To upgrade,or not to upgrade?

[Daveebee]

Hi All, As this is my first post I will get straight to the point. I am considering upgrading my O.S. from the existing Vista 32. I certainly like what I'm hearing about Win.7 with no obvious reasons to delay. Which is best , upgrade my Vist or a full delete and install of WIN 7? Also ,which is the recommended version, 64 or 32 bit, Thanks if anyone can shed some light on this question, regards.

 

[Zardoc]

Hi All, As this is my first post I will get straight to the point. I am considering upgrading my O.S. from the existing Vista 32. I certainly like what I'm hearing about Win.7 with no obvious reasons to delay. Which is best , upgrade my Vist or a full delete and install of WIN 7? Also ,which is the recommended version, 64 or 32 bit, Thanks if anyone can shed some light on this question, regards.

Hi Daveebee,


If you can afford to jump to the Windows 7 club, it's a good move especially if you have a 64 bit compatible processor. (which I clearly see you have) Unfortunatly, you cannot upgrade a 32 bit system to a 64 bit. Whatever the install, I always recommend a clean install.

 

[richc46]

Hi All, As this is my first post I will get straight to the point. I am considering upgrading my O.S. from the existing Vista 32. I certainly like what I'm hearing about Win.7 with no obvious reasons to delay. Which is best , upgrade my Vist or a full delete and install of WIN 7? Also ,which is the recommended version, 64 or 32 bit, Thanks if anyone can shed some light on this question, regards.

You can do a complete and clean install with the cheaper upgrade DVD, if you have a qualifying OS, now.

32 or 64 depends on your computer specs and needs, but in general if you have more than 4gb of ram, you may be better off with 64

Before you do anything to to Microsoft site and download upgrade advisor.

 

[Daveebee]

Thanks for the replies. It now begs another question as to what advantages (there must be some, I'm sure) to decide to to 64bit?

 

[richc46]

Thanks for the replies. It now begs another question as to what advantages (there must be some, I'm sure) to decide to to 64bit?

There are several, but the most important is, if you have more than 4gb of ram it can be used in 64 and not 32 Hope I helped you.

 

[richc46]

To give you a little more information about RAM (memory). If your computer has more than 4 gb of ram, it will be wasted unless it can be used by the computer. If you install 64 bit, all the ram that you have will be utilized. It will make your computer faster, less freezing and for the younger ones, games will be a lot better. Hope I have helped, thanks for the rep. The rep to us is appreciation, makes us feel good when someone appreciates the effort it takes to help.

 

[Ray95]

For the First Question:
-A Clean install would be nice if you don't have much files to worry about or to transfer to the new version of windows, Other than you start out clean and quick, all possible viruses or worms that could have been swimming around your computer would be gone, and you will get a chance to keep your Computer safe from the start!
-An Upgrade, if you have a lot of files that you worry about, especially if you have files that are related to work or whatever is as important, since you may forget a file or two and not being able to come back, though you can perform a clean install with keeping the older version of the OS as WINDOWS.OLD folder that you can return to for recovering files.

For the Second Question:
I'm not really that sure, but i can say that 64 bit is more advanced and newer than 32 bit, its like... a new version of windows just came, its cool and all, but still, not everything work on it, you getting me? I have 32 bit Windows 7 (my computer is old anyways) but i'd give 64 bit a time until i find it on every laptop in the electronic shop

 

[Daveebee]

I have 4 gb of dual channel, all my slots filled

 

[richc46]

I have 4 gb of dual channel, all my slots filled

In your case, I would say stay with 32, there will be some small improvement with 64, but right now 32 bit is compatible with a few more programs etc. Now others will come on to disagree, I can only talk from my experience. I have a program that I can no longer use on 64, I even called the Mfg. In my case I have 6gb of ram, 64 was the waya for me to go.

 

[RogerR]

For the First Question:
-A Clean install would be nice if you don't have much files to worry about or to transfer to the new version of windows, Other than you start out clean and quick, all possible viruses or worms that could have been swimming around your computer would be gone, and you will get a chance to keep your Computer safe from the start!

More than just the security issue, there is a stability issue. Upgraded OSs end up with a lot more junk in the registry that won't ever be needed again and may potentially cause conflicts in the future.

Sure, it is tempting to avoid the agro of reinstalling and resetting all your personal toggles, but it is often a "pay now" or "pay later" deal. Better to suck it up at the front end, get to know your new OS, and get some spring cleaning done at the same time, rather than wrestling with odd quirks from here until eternity.

 

[richc46]

For the First Question:
-A Clean install would be nice if you don't have much files to worry about or to transfer to the new version of windows, Other than you start out clean and quick, all possible viruses or worms that could have been swimming around your computer would be gone, and you will get a chance to keep your Computer safe from the start!

More than just the security issue, there is a stability issue. Upgraded OSs end up with a lot more junk in the registry that won't ever be needed again and may potentially cause conflicts in the future.

Sure, it is tempting to avoid the agro of reinstalling and resetting all your personal toggles, but it is often a "pay now" or "pay later" deal. Better to suck it up at the front end, get to know your new OS, and get some spring cleaning done at the same time, rather than wrestling with odd quirks from here until eternity.

Allow me to put in my two cents. This is a highly respected forum, for computer information. I would say at least 99% of senior members here agree, Clean install.

 

[bigmck]

Hi All, As this is my first post I will get straight to the point. I am considering upgrading my O.S. from the existing Vista 32. I certainly like what I'm hearing about Win.7 with no obvious reasons to delay. Which is best , upgrade my Vist or a full delete and install of WIN 7? Also ,which is the recommended version, 64 or 32 bit, Thanks if anyone can shed some light on this question, regards.

Certainly the best thing to do is a clean install. Win 7 does a good job of putting your old files in a folder Windows.Old. You should still backup to be on the safe side. When installing your programs again, you will have all of your data files in the Windows.Old file to make things less of a burden. Just reinstall the programs and move your data files to the proper folder for the program. You will be glad you did the clean install.

 

[gregrocker]

Since you need to backup anyway, get the cleanest possible install by booting from the DVD, selecting Custom install and then Drive Options to delete all partitions, create New as you wish, then Format before installing to the first partition. The installer will see Vista at bootup and allow Upgrade key.

The Win 7 installer is nearly driver complete with updates added during install if you stay connected to the internet, more coming in via Windows updates. Others can be found along with favorite apps at the Support Downloads page for your computer model.

You can also back up your drivers by saving the Vista windows/system32/drivers file to browse later for any drivers missing in Device manager.