Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is…. (UPDATED) | The Software Nook

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:12:57 GMT

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re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

shark47 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:40:41 GMT

O/T, but kinda relevant. Leo Laporte, on the TWIT show was hoping for some kind of a Twitter campaign to bring Microsoft down, so that should give an incentive to some of the people that post here to open Twitter accounts and begin the process.

@joiseystud: You can move from Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 HP using the upgrade media. It would most likely be a clean install, as opposed to an upgrade.

@sohaniabhishek, a lot of Universities have agreements with Microsoft where students get the software a lot cheaper. Check to see if your department has an MSDNAA site for students. Here's an example:

msdn04.e-academy.com/.../Storefront.aspx

If not, you might still find good deals at the bookstore.

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

Backup77 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:10:57 GMT

@subzero

I agree that x64 is better than x32 right now and is only going to get better. What about for those in other countries that cannot get these cheaper upgrade prices such as Australia. This should be made available in many more countries.

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

RaaJ — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:57:27 GMT

Paul,

What about the downloads? Can we download both x86 and x64 versions and choose to install one at any given time? Can you pester the powers that be a bit further, and obtain the finer details?

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

joiseystud — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:34:27 GMT

Another good question is whether one can downgrade from Vista ultimate to Windows 7 Pro? I dont feel like paying the toll for Ultimate again when all I get extra is bitlocker and i dont use it...

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

ByteFlipper — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:21:31 GMT

I wonder if people are making this out to be more complicated than it needs to be. What if...

When you insert the Win7 install CD, it analyzes your PC and based on detected hardware (and maybe even software), makes recommendations on whether it would be better to choose 32-bit or 64-bit. It is possible to word it such that most non-techy people will understand the basic concept. Maybe it even has a super-simple mode that just goes ahead and installs the 32-bit if the user is unsure. Also, if the installer detects that you have a 32-bit processor, it doesn't even give you an option.

This is just speculation, but something like that makes sense to me and is well within MS' ability to add into the installer.

Maybe the whole point is that this complexity is hidden from the end-user for the most part. You don't even need to think of it while making the purchase.

I like it.

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

shark47 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:23:57 GMT

"I only sell 64-bit now on PC's that I ship, even if they only have 2GB of RAM. I've been doing that for well over a year now."

So, how's the performance compared to a 32-bit OS on these 2GB RAM PCs?

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

subzerohitman721 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:22:29 GMT

For me this is a no brainer. x64 is absolutely better on so many levels. Now for those who only have a 32 bit processors, you really don't have a choice. However, since my x64 migration, I've really enjoyed the overall responsiveness even from a single core x64 with an x64 OS. There's no way I'll go back to a 32 bit OS.

If you do have a 64 bit OS, just go for it. If you've got an old 32 bit system, upgrade at get 64 bit for cheap. Thankfully, I still have a copy of Vista on a separate hard drive and I'll just upgrade that one.

For those in the U.S., MIcrocenter is offering the upgrades at $10.00 off the prices from Microsoft. $39.99 for Home Premium, $89.99 for Professional.

www.microcenter.com/.../preorder.html

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

DRWAM — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:23:42 GMT

Costco's email is already advertising the free upgrade to Win 7

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

shark47 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:43:39 GMT

Didn't the precursor to Easy Transfer migrate programs as well? Microsoft then bought the company and decided to transfer only settings and files, I think.

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

Waethorn — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:38:05 GMT

@meason:

You are correct.

Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, and Business included only 32-bit media at retail. The included a card that had information on how to order a 64-bit version online. Vista Home Basic was also available on CD's, so you could also order that online. I think Business also had that option too, but I don't remember (someone please confirm - it may have only been for System Builder versions). Only Vista Ultimate included both 32-bit and 64-bit in the same box.

OEM's could choose either version for bundling. End-users weren't allowed to trade-up to the other version unless the OEM offered it to them, because Microsoft relinquishes all support and control of OEM-bundled software that's sold with PC's. It was also required that OEM's provide drivers for 64-bit if they allowed a trade-up. System Builders always just order the appropriate media from distribution.

I only sell 64-bit now on PC's that I ship, even if they only have 2GB of RAM. I've been doing that for well over a year now.

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

Waethorn — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:30:26 GMT

"Allow me to once again remind people about the wonders of Windows Easy Transfer. It can be run on XP or Vista installs to pull off all of your personal stuff (when I did it on my laptop, it even found my installation of World of Warcraft). Settings, documents, user profiles, it all goes."

Windows Easy Transfer is a GUI front-end for something called "User State Migration Tool" (USMT), but is designed for consumers, whereas USMT is designed for IT staff.

USMT grabs everything as well. You can customize it with XML configuration files and such. Sometimes there are things like broken/unused shortcuts and such, or empty folders that you don't want to transfer over, but it has an option to not compress the source files, and I usually "prune" the copied files to remove the unnecessary junk.

I also don't like that it grabs files that aren't recognized. That means that virus-infected computers can be compromised by restoring the backup, and that's another reason why I like to prune backups.

One thing that bugs me is that for some unknown reason, it will still create Start Menu shortcuts that you delete in the uncompressed backup files. I'm guessing the log recreates them or something. I still haven't figured out why it does that though. Otherwise, it's a very handy tool for any IT person, and it's a small, easily manageable set of tools to work with.

Oh, and BTW: USMT is designed to handle domain user accounts.

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

Thunderbuck — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:41:08 GMT

I'm disappointed to see that Dell's guaranteed upgrade policy only goes like-for-like (ie, you can only upgrade to Win7 x64 for free if your laptop came with x64).

Allow me to once again remind people about the wonders of Windows Easy Transfer. It can be run on XP or Vista installs to pull off all of your personal stuff (when I did it on my laptop, it even found my installation of World of Warcraft). Settings, documents, user profiles, it all goes.

Then, you complete your fresh install of Win7, and run Easy Transfer to suck your stuff back from whatever external drive you've used to store in the interim (interesting security note: Win7 wouldn't let me run Easy Transfer to restore until AFTER I'd re-joined my domain).

Easy Transfer is the best of both worlds, all your stuff AND a clean install, with only two drawbacks. It won't take apps (WoW notwithstanding, and I still had to launch it from within its program folder the first time), and it takes a LOOOONG time (it ran overnight to pull my stuff off my laptop when I upgraded, though it was only a couple of hours to restore).

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

meason — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:27:08 GMT

@realtestman

I believe only ultimate vista had a disk for each in the box, all others were just 32-bit

re: Windows 7 question of the day: Do you get 32-bit or 64-bit discs? And the answer is.... (UPDATED)

DRWAM — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:44:12 GMT

DarkS, the app will detect other licenses on a network, but you cannot exceed the max [3 for Student Edtion, one for Media Edtition] in use at any time. They can all use the key, but only 3 Student Ed can be in use at any time on the same network [or one Media Ed license]. Works very well as the app opens, gives a warning, then closes.