64 bit / 32 bit

[win7mhn]

I have seen a lot of posts about installing win7 as 64 bit / 32 bit. PC World has an article poo pooing 64 bit, "Not worth it" , or something to that effect.

I am , however, planning buying a laptop with win 7 already installed.

1. Is it going to ALLWAYS be installed as 64 bit
2. Can it be generally either way?
3. Can it be changed without a total , 49.87 hour reinstall process?

I have an XP machine, I own Office 2003 And a TON of automated VBA scripting in Office AND a ton of AutoIt automation programming.

Am I in for a marathon migration???
Thanks

 

[pparks1]

It may or may not be 64 bit. Depends upon what is installed. However, almost every machine with 4GB of RAM or more will be 64bit

You cannot change without a complete system reinstall.


I generally don't use 64bit UNLESS i am on a machine with more than 4GB of RAM. My laptop has 4GB of RAM exactly, and I run 32-bit on it. I'm willing to lose out on 512MB of RAM that cannot be addressed. However, I run 64bit on my machines with 8GB of RAM.

 

[zigzag3143]

I have seen a lot of posts about installing win7 as 64 bit / 32 bit. PC World has an article poo pooing 64 bit, "Not worth it" , or something to that effect.

I am , however, planning buying a laptop with win 7 already installed.

1. Is it going to ALLWAYS be installed as 64 bit
2. Can it be generally either way?
3. Can it be changed without a total , 49.87 hour reinstall process?

I have an XP machine, I own Office 2003 And a TON of automated VBA scripting in Office AND a ton of AutoIt automation programming.

Am I in for a marathon migration???
Thanks

I dont know if you can special order 32bit but all of the current crop are 64bit.

You would have to buy a 32 bit OS and the migration is a bear.

You would have to re-install all of your apps.

But 32 bit will run more legacy apps. Office 2003 wil run on either, the VB may be a problem.

SO the short answer YES

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello win7mhn, welcome to Seven Forums!


You will be able to clean install either 32-bit or 64-bit, whichever you prefer using the Windows activation key imprinted on the COA sticker attached to the PC, on a lappy it's generally under the battery box.

Windows 7 is version specific, not bit-rate specific.


Have a look at this article for some information.

32 bit vs 64 bit Comparison