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When reinstalling Windows 7, does the language, version, architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) or source (OEM, retail, or MSDN) matter?

is it possible to update my system from windows 7 x86 to x64 without losing data ? cpu architecture is 32bit but I have 4g ram, so to unseal the ram, I have to go with x64.

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Will Win 7 x64 run on a 32-bit processor? – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner May 12 '10 at 21:11
@frustrated - you would be hard pressed to find a 32 bit processor in a wintel machine today. – Sky Sanders May 12 '10 at 21:14
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No, it won't. You need a 64bits CPU (and probably a new mainboard supporting 64bits CPU and probably new RAM and/or HDD as well when the new mainboard doesn't support the current RAM/HDD interface). – BalusC May 12 '10 at 21:15
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closed as exact duplicate by nhinkle♦ Jun 28 '11 at 1:18

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4 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

is it possible to update my system from windows 7 x86 to x64 without losing data ?

If you mean by inplace-upgrade, no.

If you mean by backing up data (carbonite?) and reformatting the drive, then yes.

However, will your system run amd64 Windows?

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up vote 1 down vote

If your CPU architecture is 32-bit, you cannot run 64-bit windows.

What make and model is your CPU?

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up vote 1 down vote

If CPU architecture is not 64-bit, you cannot upgrade to 64-bit version of Windows. 64-bit Windows require 64-bit instructions that are not present on 32-bit CPU.

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up vote 0 down vote

Regardless of what processor ar architecture you have, you can not upgrade from a 32bit Windows OS to a 64bit Windows OS. You'll need to perform a clean install as long as your hardware supports 64bit, which it almost most certainly does (as others have stated).

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