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Anav
Sarcastic Llama? Naw, Just Acerbic
Premium Member
join:2001-07-16
Dartmouth, NS

Anav

Premium Member

[WIN7] Moving from 32 to 64bit??

I am running 32bit win7prof and I noticed the computer motherboard is capable of 64bit. How hard is it to migrate to 64?? Is it simply a matter of an upgrade install (ie relatively easy) or would I have to do a fresh reload of OS, then load all the programs and then try to migrate email and files after - too daunting for me to consider.

andyross
MVM
join:2003-05-04
Aurora, IL

andyross

MVM

32-->64 is a complete reinstall.
andyross

andyross to Anav

MVM

to Anav
32-->64 requires a reinstall.

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

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to Anav
does your computer have more than 4gb of ram? If not, there is no reason at all to do it.
jacour
Premium Member
join:2001-12-11
Matthews, NC

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Premium Member

to Anav
It is a bit bothersome. It is also worth noting that either you run 64 bit MS apps, or 32 bit, but it has to be all or nothing (i.e. you can have 64 bit Excel and 32 bit Outlook). I mention this because most of the nice add-ons I use for Outlook don't work in the 64 bit flavor, not that there is anything wrong with Outlook 64, the add-on developers just haven't ported it yet.

I rolled back to 32 bit.

urbanriot
Premium Member
join:2004-10-18
Canada

urbanriot

Premium Member

You're an exception to the rule as it's certainly not "all or nothing", you can install 32-bit Microsoft Office if you use some bizarre Outlook add-ins that aren't supported in x64. Heck, Microsoft Office 2010 installs 32-bit by default...

Most new PC's and laptops have been x64 since around 2nd quarter 2009.
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

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Premium Member

to jacour
Centainly your average naive plugin will require to match the bitness of the thing into which it is plugging, and certainly kernel-mode components need to match the bitness of the OS, but beyond that there's no "all or nothing" about application bitness. That is, you can run 32-bit "app X" and 64-bit "app Y".

Maybe you meant all that, but your syntax isn't entirely clear.

Anav
Sarcastic Llama? Naw, Just Acerbic
Premium Member
join:2001-07-16
Dartmouth, NS

Anav

Premium Member

Thanks older motherboard llimited to 4gigs of ram so not going to bother.
bgraham2
join:2001-03-15
Smithtown, NY

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Member

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I know that you have made the decision, and I went through the same thoughts and issues as mentioned by people in this post.

You also need to check older hardware for 64 bit driver support.

I messed around with 64 bit on a test box and finally discovered that a couple of Photoshop add ons did not work so I would have to use the 32 bit Photoshop plus my scanner and old Epson photo printer would have to be replaced. At that point it was a $300+ dollars worth of no brainer, . It's just not worth it.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

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said by Anav:

Thanks older motherboard llimited to 4gigs of ram so not going to bother.

I downgraded a system for the same reason. RAM was limited to 4 GB max due to the chipset. Stupid HP; they could have used a newer chip set to allow more RAM.

Kramer
Mod
join:2000-08-03
Richmond, VA

Kramer to JohnInSJ

Mod

to JohnInSJ
said by JohnInSJ:

does your computer have more than 4gb of ram? If not, there is no reason at all to do it.

I agree with the conclusion, so I am hesitant to make this point, but there are advantages of the 64 bit version from a security standpoint. Supposedly the kernal is much better protected using the 64 bit version. Having said that I have seen so many 64 bit systems trashed by malware, rootkits, etc. that my feeling is in the real world there isn't that big a difference. The bad guys know how to get around the protection.

urbanriot
Premium Member
join:2004-10-18
Canada

urbanriot

Premium Member

That was certainly the case ages ago, where I could click on infected keygens and cracks with wreckless abandon and they'd crash on Windows XP x64 and Windows Vista x64 prior to around SP1, but these days infections are multi-platform especially if a person has Java running on their system.

Kramer
Mod
join:2000-08-03
Richmond, VA

Kramer

Mod

You still have a better protected kernal in the 64 bit version. There may be instances where a particular piece of malware doesn't do the damage on one system it would do on another. I don't sleep any better with a 64 system then I would with a 32 bit system. You are right. The majority of the really bad stuff doesn't care and does it damage regardless of what version of Windows you happen to be running. There are some new protections that Microsoft and the hardware vendors have gotten together on in Windows 8, that should help some with systems that fully support the technology.