Updating from 32 bit win 7 to 64 bit win7

[Mendel]

Okay so some time ago I installed windows xp 32bit. Then later I updated it to windows vista home premium 32bit. At the end of 2009 I updated once more to 32 bit windows 7 home premium. Maybe that wasn't thinking very far ahead though, because now I'm thinking the 3 point something gigabytes of memory, while quite fine for games of today, isn't going to cut it for very long.

So basically what I'm asking is, is it possible to update from win7 32 bit to win7 64 bit? And how? And for how much? As an additional pain in the **** the language version of what I'm currently using is Finnish. I wouldn't mind if it was english but usually it just doesn't work updating across language versions...

Doing a clean install is out of the question, just way too much hassle with all the installed software, some of which I would actually have to buy again or go through lenghty support processes because of a recent e-mail account related problem I had with my former isp. (long story)

 

[Malo]

ewww new OS = fresh install. Never upgrade over an existing OS. Especially going xp -> Vista -> 7. Of course in your situation where you can't reinstall software then your sol, but at some point you need rid yourself of legacy software holding you back.

No you cannot go from 32bit to 64bit upgrading.

 

[Kurt]

No you cannot go from 32bit to 64bit upgrading.

This is important, it clearly states so on the Microsoft site.

I don't know if this would be practical or even possible, but maybe you could convert your old harddrive/system partition into a virtual harddrive image and run it in a virtual machine from within Vista64. Sounds like a hassle, but I'd look into it if I were you.

Also, make sure the rest of your system supports 64bit operating systems. The CPU in my current Vista32 laptop for example is not compatible (early Core2) and I figure upgrading the processor for probably more than a hundred euros doesn't make much sense since I only use it for wordprocessing and webstuff.

 

[digitalwanderer]

ewww new OS = fresh install. Never upgrade over an existing OS.

I have to agree with that. I've never ever had luck trying to upgrade an existing OS, gave it up years ago.

New OS = fresh install, no way around it.

 

[Kurt]

I have to agree with that. I've never ever had luck trying to upgrade an existing OS, gave it up years ago.

New OS = fresh install, no way around it.

Worked pretty well for me when upgrading the first time from Win98 to 2000. It kept the Program Files folder intact but of course there were also two Windows folders and other small nuisances. But it did work. In the end I did a clean install, as probably everyone had to do at least once a month back in the day This was also way before crazy DRM stuff and most programs today would probably simply break.

 

[digitalwanderer]

98 to 98se was the smoothest I had, but even that had troubles.

 

[Simon F]

I had little trouble going directly from vista to Win 7

 

[Rodéric]

Fresh install can't hurt, it's boring though, maybe you can export user settings from Vista and import them in 7 after install...

 

[Malo]

You can also get data transfer systems that include cable and software and they will not only transfer user data but also any programs it thinks is possible to move over. eg. www.belkin.com/easytransfercable (it's not just a cable). Of course that is between 2 computers though, so not quite appropriate for your issue.

 

[mrcorbo]

Just wanted to add my experience with the current iteration of the old Files & Settings transfer tool (Windows Easy Transfer) was very positive. Not only did it pull over my desktop, e-mail and other user data, but it also had a listing of all the programs I had installed on my prior installation and even provided web links to where I could reacquire most of them. Very slick!

 

[V3]

Beside you will also want the 64 bit version of the apps anyway. 32 bit apps on 64 bit OS only allowed to use around 3.7 GB of your memory. Improvement over the 1.7 GB but still pretty low to justify all the pain and hassle of 32b to 64bit OS upgrade.

I also found that many of the older version of my software like Nero don't actually work properly or at all on 64 bit Win 7. So you may have to upgrade anyway.

For games though 4 GB is plenty for the next a couple of years IMO. I say forget about future proofing, just upgrade when the games need it.

 

[Rodéric]

huh ?
even if the memory space of each app was limited to 2GB you could still use many in parallel having 12GB because a 64bit OS can manage that amount.

So whatever happens it's a win.

 

[Npl]

huh ?
even if the memory space of each app was limited to 2GB you could still use many in parallel having 12GB because a 64bit OS can manage that amount.

So whatever happens it's a win.

You can have that scenario on a 32bit OS using PAE. You only cant have more than 2-3GB per process, but the OS can manage 64GB in total.

 

[Rodéric]

You can have that scenario on a 32bit OS using PAE. You only cant have more than 2-3GB per process, but the OS can manage 64GB in total.

Correct.
However I'm not sure which OS use PAE, and the extra registers in 64 bits are nice too.
But then I'm a programmer so I like to have latest toys ^^

 

[Colourless]

/LARGEADDRESSAWARE programs can use almost a full 4 GB in 64 bit windows. In PAE they are limited to only 3 GB.

Incidently only Windows Server 2003 with PAE can use more than 4 GB of physical memory. Windows XP, Vista and 7 32 bit varients are limited to 32 Bit phyiscal addresses even in PAE mode for compatibility with non PAE compliant drivers and devices.