32 bit to 64 bit

[Yoko]

I'm trying to go from Win7 32 bit to Win7 64 bit, and I know you can't just upgrade right to 64. I've partitioned my hard drive into 2 separate parts, and I don't know what to do from there.

What I want to do is get 64 bit on the empty partition, format the 32 bit partition then merge them back into one with the 64 bit stuff on. I'm borrowing an external HDD frm a friend, so I have everything backed up I need for a few days.

I have the 64 bit setup stuff on a .iso file and burned onto a dvd if I need it. Iv'e tried booting with the dvd in, but it doesn't do anything. Right now I'm afraid to try anything else without fucking shit up on my hard drive :ohdear:

Any easier ways to do this maybe or what should I do?

[flibitijibibo]

What I did to go from Vista-32 to 7-64:
- Installed Windows 7, everything I had before went to C:\Windows.old\
- Customized Windows 7 to get the OS standing on its own
- Moved all my stuff (such as Documents, AppData, and roms) from Windows.old to the new OS
- Reinstalled what I had, settings retained with AppData and recent documents are where they were before
- All is well

No partitions needed.

Oh! And as for making the DVD bootable, use cdimage.exe to make it bootable. There are certain parameters to get the boot whoosit going, but that's all googleable.

[Yoko]

I tried to install 64bit Windows 7 Professional from 32bit Vista Home Premium. The problem there is going from Home Premium to Professional I think; I didn't try going from Home Premium Vista to Home Premium Win7, but I know H.P. to Professional doesn't work. I could downgrade back to Vista 32 H.P., but would it work if I installed Win7 64 H.P. from that?

[flibitijibibo]

It should work in any case. All clean installs will make that directory with your old stuff. (It should even say before you hit OK "all your old files will be moved to windows.old during the process")

[Phopojijo]

You can upgrade to a higher version of Windows 7 than Vista's equivalent without any problems... if it was 64-bit home premium to 64-bit professional... you could just hit the upgrade button and not even worry about reinstalling your programs and stuff...

That said DON'T -- take this time to clean up your PC...