Windows 7 and Programs written with XP

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Hi,

I will be getting a new 64 bit computer with Windows 7 soon. I have two external hard drives with data written on a 32 bit PC using Windows XP Pro. Will I be able to use the data and programs on the hard drives with the new, 64 bit computer running under Windows 7? If it cannot be done directly by simjply connecting the hard drives to the new computer, how can it be done?

Thank you.

W

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There is no concern or consideration to be made regarding data access and use between 32-bit and 64-bit systems, however any access restrictions you may have put on the data, like making it private to one user on the XP system, will require you to take ownership of the data files before they can be accessed on the Wn7 system, or, remove any security settings before moving the drives to the new system . Not sure exactly what is meant by programs but in general there are very few programs that won’t be compatible with a 64-bit system because they are easily run in 32-bit mode and there is pretty good compatibility between XP and Win7.

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All your 32 Bit apps and data should be useable on your 64 Bit Win 7. In fact I would recommend using the 32 Bit IE to start. Many web sites will not render properly in 64 Bit yet, especially those uses flash because flash is not yet available in a 64 Bit version. As time goes on you will see more use of 64 Bit until at some point in time 32 Bit will start fading to the background. But for now rest assured your 32 Bit stuff is just fine to use. Most of us using 64 Bit Win 7 have tons of 32 Bit stuff we are using every day, much of which was brought over from original 32 Bit systems.

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Thank your Ted and Byron for your responses. I was pretty worried about what I would do with my stored data. Now that I know that I can use it on the new computer, those concerns evaporate.

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Thank your Ted and Byron for your responses. I was pretty worried about what I would do with my stored data. Now that I know that I can use it on the new computer, those concerns evaporate.

You will have to install all the apps to use the data. This will give you the opportunity to get the latest version of the apps. The only caveat with the data that is app specific is that the app will have to be win 7 compatible. If it is not (Check ahead of time) Win 7 Pro, Enterprise or Ultimate have a virtual XP Modeavailable to run older apps that are not compatible with Win 7. Win 7 Home Premium does not have XP Mode available. Win 7 also has a compatibility modeto assist with some older apps.

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You will have to install all the apps to use the data. This will give you the opportunity to get the latest version of the apps. The only caveat with the data that is app specific is that the app will have to be win 7 compatible. If it is not (Check ahead of time) Win 7 Pro, Enterprise or Ultimate have a virtual XP Modeavailable to run older apps that are not compatible with Win 7. Win 7 Home Premium does not have XP Mode available. Win 7 also has a compatibility modeto assist with some older apps.

I have a dual boot system 32bit xp and 64bit w7 in place at the moment. Most apps should work but I would check first. I did some testing with a VM solution first. Consequently only one of my apps that did not have an upgrade version available did not work and that is why I have a dualboot on now.
Setup for dualboot is easy, when installing win 7 it will create the dualboot automatically.
Best course of action is to check new versions of apps or use a VM solution (VMware, microsoft Virtual server) to test your apps.
Data should be accessible straight away and usually 7 will take control of the files when you try to access them.

Cheers,
Matti

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