upgrading operating systems how to(s)

back in the good old days all you had to do is get an upgrading version of OS that would install over a previously installed OS when its time for un-upgrade , but in my previous thread a helper hinted that now adays i need to clean install everything on every OS upgrade , knowing that its time to upgrade to 64 bit windows 7 or 8 , any easy known way to do so without having to start installing and re-configuring everything from scratch ?

It's not possible to do an in-place upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit because it's a completely different Kernel.

Just pretend the hard drive has crashed and you lost it all and need to start over..

thank you guys , sounds like what i'm gonna do ... *sniff*

Hey, a fresh start feels good though. It's like everything's all clean and sparkly - squeaky clean. :)

Saurabh A said:

Hi nIGHTmAYOR,

You will have to do a 'Custom re-install' of 'Windows' to upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit.
You may find the following 'web article' useful: 32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions

Hope this helps.

thank you so much for the reply and giving me hope that this is possible where non other did :)
i did try my original installation disc but couldn't find an upgrade option but i am gathering that this is related to it being pre sp1 , now i am trying to find a retail sp1 disc downloadable online but its a little hard as most versions available are customized installation discs for pre-activation or wat removal , but i'll keep you informed as soon as i experiment with this .
i'm delaying the upgrade to windows 8 64bit yet since i read alot of reviews that it's nothing but hell for systems without touch screens which it's originally intended for , but if all fail i might just opt for that option if it offers an upgrade capability , but we'll see .

Does not sound possible since it says reinstall your programs

If you want to move from a 32-bit version of Windows to a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or vice versa, you'll need to back up your files and choose the Custom option during Windows 7 installation. Then, you'll need to restore your files and reinstall your programs. For more information about performing a custom installation, see Installing and reinstalling Windows 7*.

Again, the in-place upgrade is not possible when upgrading from 32-bit to 64-bit because the Kernel is different. The article that Saurabh A linked for you is not showing you how to do an in-place upgrade for a 32-bit to 64-bit upgrade. A part of the article says that you have to do the custom clean installation process in order to "upgrade" from 32-bit to 64-bit. It's not the type of upgrade that you want because you'll still be starting over.

In other words, it is impossible to do the type of "upgrade" that you want because you're moving from the 32-bit to 64-bit. If you were going from 32-bit to 32-bit, then the in-place upgrade would be an option. Likewise, if you were going from 64-bit to 64-bit, then the in-place upgrade would again be an option.

So, when going from 32-bit to 64-bit or from 64-bit to 32-bit, you basically have to start over. There is no other way due to the difference in the Kernel.