Easy transition?

**failurbydesign** · August 16th, 2009

My buddy is running Vista 32bit, but its showing 4gb of ram...weird. Anyways since he cant do an upgrade to W7 64bit, he wants a fresh install, though has all his info, games, and accounts. How well does the vista backup work to transfer to windows 7???

**Bman** · August 16th, 2009

Depends, if you use the Vista backup and backup files and folders, should be as easy as copying a file to another place. I think it may be quite different if you backup as a full image of the drive.

I think this kinda explains how to backup from an image created from Vista Backup Utility if need be. Kinda complicated though.

http://blog.frankovic.net/2009/02/re...-to-windows-7/

DwarfData · August 16th, 2009

Originally Posted by failurbydesign

My buddy is running Vista 32bit, but its showing 4gb of ram...weird. Anyways since he cant do an upgrade to W7 64bit, he wants a fresh install, though has all his info, games, and accounts. How well does the vista backup work to transfer to windows 7???

There was a patch (or even SP1) that ensured Vista showed the correct amount of RAM installed in your machine. However, as you're undoubtedly aware, Vista 32bit would only address approx 3gb

roirraW "edor" ehT · August 16th, 2009

You can transfer your personal data any way you like and use Windows 7's Easy Transfer Wizard to transfer your settings. Note that you can use transfer wizards to go from 32 to 64-bit, but not the other way around.

Windows 7's Easy Transfer is much better than in Vista and XP.

**Bman** · August 16th, 2009

Originally Posted by roirraW "edor" ehT

You can transfer your personal data any way you like and use Windows 7's Easy Transfer Wizard to transfer your settings. Note that you can use transfer wizards to go from 32 to 64-bit, but not the other way around.

Windows 7's Easy Transfer is much better than in Vista and XP.

Yea but he is going from Vista to 7, not 7 to Vista. So he can't use that.

roirraW "edor" ehT · August 16th, 2009

Yes you can. You use the new Windows version's transfer wizard to gather your settings from your old installation. You can't go the other way around, from 7 to Vista. This is what it's designed for, not just to go from one 7 installation to another.

**failurbydesign** · August 17th, 2009

Not sure what he will do, just curious why his 32bit install shows all 4gb of ram..

roirraW "edor" ehT · August 17th, 2009

Originally Posted by failurbydesign

Not sure what he will do, just curious why his 32bit install shows all 4gb of ram..

I knew the answer to this as well, but DwarfData beat me to it.

Originally Posted by DwarfData

There was a patch (or even SP1) that ensured Vista showed the correct amount of RAM installed in your machine. However, as you're undoubtedly aware, Vista 32bit would only address approx 3gb

It's the same in Windows 7 32-bit. It tells you the correct amount you have installed. Not sure in Vista 32-bit but in 7 32-bit it then says in parentheses how much is useable (depends on various factors including how much RAM your video card has).

**failurbydesign** · August 19th, 2009

Now the plot thickens....Vista claims to be 32bit, but information provided with the computer says Windows Vista 64bit is installed? There are no dvd/cd's just a recovery partition...thoughts? Can up upgrade windows 7 32 to windows 7 64?

**kcnychief** · August 19th, 2009

You cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS.

Best way to clear up the confusion is to go to bring up a run bux (Windows Key + R) and type in "winver" and hit ENTER (no quotes).

Although based on your original screenshot, I'd say it's safe to say it's 32-bit.

August 16th, 2009	Top \| #1
failurbydesign music MUSIC music Joined: April 2004 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 1,821 Blog Entries: 2 Reputation: 450 Power: 118	Easy transition? My buddy is running Vista 32bit, but its showing 4gb of ram...weird. Anyways since he cant do an upgrade to W7 64bit, he wants a fresh install, though has all his info, games, and accounts. How well does the vista backup work to transfer to windows 7??? Attached Thumbnails Macbook Pro 13"

August 16th, 2009	Top \| #2
Bman OSNN Designer Joined: July 2002 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 8,700 Blog Entries: 106 Reputation: 1386 Power: 218	Re: Easy transition? Depends, if you use the Vista backup and backup files and folders, should be as easy as copying a file to another place. I think it may be quite different if you backup as a full image of the drive. I think this kinda explains how to backup from an image created from Vista Backup Utility if need be. Kinda complicated though. http://blog.frankovic.net/2009/02/re...-to-windows-7/

