• Deleting Windows 7 32-bit to leave 64-bit

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    WSglio
    AskWoody Lounger
    December 4, 2009 at 9:26 am #464430

    I installed a full version of Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit on my clean C: drive and then realised it would be better to install the 64-bit version and re-installed Windows 7 as 64-bit. This version works very well, apart from the fact that I have to have the install-DVD in the drive for it to boot and if I go into safe mode I now have two options of Winodws 7 to boot from. How can I remove the unwanted 32-bit finally from my system and also get it to boot without the install-DVD in the drive?
    PS the reason I wanted 64-bit version was so that Windows would recognise 6GB of RAM.

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    • joep517
      AskWoody MVP
      December 4, 2009 at 9:33 am #1188703

      Welcome to the Lounge!!

      There is no reason that the installation DVD needs to be in the drive to boot.

      If it was me, I’d backup any data that was important and reinstall. Do a custom install and format the C: partition.

      Joe

      --Joe

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    • WSNathan H
      AskWoody Lounger
      December 4, 2009 at 9:37 am #1188705

      You can not convert a 32 to 64, you’ll have to backup and reinstall. If you can not boot from C and need the DVD in the drive, then the C drive is probably not marked as active. Before reinstall go into your Computer Management (Click Start, type Computer Management) and under Storage-> Disk Management right click on C and select Mark Partition as Active

      NH

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    • tjchan
      AskWoody Plus
      December 4, 2009 at 9:59 am #1188722

      I have run across a time in Vista where I had to have my install DVD to boot. The fix was running the “Starup Repair” on the “Repair My Computer Section”. Do you have things that need to be backed up first? You can use the Windows Easy Trasnfer with another harddrive (external or internal) to back up files and settings. Like Nathan said in the above post, there are no paths going to 32 -> 64 bit. To totally remove the 32-bit OS, just format the drive when you are choosing which drive to install to and all data on that drive will be gone. (On a side note, I remember one time I installed Windows 7 where it renamed my old windows folder to “Windows.old” and inside was all of my old program files etc…but I think that was done when I was doing a clean type install from Windows XP).

      After Windows 7 successfully installs, you should have no need to keep the DVD in the drive. Remember during installation during the second pass when Windows setup reboots not to “Press any key” as that was only for the initial start to load the Windows 7 installer.

      I hope this helps and have a blessed day!
      -Timothy Chan

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    • WSDeadeye81
      AskWoody Lounger
      December 4, 2009 at 7:50 pm #1189003

      When I upgraded from Vista Home Premium 32 bit to Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, I had to choose the ‘custom install’, which is essentially a clean install. I would have chosen this option anyway as I do not like to do ‘in place’ upgrades for any reason. I have found the clean installs more reliable and less troublesome in the long run. The custom install moved all the Vista install and user files, etc. into a folder named Windows.Old. At the conclusion of the Win 7 install, I had a 64 bit OS without any problems, and was able to copy all my user files form the Windows.old folder to my Win 7 installation. It has been running flawlessly ever since.

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