks for that. That will be plan B

You could always install the game first and if you / he are not happy with the performance, then consider upgrading...

..and that will be plan A

muffler

Just a wee update on this. I installed the game (or I should say the young fellow did) and while it plays as such its stopping and starting - basically freezing for about 5 - 10 seconds at a time and this could happen every minute or two. It has also crashed completely a couple of times. Even when its "playing" it seems very sluggish.

Looks like Im going to have to spend a few quid

unkel

muffler wrote: »

Looks like Im going to have to spend a few quid

One last option that won't cost you anything: reinstall Vista from scratch (using the original disc and your license key), then install SP2 and install the game

That way you have a clean installation without any of the clutter that builds up on a PC over the years

If that doesn't work it is spend money time! Good luck!