August 16th, 2009	Top \| #3
DwarfData OSNN Addict Joined: February 2004 Location: Lancashire, UK Posts: 135 Reputation: 80 Power: 99	Re: Easy transition? Originally Posted by failurbydesign My buddy is running Vista 32bit, but its showing 4gb of ram...weird. Anyways since he cant do an upgrade to W7 64bit, he wants a fresh install, though has all his info, games, and accounts. How well does the vista backup work to transfer to windows 7??? There was a patch (or even SP1) that ensured Vista showed the correct amount of RAM installed in your machine. However, as you're undoubtedly aware, Vista 32bit would only address approx 3gb

August 16th, 2009	Top \| #4
roirraW "edor" ehT Builder/Installer Joined: May 2008 Posts: 529 Reputation: 742 Power: 58	Re: Easy transition? You can transfer your personal data any way you like and use Windows 7's Easy Transfer Wizard to transfer your settings. Note that you can use transfer wizards to go from 32 to 64-bit, but not the other way around. Windows 7's Easy Transfer is much better than in Vista and XP. Gigabyte full tower GZ-FA2CA-AJB Gigabyte motherboard MA790X-UD4P HIS Radeon HD 4850 512MB AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.3GHz Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX 4-4-4-12 4x1TB SATA RAID 0+1/2x640GB SATA RAID 0/Misc. PATA Windows 7 x86

August 16th, 2009	Top \| #5
Bman OSNN Designer Joined: July 2002 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 8,700 Blog Entries: 106 Reputation: 1386 Power: 218	Re: Easy transition? Originally Posted by roirraW "edor" ehT You can transfer your personal data any way you like and use Windows 7's Easy Transfer Wizard to transfer your settings. Note that you can use transfer wizards to go from 32 to 64-bit, but not the other way around. Windows 7's Easy Transfer is much better than in Vista and XP. Yea but he is going from Vista to 7, not 7 to Vista. So he can't use that.

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August 16th, 2009	Top \| #6
roirraW "edor" ehT Builder/Installer Joined: May 2008 Posts: 529 Reputation: 742 Power: 58	Re: Easy transition? Yes you can. You use the new Windows version's transfer wizard to gather your settings from your old installation. You can't go the other way around, from 7 to Vista. This is what it's designed for, not just to go from one 7 installation to another. Gigabyte full tower GZ-FA2CA-AJB Gigabyte motherboard MA790X-UD4P HIS Radeon HD 4850 512MB AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.3GHz Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX 4-4-4-12 4x1TB SATA RAID 0+1/2x640GB SATA RAID 0/Misc. PATA Windows 7 x86

August 17th, 2009	Top \| #7
failurbydesign music MUSIC music Joined: April 2004 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 1,821 Blog Entries: 2 Reputation: 450 Power: 118	Re: Easy transition? Not sure what he will do, just curious why his 32bit install shows all 4gb of ram.. Macbook Pro 13"

August 17th, 2009	Top \| #8
roirraW "edor" ehT Builder/Installer Joined: May 2008 Posts: 529 Reputation: 742 Power: 58	Re: Easy transition? Originally Posted by failurbydesign Not sure what he will do, just curious why his 32bit install shows all 4gb of ram.. I knew the answer to this as well, but DwarfData beat me to it. Originally Posted by DwarfData There was a patch (or even SP1) that ensured Vista showed the correct amount of RAM installed in your machine. However, as you're undoubtedly aware, Vista 32bit would only address approx 3gb It's the same in Windows 7 32-bit. It tells you the correct amount you have installed. Not sure in Vista 32-bit but in 7 32-bit it then says in parentheses how much is useable (depends on various factors including how much RAM your video card has). Gigabyte full tower GZ-FA2CA-AJB Gigabyte motherboard MA790X-UD4P HIS Radeon HD 4850 512MB AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.3GHz Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX 4-4-4-12 4x1TB SATA RAID 0+1/2x640GB SATA RAID 0/Misc. PATA Windows 7 x86

August 19th, 2009	Top \| #9
failurbydesign music MUSIC music Joined: April 2004 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 1,821 Blog Entries: 2 Reputation: 450 Power: 118	Re: Easy transition? Now the plot thickens....Vista claims to be 32bit, but information provided with the computer says Windows Vista 64bit is installed? There are no dvd/cd's just a recovery partition...thoughts? Can up upgrade windows 7 32 to windows 7 64? Macbook Pro 13"

August 19th, 2009	Top \| #10
kcnychief █▄█ ▀█▄ █ Joined: April 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 16,949 Reputation: 4941 Power: 302	Re: Easy transition? You cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS. Best way to clear up the confusion is to go to bring up a run bux (Windows Key + R) and type in "winver" and hit ENTER (no quotes). Although based on your original screenshot, I'd say it's safe to say it's 32-bit. XBOX Live Gamertag: kcnychief

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