I was about to head to Fry's to buy a 250gb SSD drive thinking I'd like to have the OS there to speed the machine up. I was also thinking about grabbing a 64gb OEM Windows 7 Pro CD. Can I do that and still recover the old data as I would shrinking the current partition?
64gb OEM Windows 7 Pro CD - What does this mean? :)
What's your current C used space size?
NVM you are thinking in the right direction with an SSD upgrade which will require a Clean Reinstall Windows 7 anyway. An SSD is the best upgrade you can have for Win7, lightning fast, even faster than a brand new PC without one.
Be sure to unplug your old drive so it doesn't interfere, then afterward your old drive can be accessed as a data drive. If there is enough room I'd move the data off of it to wipe it with Diskpart Clean Command first and then reformat in Disk Mgmt as a data drive. Use it for storage for large or little used files and System backup images, or if your SSD becomes full you can even move User folders there since they don't benefit as much from the SSD speed as do the OS and programs. User Folders - Change Default Location
Don't you already own a license for WIn7 that was on the PC? If so you certainly don't need to buy another copy since you own the license you have for life to reinstall as often as you want. You can reinstall either bit version with the same license.
Step 1 of Clean Reinstall Windows 7 discusses obtaining reinstall media for your licensed version. If you have problems finding the 64 bit media I will loan you my download.
Thanks. The version I have is an OEM dvd that only has the 32 bit version. That's why I was considering buying the 64 bit. I appreciate the offer but the whole iso, hash testing, etc. will take time to read, research, download, etc. that I just don't have after losing three days to this plus the time that it's going to take me to reinstall all my programs, wipe the old drive and move my data back to it. I'm probably going to install an SSD on my video editing machine next and it's running 64 bit.
Windows is installing now on the new drive. I'll let you know how it goes.
What should determine which bit version is installed is how much RAM you have. You wouldn't want 32 bit if you have more than 3 gb of RAM or it is wasted. That would be nearly as big of a waste as throwing away $100+ on another license just to get the 64 bit installer.
You are entitled to install either bit version with each license. License last for the life of the OS, not until you need to correctly reinstall.
Thanks, Greg. I have 4gb of RAM but my copy of Win7 for this machine only has 32 bit so I would have gladly paid $100 for the convenience of simply installing it from a DVD but the store didn't have them. I've got clients waiting on work from me, though, so 32 bit it will be for now.
I said I would provide you with a 64 bit installer to use with the license you already own. Why would you pay $100 for just a disk when you already own the license which can be used for 32- or 64-bit interchangeably?
You will be wasting about a half gig of RAM that can't be used by 32 bit, a shame.
If I own the license for either, why did Microsoft only include the 32 bit? Maybe because it's an OEM version and was cheaper than a standard retail. Puzzling.
I appreciate the offer but I'd pay $100 so I'd not have to download it, download and install the software to get it onto a DVD, have it not work the first time or two I try it due to not being burned correctly or some other quirk with my system, bug you with questions, figure it out and finally, sometime tomorrow afternoon, get it running.Also, because I might lose a $1,000 customer whose project should have been finished yesterday.
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