Upgrading to 64 bit OS

WolfofAlchemy said:

Layback Bear said:

To know for sure give this a try.

Download: Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

Thank you also. This test told me I could upgrade to Professional or Ultimate 32bit. Guess I got my anwser. I just pretty much wanted to know if it was possible to go to 64bit.

There's a separate listing on the Upgrade Advisor for 64 bit compatibility. Did you observe that?

Did the advisor flag your 965G graphics? There are no Win7 drivers for it. (It's possible to use the XP drivers. It's possible to run Windows 7 without Aero Glass, but it's a bit less pretty.)

As another poster remarked, the GX270 is available as a small form factor, dektop, or mini-tower PC. The SFF version takes a maximum of 2GB of RAM, That's within the minimums for X64, but few would install a 64 bit OS on a machine with 2GB of RAM.

I recently switched to X64 on my (cheap, 2008) laptop at 4GB, but I did that because a specialized application that I use for work had a 32 bit version that had serious bugs under Windows 7 X86 (32 bit). Its 64 bit version is OK under Win7 X64.

It's possible that you could install X64 on the GX270, but it's probably not practical.

gregrocker said:

What programs did you use to optimize your system?

Most optimizing suites are not desirable for Win7. I would only use CCleaner or WinPatrol and even WinPatrol's realtime protection can be a drag on resources.

You want a completely clean boot, and never any tweaking with Win7.

I use CCleaner, Auslogics Boostspeed (mainly for defragging, registry fixing, and registry defragging), and Tuneup Utilities 2012 for the disabling of programs (for fast boot speeds and to get resources back preventing lag and freezes), disabling start up programs, and disabling the animation effects.

bobkn said:

WolfofAlchemy said:

Layback Bear said:

To know for sure give this a try.

Download: Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

Thank you also. This test told me I could upgrade to Professional or Ultimate 32bit. Guess I got my anwser. I just pretty much wanted to know if it was possible to go to 64bit.

There's a separate listing on the Upgrade Advisor for 64 bit compatibility. Did you observe that?

Did the advisor flag your 965G graphics? There are no Win7 drivers for it. (It's possible to use the XP drivers. It's possible to run Windows 7 without Aero Glass, but it's a bit less pretty.)

As another poster remarked, the GX270 is available as a small form factor, dektop, or mini-tower PC. The SFF version takes a maximum of 2GB of RAM, That's within the minimums for X64, but few would install a 64 bit OS on a machine with 2GB of RAM.

I recently switched to X64 on my (cheap, 2008) laptop at 4GB, but I did that because a specialized application that I use for work had a 32 bit version that had serious bugs under Windows 7 X86 (32 bit). Its 64 bit version is OK under Win7 X64.

It's possible that you could install X64 on the GX270, but it's probably not practical.

I think it's considered a "mini-tower PC" even though it not mini at all. It's also a 865G not 965G, which I'd imagine was just a typo. Not sure at all what a "small form factor" is. I didn't know there was a separate advisor for 64 bit. After what all of you told me, it would be best to stick with 32 bit and not try 64 bit and mess up my computer. Can't say I'm very knowledgeable in these things at all.

Tuneup Utilities causes problems regularly with Win7, tweaking beyond what the OS will tolerate.

Auslogics Boostspeed was used by many of us in XP and Vista but no one I've read here uses it any longer as Win7 is already optimized far better than any of it's tweaks can provide. And you can get safer Disk and Registry cleanup using CCleaner which is the most highly regarded app in the tech field and still used by almost everyone here.

One benefit for older hardware using Puran's free boot-time defrag is to enable Intelligent Optimizer on it's Addtl Operations tab which will move most-used files to the outside edge of the HD for faster reads.

gregrocker said:

Tuneup Utilities causes problems regularly with Win7, tweaking beyond what the OS will tolerate.

Auslogics Boostspeed was used by many of us in XP and Vista but no one I've read here uses it any longer as Win7 is already optimized far better than any of it's tweaks can provide. And you can get safer Disk and Registry cleanup using CCleaner which is the most highly regarded app in the tech field and still used by almost everyone here.

One benefit for older hardware using Puran's free boot-time defrag is to enable Intelligent Optimizer on it's Addtl Operations tab which will move most-used files to the outside edge of the HD for faster reads.

So that would explain why sometimes the computer seemed a little messed up. I always assumed it was just a registry error. I always use CCleaner (mainly to clean junk and clean the recycle bin.) Oh I also use Tuneup Utilities for the "Turbo" mode which I might add that it never really seems to work because I NEVER see a difference.

WolfofAlchemy said:

I think it's considered a "mini-tower PC" even though it not mini at all. It's also a 865G not 965G, which I'd imagine was just a typo. Not sure at all what a "small form factor" is. I didn't know there was a separate advisor for 64 bit. After what all of you told me, it would be best to stick with 32 bit and not try 64 bit and mess up my computer. Can't say I'm very knowledgeable in these things at all.

965G was a typo.

The specs for the system are here:

Documentation

I take it that you have the "mini-tower", so you could put 4GB of RAM in it.

There isn't a separate upgrade advisor for 64 bit. The advisor checks for both 32 bit and 64 bit capability.

I see that you have an AGP graphics slot. There are Aero supporting graphics cards available, although PCI-Express (PCI-E) has been the most common interface for a few years.

I recommend staying with XP on this machine. You could get Win7 X64 to run on it, but upgrade funds would be better spent elsewhere.