Because I've been impressed with the evaluation version I've been running on two notebooks, I've ordered Windows 7 Ultimate to install on my desktop, a 15-month-old Dell XPS 420 with a Pentium Q6600 processor and 4GB of RAM. It's currently running Vista. Is it feasible to turn my 32-bit desktop into a 64-bit system?
Graham Sidwell
Your quad-core PC certainly has enough power (some people have managed to run Windows 7 on old Pentium III chips). However, it's worth running the free Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta to check your system. This will tell you which programs you must uninstall (in my case, Microsoft Private Folder 1.0), and which you can update. All modern 32-bit software should run correctly on the 64-bit platform, though it will not run old 16-bit software. (Nobody should have written any of that since Windows 95, but some 32-bit programs had 16-bit installation routines.)
Unfortunately, the Upgrade Advisor does not advise on 64-bit drivers for people running 32-bit systems, which is what you need. While 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista have been the standard on Windows servers for years, desktop and notebook PCs are not as well supported, and you may have problems getting drivers for some components (such as wireless cards) and peripherals. In some cases, manufacturers are still providing Microsoft with drivers, so they're not on the DVD, but running Windows Update after installing Windows 7 solves the problem. Since Dell supported 64-bit Vista on the XPS 420, the chances are your system will work correctly.
You can use Windows 7 to upgrade from Vista, and this is simple. However, there is no supported upgrade from any 32-bit version to the equivalent 64-bit version. You will therefore have to reformat the hard drive and do a clean installation. There are wizards and a Windows Easy Transfer tool to help you save and migrate your settings and data.
