Should I switch to Windows 7 64 bit from 32 Bit

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  1. Posts : 409
    Win 10 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #41

    in relation to your dualboot issue (dont try this yet im just thowing the question out for analysis) can you not just alter your boot ini file from .....

    [boot loader]
    timeout=30

    to

    [boot loader]
    timeout=0

    i did this back in the XP days when i had the same issue
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 31
    Windows 7
       #42

    archie123 said:
    in relation to your dualboot issue (dont try this yet im just thowing the question out for analysis) can you not just alter your boot ini file from .....
    Boot ini is only used by XP, it does not exist in Vista or Windows 7 which use the BCD. The methods already described by other posters above are the right way to change the boot settings in Vista and Win7.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #43

    Night Hawk said:
    A reformat will take care of everything for you. Besides removing the boot option in the msconfig there's a few other options I should mention here.

    1) Most here at SF are well familiar with EasyBCD used for dual and multiboot setups that can remove as well as add new entries into the 7 boot loader. Unfortunately the 2.0 version for 7 is still in it's latest Build 91 phase where you have to sign up at the neosmart forums in order to download that or simply go for the 1.7.2 Vista version which can simply be used for removal of the second 7 entry. Download EasyBCD 1.7.2 - NeoSmart Technologies

    2) The second is a simply BCD editor tool for renaming entries as well as the removal without any option to add new entries. You can use this for setting the default OS when dual booting. But your interest is simply in removal of the mishap you saw. Don't worry we all go through that at times! System Tools - BellaVista

    Your main interest once the entry is removed and files backed up will simply be wiping the first external drive where you saw the installation go. Then you can simply copy your files back onto it afterwards. More time consuming then any problem to see done.
    Thanks. Once I remove the boot option, I would assume that the Windows 7 files residing on my external HD will basically be "dormant". I intend to reformat, but so long as I am not presented with the annoying dual boot options whenever I reboot my system, I can transfer needed files to my other external drive over the next few days.
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  4. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #44

    Night Hawk said:
    When first mentioning a dual boot setup shrinking the present C for a second primary or adding another spare internal drive was the idea for seeing the 64bit go on. Your external drive installation added a new entry into the 7 BCD store which is easily removed.

    First you have to verify which one is for the external drive before deleting the entry. If you drop down the Run command line in Start and type msconfig to open that up you go to the "boot" tab there and will see all entires listed being two. The option to highlight the external drive's entry and click the delete button is seen there.

    To avoid deleting the one for your C drive right click on the C drive icon and give the drive a name like W7 64bit or alstein's drive in order to see that on the drives listed. Once removed you can go ahead and reformat the external drive if all files are backed up from it to clean the misintended install off of it. Note external drives can also be installed internally while most are the low performance models intended for storage seen in the premade enclosures.
    Thanks for the tip. Wouldn't my external Hard drive have a letter other than C? When I reinstalled Windows 7 64 bit after seeing the problem, I reinstalled, making sure to disconnect my to external drives. My internal hard drive is now labelled "c".
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 8,375
    W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Boot - Main PC W7 Remote PC Micro ATX W7 Pro x64/W11 Pro
       #45

    When booting into any clean install of Windows with the boot loader on the same drive it will see itself as C while you are booted in that particular installation. If you had booted into the install on the external drive your main drive would be seen as D,E,F,G, or another letter assigned right off by Windows until changed.

    As far the boot entry even if that was for an installation you intended to keep once removed the option is no longer seen at startup rather you boot into the default OS without the boot options menu appearing. With the external drive's installation there without being started up nothing will be active.

    One way to prevent accidental deletion of the main drive's entry which would be seen at the top of the list in the msconfig is simply label the C volume like "W7 Host" or any other name by right clicking on the drives icon in Windows Explorer or Computer. That will be seen when going to delete the unintended entry.

    With the entry removed you can take your time going about in backing the files up if you should run into a lack of drive space. when you do finally have all files safe elsewhere then simply reformat the drive to make that available for use again.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 499
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit
       #46

    alstein said:
    Night Hawk said:
    When first mentioning a dual boot setup shrinking the present C for a second primary or adding another spare internal drive was the idea for seeing the 64bit go on. Your external drive installation added a new entry into the 7 BCD store which is easily removed.

    First you have to verify which one is for the external drive before deleting the entry. If you drop down the Run command line in Start and type msconfig to open that up you go to the "boot" tab there and will see all entires listed being two. The option to highlight the external drive's entry and click the delete button is seen there.

    To avoid deleting the one for your C drive right click on the C drive icon and give the drive a name like W7 64bit or alstein's drive in order to see that on the drives listed. Once removed you can go ahead and reformat the external drive if all files are backed up from it to clean the misintended install off of it. Note external drives can also be installed internally while most are the low performance models intended for storage seen in the premade enclosures.
    Thanks for the tip. Wouldn't my external Hard drive have a letter other than C? When I reinstalled Windows 7 64 bit after seeing the problem, I reinstalled, making sure to disconnect my to external drives. My internal hard drive is now labelled "c".
    Your external drive will be E: F: G: ..... it depends on how many optical drives you have, how many card readers you have etc. but it will just grab an available letter. Nothing to worry about .
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 8,375
    W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Boot - Main PC W7 Remote PC Micro ATX W7 Pro x64/W11 Pro
       #47

    If you are running a laptop without an optical drive by chance Windows would likely by default assign D since you are working with the eSata type connection not through the usb bus there. That was the only reason 7 was able to install on the external drive to start with!

