Windows OS thread

[๖ReS]

Alright so I have Windows 7 32bit.... thing is I have 8 gigs of ram, and that's only supported in 64bit.

Question: Can I upgrade to 64bit for free ? if so can I just torrent it ? or can I get it from Windows itself ?

Also: General Windows Discussion thread.

[StarsMine]

Unless you bought OEM, your windows disk should have 64bit on the other side.

[๖ReS]

Unless you bought OEM, your windows disk should have 64bit on the other side.

Fuck I don't know where it is ;_;

Also: What's OEM ?

[Perry]

OEM = Original Equipment from Manufacturer.

[๖ReS]

OEM = Original Equipment from Manufacturer.

I got my whole rig from a company that built it with the parts that I asked for. So would OEM apply to that ? Also, it did come with a bunch of discs, I'll look for them.

[StarsMine]

I got my whole rig from a company that built it with the parts that I asked for. So would OEM apply to that ? Also, it did come with a bunch of discs, I'll look for them.

If they built it with those parts why in hells name is it running 32bit?

[Perry]

whoever made a custom computer running on 32bit is a fucking retard.

[ZERO]

Unless the custom rig had <4gb of ram. However any one that makes a computer with =>4gb is stupid and should NEVER be allowed near a computer.


You can install 64bit but you will half to reformat. I am actually doing the same thing next week so I can add another 3gb of ram.

[๖ReS]

Unless the custom rig had <4gb of ram. However any one that makes a computer with =>4gb is stupid and should NEVER be allowed near a computer.


You can install 64bit but you will half to reformat. I am actually doing the same thing next week so I can add another 3gb of ram.

Fuuuuck, that sounds like a hassle.

[Jimbear]

ultimately, swapping out to 64 bit will be worth the trouble, tons of software is optimized for it nowadays, especially video card drivers

[StarsMine]

Fuuuuck, that sounds like a hassle.

Reformatting isnt difficult, you just lose everything on the HDD. Just back up everything thats important

[๖ReS]

Reformatting isnt difficult, you just lose everything on the HDD. Just back up everything thats important

I do have an external HD, I could back almost everything I have up onto that, then reformat. That would work right ?

[acolyte_to_jippity]

I do have an external HD, I could back almost everything I have up onto that, then reformat. That would work right ?

yeah, that might work. there are softwares out there that will actually make a special image file of your HD, and copy it. Then, when you finish formatting your normal HD, you can then use this software to re-burn the image back.

i think it's called Acronis tru-image

[๖ReS]

yeah, that might work. there are softwares out there that will actually make a special image file of your HD, and copy it. Then, when you finish formatting your normal HD, you can then use this software to re-burn the image back.

i think it's called Acronis tru-image

Because I have a lot of shit I don't feel like reinstalling.

[StarsMine]

yeah, that might work. there are softwares out there that will actually make a special image file of your HD, and copy it. Then, when you finish formatting your normal HD, you can then use this software to re-burn the image back.

i think it's called Acronis tru-image

wouldnt that reburn 32bit windows? Its making an image of the whole drive, I have done that before when I was building my dads i7 and the HDD in his old computer could not be read by windows for some reason (I blame Windows ME beacuse thats what had formated the drives) and thats what It did, copied the whole drive OS and all. My situation was different because new mobo ment I didnt have to worry about that, he is using the same mobo though.

[acolyte_to_jippity]

wouldnt that reburn 32bit windows? Its making an image of the whole drive, I have done that before when I was building my dads i7 and the HDD in his old computer could not be read by windows for some reason (I blame Windows ME beacuse thats what had formated the drives) and thats what It did, copied the whole drive OS and all. My situation was different because new mobo ment I didnt have to worry about that, he is using the same mobo though.

ok, well i'm assuming you were smart and have at least 2 partitions on your hard drive?
c:, and at least a data partition. useing everything on c: means you get fucked over in a situation like this, because all your programs and data will be hidden among the system settings. ideally, at least 3 partitions make things easier.

c: for system files, don't use this any more than you must
d: for installed programs (games, etc...)
e: for data

then you can just image the d: and e: drives, and you're good!

[StarsMine]

ok, well i'm assuming you were smart and have at least 2 partitions on your hard drive?
c:, and at least a data partition. useing everything on c: means you get fucked over in a situation like this, because all your programs and data will be hidden among the system settings. ideally, at least 3 partitions make things easier.

c: for system files, don't use this any more than you must
d: for installed programs (games, etc...)
e: for data

then you can just image the d: and e: drives, and you're good!

They arnt the main HDD, its just there to keep the data, they were 2 partitions each, one for windows ME and one for XP. The HDD still have the OS installed on them, they are just unusable beacause mobo isnt the same.

[acolyte_to_jippity]

They arnt the main HDD, its just there to keep the data, they were 2 partitions each, one for windows ME and one for XP. The HDD still have the OS installed on them, they are just unusable beacause mobo isnt the same.

oh, i was actually telling this to res. but yeah, you should be able to copy the contents of the two data/program partitions to an external and re-copy them to the newly 64-bit'ed one

[StarsMine]

oh, i was actually telling this to res. but yeah, you should be able to copy the contents of the two data/program partitions to an external and re-copy them to the newly 64-bit'ed one

I must tell you copying 600GB via usb 2.0 and then back again took me 3 days XD