Need some advice on a Sonar 8 setup, urgent please.

[Sven Pakkanen]

Hello,

(First off, please feel free to move this thread if it is not in the best forum)

My name is Sven, I do symphonic death metal works, and have collected a small arsenal of tools to make my music with. First off, here is my hardware list:

Computer: Q6600 Core 2 Quad
1 260(?) GB Barracuda HD
1 1T(terabyte) Barracuda HD
6 Gigabytes of mixed ram (4gb dual-channel OCZ)
Studiophile DX4s
M-audio O2 MIDI Controller
Etc.

I am currently using a Steinberg MI-4 as my interface.

2 Guitars (1 Schecter Hellraiser, 1 Ovation Elite)


Ok now know beforehand that I have acess to any sort of software for the PC (XP 32-64 bit, Vista 32-64 bit) And can get ahold of many other softwares due to LEGAL connections.

I am very fond of EWQL Symphonic Orchestra, as well as using either Guitar Rig 3 or Line 6 Pod Farm for the guitars.

OK here is my issue. I load up to 15 samples at once of the monster of EWQL Symphonic Orchestra (I usually use gold, platinum is just too big). This means I need as much open RAM as I can get. I would love to set up a dual-boot system, one for internet, games, etc and one strictly for recording. I have tried many, many times and have failed getting the MI4 to run on XP 64-bit, so I am stuck in a pickle.

I need the most stable, powerful, system I can get with my current hardware setup. XP 32-bit will only see 2 gigs of my ram, and vista uses a lot of the ram for itself. What is the best route to go? I have heard that I could download patches for XP 32-bit, that would allow it to use up to 4 gigs. What is better, this or an installation of Vista? That is my first question, I will probably have more after this is answered.

I am off of work for today and tomorrow, I was really hoping to get this set up so that I can just come home and record every day, so thank you ahead of time for prompt answers. I will be refreshing every few minutes so I will be here for the first few hours if you need more info.

Many thanks, Sven.