Upgrading vista to 64 bit

There is no path for an upgrade that would do things like preserving installed programs and settings. You must start over from scratch. By the very nature of being 32 bit, the bit version of Windows can access at most only four gigabytes of RAM, and typically much less. A lot has been written about compatibility concerns when moving to bits. Most of the concerns are overstated. The majority, though certainly not all, of software that runs in bit Windows runs in bit Windows.

Windows bit has a compatibility layer specifically designed to allow bit software to run. In my experience, most software just works. This is also an opportunity to see if your applications themselves have been updated to run in bit. Just like Windows, applications updated to run in bit Windows will make more efficient use of the hardware and will often run slightly faster.

My advice is pretty simple: bite the bullet and upgrade. Do the backup, reformat, and install-from-scratch described above. Plan to spend a little time with it. Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week.

Download right-click, Save-As Duration: — 2. You mention that you max out at 8 gig and would like more on your computers. Under what circumstances could you use that much memory?

If you are running a 32 bit version of Vista and want to upgrade to a 64 bit version edition of Windows 7 , you will have to a do clean install, this applies vice-versa.

Also, you cannot do downgrades, which means, if you are running Windows Vista Ultimate now, you cannot downgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. This site in other languages x.

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