SOLVED Changing to 64bit from 32bit - advise please?

[GramUK]

Hi guys - first post here.
I've just upgraded my PC today so far as processor, motherboard etc. to an i7 quad 3.4 GHz processor and have bought Windows 7 Ultimate full 32 and 64 bit. I am wanting to install the 64 bit OS to take advantage of my new setup and extra RAM etc.
I have one main 2TB HDD partitioned from my original system where the main partition has Windows pro 32 bit. The second partition has just regular data on there (backups / photographs etc.)
I believe I have to perform a fresh install on the "C" drive and it will hopefully format and overwrite that OS which is on there during setup. BUT - will changing to 64 bit have any effect on the second partition of the same physical drive?
Got all the parts and raring to go but don't want to just dive in and get stuck. Been many years since upgrading / building etc.
Many thanks in advance if anyone has any advice.
Cheers,
Graeme

 

[brkkab123]

Before switching to 64 bit do yourself a favor and download 64 bit driver's for your motherboard, video card, printer and any other hardware your pc has. Copy all of them onto a flash drive. You'll need to do a clean install to go from 32 bit to 64 bit. Make sure to either do a backup or to move your documents, music, pictures, videos, contacts, favorites and downloads to either another partition or another hard drive. Then proceed with the 64 bit install and enjoy.

 

[jefft104]

changing to 64 bit

Good advice on copying your drivers to a flash drive. I use a creative 5.1 live sound card. No 64 bit drivers but there is another driver set that works...apparently a special creative project called Kx mixer. works just fine. Suggest you keep data in a second partition. BTW, my win 7 64 bit freezes randomly. Apparenlty a common problem and the discussions seem to suggest a clean install may be the solution so you might want to think about that and do a full back of of all data and start with a clean slate.
good luck.

Jeff

 

[brkkab123]

Thanks forthe comment about what I said. A clean install is a must do step. You can't do a upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bitFurther more you really shouldn't do a upgrade install from one Windows version to another. Serious headaches will occur do to incompatible software, thus resulting in a needed clean install. I learned that one the hard way back in 2007 when I upgraded my old pc from Windows XP to Vista.It's also good to have your Contacts, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Saved Games and Videos folder on either a 2nd hard drive or seperate partition, as if you ever need to reinstall Windows, you only have to install Windows and your programs. All your personal things stay where they were and all you need to do is repoint Windows to those folders again, which does away with a ton of headaches.

 

[TrainableMan]

Use Windows Easy Transfer to back-up your userids and any data on C: (you can store the WEP back-up file to D: or an external drive). Then Format C: yourself (not from W7 install). Then fresh install W7-64. D: will not be affected.

 

[jefft104]

I installed a win 7 64 bit premium upgrade version so I don't think it will do a clean install.
ty
Jeff

 

[TrainableMan]

My answer above was for GramUK

But for you Jeff, did you upgrade from Vista, because that could be the cause of your issues (some people have reported problems after upgrading over an existing Vista install). And just FYI in case you would change your mind, even with the upgrade version you can install it on a freshly formatted drive, you may just have to install it twice if it can't detect a W7 boot segment the first try.

 

[GramUK]

Guys - Thanks so much for the advice and reassurances.
I've downloaded as many 64 bit drivers as I think I'll need and already bought 64 bit compatible software that I will be using. I have a very old Creative labs Audigy 2 sound card and "appear" to have a 64 bit driver from thier site but I'll not be too troubled if I need to upgrade/ remove that (I've had it a while now). I've backed up all of my documents from the C drive and will format and do a nice clean install. All of my real data is on the other partition of the drive and so that's what I was worried about initialliy. I'll let you know how I get on hopefully by the end of the week I'll have this up and running.

 

[GramUK]

Ok an upgate on my install. Booted from the full install CD (Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit) and chose the custom install which allowed me to select the correct partition. Great! No problems at all and once complete I looked at the C drive where the new OS was installed and it had not formatted that partition as I'd expected. So all my data was still on that drive as well as a Windows.old folder. Have to say that even though I am using on board graphics until I can decide on a graphics card, the system is blazingly fast. Well impressed. The creative labs audigy 2 still works and I've ran a few audio processing apps and generally well pleased with the results. So, I guess I can now update my profile with the new PC spec. Thanks to all on these forums for the wealth of useful incormation !
cheers,
Graeme

 

[TrainableMan]

Then Format C: yourself (not from W7 install).

I did mention you should format yourself.

But anyway, I've marked this solved.

 

[jefft104]

Thanks for that Trainableman. I installed over windows xp Pro.
cheers
Jeff

 

[TrainableMan]

Jeff, OK, an upgrade from XP to W7 is actually a full install so that's good; you didn't bring over any unresolved Vista registry issues or troublesome DLLs, etc

 

[jefft104]

Thanks for that. Someone else wrote that ASUS ACPI seems to be the issue. Will check that out.
cheers
Jeff

 

[TrainableMan]

jeff, ACPI is part of your power settings and allows things to sleep etc. Easiest way to see if that is a problem is to set your power settings to maximum performance.

 

[jefft104]

Thanks will try that.