32 bit Windows 7 on 64bit laptop

[judeohiare]

I have just installed a 32bit Windows 7 home premium on my laptop that came with with Windows7 home basic. The problem so far is that the screen resolution is poor and is as if working on safe mode. How do I solve this and what are other potential risks

 

[catilley1092]

judeohiare, welcome to the forum!

Prior to the switch, did you hunt down the drivers for your computer? There's a 50/50 chance that if the computer was built to run Home Basic, it may not have the hardware to support Aero. But still, the screen resolution can be fixed.

You need first to find & download all of the drivers that you can find for it. Being that it's a 64 bit computer, you may have some problems with finding 32 bit drivers, but with some searching, you should be able to find most of them.

Have you ran Windows Update yet? It's not the best source for drivers, but you need to start somewhere. This may at least make the computer functionable enough to find the latest ones.

Best of Luck,
Cat

 

[judeohiare]

Thanks a million. Windows update (and you) solved the problem. Hoping there won't be any more issues.
Jude

 

[catilley1092]

You're quite welcome. It would still be a good idea to look for the latest drivers though, your computer will usually run better with the latest drivers. Note that I stated usually, last week I updated a video card, and it didn't work worth crap.

But before doing anything else, you should backup the computer. There's many free backup programs for free that you can use. Macrium Reflect & Easeus Todo are two excellent free ones. This way, you have something to fall back on, should you have any problems in the future (most of us does).

Cat