    Once you are situated again you can easily choose a specific drive letter by going into the Disk Management tool and right clicking on the drive item there to select the "change drive letter" option.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Should I switch to Windows 7 64 bit from 32 Bit-chang-drive-letters.jpg   Should I switch to Windows 7 64 bit from 32 Bit-chang-drive-letters2.jpg  
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  8. Posts : 22
    Windows 7
       #48

    I bought a PC with no OS and Retail Windows 7.
    I installed x64 and had endless problems finding drivers and running not-very-old software. So I installed the 32-bit on the old PC and checked everything.
    My main problem was my Epson Perfection scanner and Nero 7. Now I've changed to 32-bit on the new PC and all is relatively well except Nero. But I may be able to live with the indows CD burner. If not a new Nero is affordable whereas a new scanner wasn't.
    So my advice is to check all your hard- and software and to hold off x64 until you have a good reason to change.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 8,375
    W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Boot - Main PC W7 Remote PC Micro ATX W7 Pro x64/W11 Pro
       #49

    alstein said:
    jimbo45 said:
    Hi there
    I'd recommend going to 64 bit --even if you only have 2 GB RAM of memory --you can always upgrade the RAM.

    For stuff that simply MUST run on 32 bit OS'es why not run them in a Virtual Machine either XP MODE or even run W7 x-86 under vmware or vbox (vmware server / player and vbox are also free) and won't kill your system either.

    Cheers
    jimbo
    I've made the decison to install Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit version. I am in the process of listing my applications that I will need to reinstall, and have already run Windows easy transfer. Its a pain, but since my printers and new scanners can run under Wincdows 7 64 bit, I thinnk it will be worthwhile over the long run. I am sure my motherboard, an Asus P5K duluxe wifi will handle the 4 gb ram already installed, as it was purchased a little over two years ago when I was buildng this system.
    eddyad37 said:
    I bought a PC with no OS and Retail Windows 7.
    I installed x64 and had endless problems finding drivers and running not-very-old software. So I installed the 32-bit on the old PC and checked everything.
    My main problem was my Epson Perfection scanner and Nero 7. Now I've changed to 32-bit on the new PC and all is relatively well except Nero. But I may be able to live with the indows CD burner. If not a new Nero is affordable whereas a new scanner wasn't.
    So my advice is to check all your hard- and software and to hold off x64 until you have a good reason to change.
    I think you missed the ball on this one as alstein had already made the decision to install the 64bit Home Premium but ended up seeing the first install go on the wrong drive. oops! He will likely end up staying with the 64bit version once he has everything up and running at least for the time being.

    As for finding drivers for the 64bit Windows most often any 64bit Vista updates seem to do the job especially for the main board(chipset drivers, sata controllers), printers, and other addon devices. While running Vista I waited a full year for one company to release just the 32bit updates for a tuner card. When those finally came the 64bit update also then available was the solution for the 64bit 7!
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #50

    Night Hawk said:
    alstein said:
    jimbo45 said:
    Hi there
    I'd recommend going to 64 bit --even if you only have 2 GB RAM of memory --you can always upgrade the RAM.

    For stuff that simply MUST run on 32 bit OS'es why not run them in a Virtual Machine either XP MODE or even run W7 x-86 under vmware or vbox (vmware server / player and vbox are also free) and won't kill your system either.

    Cheers
    jimbo
    I've made the decison to install Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit version. I am in the process of listing my applications that I will need to reinstall, and have already run Windows easy transfer. Its a pain, but since my printers and new scanners can run under Wincdows 7 64 bit, I thinnk it will be worthwhile over the long run. I am sure my motherboard, an Asus P5K duluxe wifi will handle the 4 gb ram already installed, as it was purchased a little over two years ago when I was buildng this system.
    eddyad37 said:
    I bought a PC with no OS and Retail Windows 7.
    I installed x64 and had endless problems finding drivers and running not-very-old software. So I installed the 32-bit on the old PC and checked everything.
    My main problem was my Epson Perfection scanner and Nero 7. Now I've changed to 32-bit on the new PC and all is relatively well except Nero. But I may be able to live with the indows CD burner. If not a new Nero is affordable whereas a new scanner wasn't.
    So my advice is to check all your hard- and software and to hold off x64 until you have a good reason to change.
    I think you missed the ball on this one as alstein had already made the decision to install the 64bit Home Premium but ended up seeing the first install go on the wrong drive. oops! He will likely end up staying with the 64bit version once he has everything up and running at least for the time being.

    As for finding drivers for the 64bit Windows most often any 64bit Vista updates seem to do the job especially for the main board(chipset drivers, sata controllers), printers, and other addon devices. While running Vista I waited a full year for one company to release just the 32bit updates for a tuner card. When those finally came the 64bit update also then available was the solution for the 64bit 7!
    I did finally install Windows 7 64 bit on my C drive. I ended up reformatting both my backup external drives, and restoring needed files to these drives. it took a couple of hours but was not difficult. I have had no problems with 64 bit drivers, for my printers and scanner. My system is running fine. Is it quicker than the 32 bit system? It seems so, but it could be a case of "mind over matter". However, I have no regrets (other than that messup with the external hard drives). Thanks for all your help.
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