Vista to 7

[Jshammy]

Hi everybody,

I'm planning to upgrade my Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit to either Windows 7 Ultimate beta or Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
I ain't quite sure if I could upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit. Can anyone help me out here? Anything I need to know before I go for the upgrade? (That is of course when Windows 7 comes out)

I am also not sure if I have to store all my files as backup on my external hard drive for the upgrade. Will it gather and copy all the files when upgrading?

Thank you very much & have a great day!
Sham

[PcPro12]

When you do an upgrade, you overwrite windows with a newer version, but you get to keep your old files...BUT...for safety purposes, you should back up your important files to an external just in case something unexpected happens...

If you want to upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit, you have to first make sure your computer and processor is capable of supporting 64-bit version of windows...and as you might already know...64-bit version of windows is only good if you have over 3.5GB of RAM on your computer...if you have 4GB or more of ram, running a 32-bit version of windows won't let you use the maximum ram you have....running a 64-bit version will let you use more memory...(as you might already know)

to check if your system is capable of running 64-bit version of windows...do the following...

1. Default Control Panel View
2. Classic Control Panel View

1. Click Start>>>Control Panel>>>System and Maintenance>>>Performance Information and Tools>>>View and Print Details!!!

2. Click Start>>>Control Panel>>>Performance Information and Tools>>>View and Print Details!!!

Under SYSTEM...it should say 64-BIT CAPABLE yes/no...if it says YES...than you can install a 64-bit version of windows...if it says NO...than your system doesn't support a 64-bit version of windows...

I hope I answered your questions :)

[ishanjain]

Yes,,, you did answered well.....
Its right that 64-bit OS are recommended if you are using a system with 3.5+ GB of RAM. But, nowadays, people have started opting for 64-bit OS irrespective of the RAM as they are a lot safer. If you have atleast 2gb of RAM, then you can go for 64-bit. I would actually recommend you to upgrade if you dont have enough RAM. The best thing about 64-bit is that most of the viruses dont work upon them and are easily tracable in the task manager. I have been using 64-bit vista for about 1 year now without any antivirus or firewall operating, still i have never seen any virus in this period. Windows 7 is much safer now.
The good practice is to create a seperate partition for your windows so that formatting and upgrading is easier. Reserve around 20-25 GB of space in a partition and put your windows there, the important data in other drives. This way you can upgrade or format easily....

[Jshammy]

That answered all my questions! Thank you.
I just checked my system properties and it says I'm capable of using 64-bit windows!! :D
At the moment, I only have 3 GB ram, and all my ram slots are already occupied. I'll try to replace the ram with higher memory, should 4GB - 5GB be enough for a smooth running 64-bit windows?

[PcPro12]

as jain said...if you have at least 2GB, than you're a go for 64-bit...since you got 3GB...I'm sure it's fine unless you want to get more memory...

in that case :) I might look at 64-bit of windows for my next upgrade...I got 2GB DDR2 ram...and I custom build my computers, so it shouldn't be a problem :)

I thought 64-bit was a different version of windows and normal programs and stuff under 32-bit don't work in 64-bit...but I guess I was wrong...

[OlyComputers]

I've been using 64 bit operating systems since windows xp x64 was still in Beta (about five years ago). Most programs work fine between them (now) but some that need to access hardware resources still aren't compatible with x64, since drivers ARE different between the two. You need to make sure the drivers for your hardware have 64-bit versions before you upgrade (webcams and printers have always been the biggest problem for me) but from the perspective of getting the OS, it shouldn't be any harder to upgrade to 64-bit than 32. Backing up your data before major system changes is always a good idea (I recommend it strongly) but not necessary.

I don't believe that 64-bit is more secure from viruses I have NEVER heard this or seen anything in my own experiences to prove it, and I'm concerned by telling inexperienced users that you don't run anti-virus software AND you have never seen a virus. Some people prefer not to use anti-virus software because they take precautions on the user-end but you CAN NOT tell somebody an operating system doesn't get viruses because you have a skill level that keeps you safe ESPECIALLY if you've never run a virus scan on your system.

Now, as far as windows 7, I'd suggest waiting a while to do an upgrade. I know windows 7 has a lot of improvements over vista but if you're so fed up with the current operating system that you want to upgrade so soon you should learn from that and make sure 7 will really make you happier. Lots of people had buyers remorse after they purchased vista systems, and no matter how promising win7 is I think that we should learn from that and be careful when it's successor is released.

PS: 2Gb is a good idea in any version of Vista, it's pretty standard these days and I even try to keep that much in the XP and Linux machines I have.

[PcPro12]

I see...thanks, and ya...printers and web cams and those apart from computer are hardest to deal with...even in my experience...

that's true...nothing is safe from viruses...and I'm an experienced computer user, but I still have an anti-virus and anti-malware...I'd rather them do the work than me do it manually...I had to delete a virus manually once cause the no anti-virus could find it...and it wasn't pretty...I spent hours a day...cleared almost the entire thing...than the owner said to forget it and just reinstall...wasted time... :)

Personally...I Like windows 7...I got Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7000 Beta...Got it the second day when the beta opened...a few hours after it opened actually...cause they released it late because of server crashes...but I like it a lot and once it comes in stores, I'm getting it...it's much faster at boot up than vista, and it's faster in general, doesn't freeze so much and not so many errors...but I was testing it on an older hardware PC...not that old...but not powerful enough...2GB DDR1, an xp capable video card...which vista recognizes and runs, but win7 doesn't...so graphics driver was the only thing I had a problem with...the rest...even the 6-7+ year old printer that I had works with vista and win7 I think...I forgot...I switched to vista cause beta wasn't finding my drivers...