Greetings-- 

  

Yes.  You've identified one of (or a couple of) my concerns.  The Vista -> Win7 is a viable "in-place" upgrade path, and, in the past, MS OS upgrades allowed for a clean install if the original 'upgrade-eligible' installation media was available and inserted when the installation of the new OS prompted for it (this is what I did when I used an upgrade version of XP PRO and had the Win98 SE install disk available to insert when required).  The 32-bit to 64-bit "change" is a potential sticking point that concerns me.  Adding 2 GB [or more] memory was/is also in the plan (particularly at the low price I would have to pay for the OS through my school connection).  I'm willing to take the risk of driver and installer incompatibilities (although I believe my Nvidia 8600 drivers are probably supported).  Thanks for your (and Mr. Rode's) input. 

  

Paul A. Shippert 

School Librarian 

Margaret Brent Middle School 

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Sproule" <[log in to unmask]> 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2011 10:18:13 AM 
Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] Core2 Duo 2.13 - Is it 64-bit capable 

Hi Paul, 

All the Core 2 Duo chips are compatible with 64-bit OSes. 

(See, 
http://ark.intel.com/products/27249/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-E6400-(2M-Cache-2_13-GHz-1066-MHz-FSB , 
for your CPU, specifically.) 

I don't see any other hardware that you mention that shouldn't have 64-bit 
drivers available, but this is what you would want to look for.  Older 
software will be "try it and see" when it comes to 64-bit OSes.  I think the 
main "gotcha" was that some of these might have used installers that won't 
run under 64-bit OSes. 

Keep in mind that the main advantage of running a 64-bit OS is that it 
allows the use of more than 4 GB of memory; so, unless you are also planning 
to upgrade to more memory, you may not really gain anything by installing 
the 64-bit version instead of the 32-bit version.  Of course, memory 
continues to be relatively inexpensive these days. 

Finally, maybe someone else can address whether there will be an issue 
trying to use an upgrade version when you have 32-bit older versions 
installed and want to upgrade to the newer and 64-bit version.  I know that 
you can't do a straight upgrade in this situation, but I can't recall 
whether you can still do some sort of work around that lets you essentially 
do a clean install of the 64-bit OS, after the installer sees the older 
32-bit OS.  I'm vaguely recalling, when I looked into this at one time, that 
it didn't seem to be possible, but I didn't try it so I can't really say for 
sure.  If your upgrade version comes with both the 32-bit and the 64-bit 
versions, I guess you might just have to see what the MS installer will let 
you do. 

I'm still running WinXP Pro 32-bit as my main OS (though I do have Win Vista 
Business (32-bit) on another system, which gets little use); so, like you, 
it will be my next OS upgrade that includes a 64-bit OS. 

Good luck, 

John 


------ Original Message Below ------ 

Date:    Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:36:14 +0000 
From:    "Paul%20A.%20Shippert" <[log in to unmask]> 
Subject: Core2 Duo 2.13 - Is it 64-bit capable 

Greetings-- 



Through my work, I can get an excellent deal on Windows 7 Ultimate (32 or 64 
bit) Upgrade. I have Windows Vista Business (along with XP Pro in a dual 
boot arrangement) installed, so I should be able to use the Upgrade 
installation media for Windows 7 Ultimate, even with a total elimination of 
partitions and a hard disk format (as I still have my Vista Business install 
DVD).

                         PCBUILD's List Owners:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                        Mark Rode<[log in to unmask]>