Upgrade windows 7 32 bit to 64bit without format?

[destrot]

Hello

I have just built gaming computer and my mobo is MSI X58 1366 and CPU i7 950 9.06ghz..the guy who put the parts in together loaded windows 7 ultimate 32bit even though i requested for 64bit one. and now I can not use my total 6gb ram...

it says 3gb is in use.

Is it possible to upgrade to 64bit without a format and also is my mobo and cpu is compatible with OS windows 7 64 bit

thanks for your help in advance

 

[Core]

You can't upgrade/downgrade between architectures without a custom (clean) install.

 

[destrot]

You can't upgrade/downgrade between architectures without a custom (clean) install.

thanks very much for your help.

one more question if I format and use the 64 bit one will all the drivers will be installed and updated by windows7 64 bit? because I do not want to mess up with my system...if i make a clean install can i just keep my files on partition D (games and program installation files etc.) ? or do i have to format all partitions ?

thx very much

 

[Core]

You don't have to format all partitions, just the system partition on which Windows will be installed. I frequently save my data (documents, install files, zipped files etc) on another partition just for this purpose.

Any programs you have installed will have to be re-installed, and in some cases this can mean drivers. Windows 7 itself comes with a lot of drivers, and it can fetch drivers from Windows Update too. Usually when I re-install Windows, the only drivers I explicitly download and install after Windows is set up are the graphics card drivers... Windows detects ATI cards just fine but I just like using manufacturer drivers.

I'm not saying you will not run into compatibility issues, because there is no way for me to know that for sure, but they are rare. They are more common with very old software (games made for Win95, maybe XP, and so on..).

If you come across further probs or questions you can just post on these forums and we will try and help you figure them out.