Please no MAC people with silly comments.

I am upgrading from Windows XP 32bit to Windows 7 Pro 64bit.

I'm backing up all my data files to two different drives, so I will be redundant there.

I use Thunderbird as my email client, along with an online version of gmail.

I have read a few people say they had problems with the email migration due to going from 32bit to 64bit. ??? Not sure that really makes sense because it seems to be a straight file transfer. ???

I did the Microsoft upgrade advisor and I have the system to support the 64bit OS.

I found all my disks to reinstall all my software but the biggest concern I have is utility software that comes with the hardware and getting Windows to correctly identify my hardware prior to installing the software.

Has anyone done this and does it occur fairly straight forward or are their problems that I should anticipate??

One additional thing that is a bit different. I bought Windows 7 online, they are sending me a disk, but also let me download a large executable file. I can install from that file or wait for the disk to show up.

I am a little nervous about installing from a file and not a disk, since there is always a possibility that it could have become corrupted during download, though that does not seem to happen anymore much. Also, I guess I am wondering if I should be placing the install file on the C drive or some other drive? I am wondering if I put it on my D drive, if it might have any problems detecting that drive during installation? ?????

Any help would be appreciated.

Brad,

I upgraded and old laptop from XP Pro to Win 7 not long ago. I didn't go the 64-bit route since my laptop couldn't support it. Any 32-bit app and program should run on a 64-bit machine without issue. I use 32-bit programs on my 64-bit desktop and new laptop without a problem. Files (text, docs, etc) are a non-issue.

I burned the downloaded file on to a DVD and put the CD/DVD driver for my laptop drive on CD just in case. Turned out I didn't need that, but you never know. Have you seen this tutorial (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/help/upgrading-from-windows-xp-to-windows-7?T1=tab02) ? Not to be a MS shill, but I followed the instruction fairly closely and it just worked for me.

I didn't bother reloading most of the apps since I have relegated this laptop to web surfing and game playing when I'm at my cabin. The ones I did load went smoothly.

I have to say that I was expecting this upgrade to be a serious pain, but it wasn't.

HTH,
JC

Thanks Jeff, I am still in the worried expectations camp but I think as long as it is a new install, it probably isn't a hassle and I am just worrying needlessly.

Good idea with the download file, I'll try that first. Seems like a smart way to go.

The instructions look good. I did an upgrade last Winter and it all went better than I expected.

The one additional thing I do is export a full copy of my registry. I've had a couple time where I had some setting in the registry I would have lost otherwise.

--Rod

Ran into a few problems. Main thing was I had two monitors connected and it kept black screening the one I had turned on.

Once I disconnected the other monitor it seemed to go fairly smoothly, but now I will have to finish this tomorrow.

I'm going to have to do this, eventually. Not the 32 bit part, though.
But I like XP Pro, and it works. I figure, if it ain't broke...

The 64bit part is worth doing, it enables you to add more memory but beyond that, some new software is ONLY going to be made for 64bit in the near future.

I use the Adobe Suite software a fair amount and the newest version ALREADY has some programs that will ONLY run in 64bit. For that reason alone, I had to have it.

Honestly, this has gone fairly well. I was prepared for the worst and that did not really materialize.

I can tell you another thing, my computer is running significantly faster already.

The black screen threw me for a loop for an hour or so, searched on google and saw a bunch of people with the same problem. They suggested pulling all my USB stuff off and then one person said it was his dual monitor setup and that solved that.

I love the internet for giving you quick information. I can't imagine having to figure this stuff out on my own. It boils 10 years of experience down to 10 minutes worth of searching.

I'm too ignorant about most of this to give you advice. But one spiffy thing about Windows 7 Professional is that you can "keep" Windows XP on your computer in "Virtual PC" mode. It runs XP in kind of a parallel universe. So I shifted stuff like Office over to Windows 7, where it runs much better; but for my statistical analysis software (which doesn't behave on Windows 7) I use Windows XP.

What is a bummer about 64 bit computers is that they won't/can't run many legacy peripherals and software - more of an issue with Vista and Windows 7 64b boxes than the upgrade from windows 95/2000 or whatever to XP. I can't use our printer or scanner at all. Fortunately, Geo is still on an XP box so he gets to do all the printing and scanning. When we finally move him to 7 we'll also have to buy a new printer and scanner. Not a complaint - just a expensive fact of computing life.

So far, knock on wood, everything has worked.

I had to download new drivers for my printer but was able to find them no problem. They auto-loaded and appear to be working.

When we bought this computer 1.5 years ago, we did our best to be sure that everything was Windows 7 compliant, even though we were using XP.