32 and 64 bit question

cmhansen · 13 Jul 2010

I had a 32 bit pc and it died. I bought a new pc and without even thinking it came with a 64 bit setup. This is great because it is wicked fast but my problem is that my old hard drive has all of my info. I have installed the old hard drive as an extra into the new computer. It has windows 7 32 bit on it. new computer came with windows 7 64 bit on it. The computer recognizes both hard drives but I can not pull my files.

If I go into the boot record and set up for the computer to boot from my old hard drive will it start with the 32 bit window system on that drive or will I create issues? I just want to get my files not saved before crashing and then I can unistall the hard drive or reformat to use as extra space. At least that is my hopes.

can anyone help?

Brink · 13 Jul 2010

Hello Hansen, and welcome to Seven Forums.

What does it do, or message it gives you, when you try to copy over files from the HDD?

If you are getting some sort of permissions or access denied message, then you may need to take ownership of that hard drive, and "Allow" your user account "Full Control" first.

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

DeaconFrost · 13 Jul 2010

If you had simply used the same username/password combo as your old system, this wouldn't have been an issue. It is a simple step that SO many people overlook.

gregrocker · 13 Jul 2010

As to your question on how to boot the old HD, try using the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key given on the first boot screen, or in your Manual located at the Support Downloads webpage for your computer or mobo maker.

If WIn7 will start then it will swap out all drivers, requesting several restarts and should be good to go. Boot it via the BIOS one time boot menu key.

If it won't start then unplug the 64 bit HD, boot the WIn7 DVD Repair console or Repair CD, click through to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times with reboots to see if it will start 32 bit Win7. If you suspect it was not originally set as Active then do so using the Repair command line: Partition - Mark as Active

After these attempts you can plug back in the 64 bit HD, which was unplugged to avoid any chance the repair would alter it's independent boot. With separate HD's, a BIOS-managed dual boot using boot order and one-time Boot Menu key is the best course.