32 Bit and 64 Bit

Hi There,

I have purchesed a new laptop and it came with Windows 7 Home-Premium (64-bit) pre-installed.

Am I able to remove it and install the full version of Windows 7 Professioanl (32-bit) on the machine?

If so would I need to update the drivers?

Thanks

Toby

Yes, because the most drivers for your mobo = X64, mayby you can go to the website of there X86 drivers are for your laptop.
Regards, amorfati ( belgium - Dutch )

Yes you may do a complete reinstall using the same product key as your 64-bit. Make sure you have that key - it may be on the bottom of your laptop or you can use a freeware product like SIW (Find it in our freeware DB) to look it up on your current system.

If your laptop has more than 3GB of RAM/memory then anything above 3.25GB will be wasted with 32-bit (it cannot be addressed so it is not used). In fact, unless you only have 1GB of RAM or some other hardware or software reason to go with 32-bit, it is highly advisable to stay with 64-bit.

You might check out THIS post if you do not have the Home Premium 32-bit disks.

And yes, you should download as many of the 32-bit drivers for your machine as you can find prior to the new install.

tobyhutton1234, welcome to the forum! As you have a notebook that came with 7 Home Premium preinstalled, the easiest and less costly route to upgrade to 7 Pro would be to go to the Start Menu, type "Windows Anytime Upgrade", and purchase an upgrade key. Then you can have Pro, without formatting or changing your files at all. It's a 10 minute simple upgrade.

As for the COA that's on your computer, you cannot do a fresh install of Pro with a Home Premium COA (key).

By doing the Anytime Upgrade, you won't need new drivers, or anything. If you decide to go this route, make sure that you save your purchased key (in a safe place), in case you need to reinstall in the future. It's good for the life of the OS that you upgrade it from.

Cat

Sorry, I didn't catch the switch to Pro part - Cat is right about that. You can use your key to switch to 32 Home Premium and from there you would need to buy the anytime upgrade to Pro.

I don't know how much that would cost you on your side of the pond but in the USA the anytime upgrade from H.P. to Pro can be gotten for as little as US$70-US$80.if you shop around.

If you switch to 32-bit you will need drivers though. Only if you simply upgrade to Pro but stay 64-bit can you avoid that.

My question is... why do you want to downgrade your OS to a 32-bit? What is the main reason? Why are you going from Home Premium to Professional?

I can see the part of wanting 7 Pro over Home Premium, but wonder about downgrading from 64 to 32 bit. For one, you're actually getting a second OS (XP Mode) with the deal.

As I explained in my earlier post, one can upgrade to 7 Pro for less than $100. The cost of the upgrade is $89, but different state and local sales taxes vary. Mine cost around $96, total. And the whole process, from purchasing the key, to installing it, took less than 20 minutes. It doesn't get easier than that, and costs $200 less than the full retail version does, let alone the formatting, getting your drivers, etc.

A piece of cake.

Cat