It really wont matter, but, i advise doing a proper full format, as in removing everything entirely from the HDD, installing W7, and using your backups to get your work back on. might take time, but will decrease the chances of problems further down the track, which in turn, will more then likely put you out of business for a little while, not always, but chances are increased.
+1
You need to be sure that your DRIVERS(not just software) is compatible..
(Not sure you mentioned that, but idk :P )
Also check to see if your processor is 64-bit compatible... their is a link to check it, im not sure, if anyone else has it post it here :P
But erm... thats a really nice rig ya got their - and it wont take long if your do a Clean Install - i recently reormatted my laptop and its running extremly fast and it only took me about an hour to get all of the things back - luckily they're not many updates yet!
Good Luck, and im guessing only like 4 hrs....to get ur computer up and running again.
Yeah, all of my hardware is 64-bit compatible (I just built this pc about 2 months ago with close to top-of-the-line stuff), and I've been getting 64-bit drivers to boot.+1
You need to be sure that your DRIVERS(not just software) is compatible..
(Not sure you mentioned that, but idk :P )
Also check to see if your processor is 64-bit compatible... their is a link to check it, im not sure, if anyone else has it post it here :P
But erm... thats a really nice rig ya got their - and it wont take long if your do a Clean Install - i recently reormatted my laptop and its running extremly fast and it only took me about an hour to get all of the things back - luckily they're not many updates yet!
Good Luck, and im guessing only like 4 hrs....to get ur computer up and running again.
Its really that buggy to install from windows onto another hd? Seems like it would be the same as booting from the disc and installing a hd, but I could very well be wrong. I'll try and find somewhere tomorrow to get some DVDs from. I can't imagine it'll take too long, it installed pretty quick last time for the 32-bit.
I may wait until the weekend to reformat it..Even though I should be able to have it up tomorrow (no work or school), in the off-chance that something does happen and I can't get back on I'll be SOL for the rest of the week.
There is no need to reformat your existing x86 installation.
You will be fine to create another partition, then install x64 onto that - then dual boot.
Even easier if you have another HD.
It is a clean install if you put it on another partition on the same, or different Hard drive - I had no trouble at all doing it.
Because you are currently using x86 - you will need to install the x64 by booting.
Get a recordable dvd and burn the 7 x64 .iso onto it.
Boot the 7 x64 dvd - when you get the screen asking where you want to install - select where you want to install onto. That's it. Took me about 20 mins.
Last edited by SIW2; 27 Sep 2009 at 22:44.
So I went ahead and figured I'd try running the installation from my harddrive instead of a DVD, to install Windows on my second HD.
It installed lightning fast, and i had Windows 7 64-bit up and running, with all of my work/school software installed as well as all of the drivers and everything I need in roughly 2 hours. I'm typing this post from the new install, actually.
Everything went very smoothly and it is lightning fast. I plan on upgrading my ram within a couple months (probably around christmas when I get a bit more money), but this'll definitely work for now; A ton better than 32-bit.
CP, thanks for posting the result. Glad to see it worked well
If you want some frosting on the cake, you can change the names that appear at the boot screen, so you know which is which. I have the same, x86 and x64 in separate partitions and I called them that (so I don't have to think...) :)
Link to the tutorial: Dual Boot - Change OS Name in Windows Boot Manager
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