Can I upgrade to Win 7 64bit?

smr · 12 Jan 2010 at 19:18

Hi all,

I have a Scaleo P Win xp 32 bit PC here. Have run the Upgrade Advisor for Win 7 and it tells me I can upgrade to Win 7 32 bit. Does that mean I cannot at all upgrade to 64bit Win 7?

Thanks

smr · 12 Jan 2010 at 19:19

It says I need to run a custom 32 bit installation of Windows 7 if this helps, but doesn't say I can't install 64bit...

Locke · 12 Jan 2010 at 19:20

Depends if you need to upgrade to the 64 bit variant, since the main difference is that it'll allow the O/S to utilise more than 4gb of memory.

smr · 12 Jan 2010 at 19:25

Locke said:
Depends if you need to upgrade to the 64 bit variant, since the main difference is that it'll allow the O/S to utilise more than 4gb of memory.

Well it's for a friend, they've given me their PC to sort out as he ran into problems after purchasing the Win7 64 bit upgrade...

But I'm not so sure his PC will take it being single core 32bit cpu etc. or even if you can upgrade to win 7 64bit from win xp 32 bit.

Being that he has purchased the upgrade only means I wouldn't be able to do a clean OS install which is what I fear may need doing to get to Win 7 64bit.

Thanks for your help

TheVoice · 12 Jan 2010 at 19:45

If it's a 32-bit CPU, it won't run anything that is 64-bit...

iviv · 12 Jan 2010 at 19:58

TheVoice said:
If it's a 32-bit CPU, it won't run anything that is 64-bit...

This. Windows 64-bit only runs on 64-bit processors, hence the name

G-Man · 13 Jan 2010 at 02:28

Possibly some confusion here but you can't do a straight forward upgrade from a 32bit system to 64bit, it has to be a clean install which is at least one reason why the upgrade advisor doesn't say anything about 64bit.

And as already said, if the CPU is 32bit only then you can't put 64bit Win7 on it.

Whats the spec of the laptop?

JessicaD · 14 Jan 2010 at 00:28

SMR,

Your ability to install a 64-bit operating system is contingent upon your hardware and more importantly, your processor. If you have a 64-bit compatible CPU then, yes, you can install Windows 7 64-bit. To learn more about the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit architecture please go to the following link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/...and-64-bit-Windows-frequently-asked-questions

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team

Django x2 · 14 Jan 2010 at 10:29

iviv said:
This. Windows 64-bit only runs on 64-bit processors, hence the name

To avoid being pedantic, this isn't strictly true. There are lots of 64bit processors that can be used in a 32bit architecture. Both the mobo architecture and processor have to support 64bit.