Win XP 32 bit to Win 7 64 bit - it's time

[Barrister]

Okay, so Apple just released it's Boot Camp drivers for Windows 7, so it's time to make the upgrade.

I'm currently running XP Pro 32 bit.  Am I correct in thinking I need to do a complete refresh/restart in order to do this?

Since I think I'm going to install a new HDD (why not - the thing has 4 drives ) would it almost be simpler to just do an additional install of Win 7, and leave XP on there, essentially tri-booting my system?

My XP install is pretty lean (only use it for gaming) so the install should be fairly easy, but I am worried about having to redownload a few multi-GB pieces of software (STO, I'm looking at you).  Is there any way to copy files onto another HDD, then back on to the new Win 7 volume?  Or will registry issues cause me problems?

[Grey Fox]

It would be easier yes.

As the registry issue it totally depends on the game. WoW will be fine, it's actually what Blizzard recommends to do. STO, I have no idea.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Yes.  That would be easier.  You don't need to make it bootable, but leaving that data on there would be easier for you to recover whatever files you want.

[DontSayBanana]

I don't recall that the installer for STO made a distinction between x86 and x64...

[Barrister]

I don't recall that the installer for STO made a distinction between x86 and x64...

It doesn't.   

The upgrade has little to do with STO, other than not wanting to download 8GB a second time.

Of course I wouldn't mind getting full access to my 10GB of RAM...

But mostly I just want to play around with 7.   

[DontSayBanana]

I don't recall that the installer for STO made a distinction between x86 and x64...

It doesn't.   

The upgrade has little to do with STO, other than not wanting to download 8GB a second time.

Of course I wouldn't mind getting full access to my 10GB of RAM...

But mostly I just want to play around with 7.   

7 is indeed fun.  Not sure whether you'll love it or hate it, as it's moved in a more "Mac-like" direction.

[viper37]

Since I think I'm going to install a new HDD (why not - the thing has 4 drives ) would it almost be simpler to just do an additional install of Win 7, and leave XP on there, essentially tri-booting my system?

Yeah, keep XP around in case in you encouter any problems with your Mac.  The drivers are probably very good, but you never know...

Is there any way to copy files onto another HDD, then back on to the new Win 7 volume?  Or will registry issues cause me problems?

There's an utility in Windows 7 called "Windows easy transfer".  I think it exists in XP, albeit on another name (maybe "Windows file transfer").
The idea is the tool makes a backup of your registry settings and documents (actually, reading it, it says: "User accounts, Documents, Music, Pictures, E-mail [i.e. WinMail software, probably not Thunderbird], Favorites [not Mozilla Bookmarks, afaik], Videos and more.

However, I don't think it lets you transfer from one HDD to another directly.  My options are limited to cable transfer, network, or external HDD/USB flash.
It does let you select all directories you want though, selecting the above mentionned stuff as default.
I never tried the thing, but it's supposed to be good. 


I like Win7, but I don't see much of a difference with Vista.  What didn't work in Vista doesn't work with Win7, and that was the major complaint of users.  It's supposed to be a tad faster, though I don't really notice in day to day operations.  It sure boots and shut down faster though.[/i]

[DontSayBanana]

There's an utility in Windows 7 called "Windows easy transfer".  I think it exists in XP, albeit on another name (maybe "Windows file transfer").
The idea is the tool makes a backup of your registry settings and documents (actually, reading it, it says: "User accounts, Documents, Music, Pictures, E-mail [i.e. WinMail software, probably not Thunderbird], Favorites [not Mozilla Bookmarks, afaik], Videos and more.

However, I don't think it lets you transfer from one HDD to another directly.  My options are limited to cable transfer, network, or external HDD/USB flash.
It does let you select all directories you want though, selecting the above mentionned stuff as default.
I never tried the thing, but it's supposed to be good. 


I like Win7, but I don't see much of a difference with Vista.  What didn't work in Vista doesn't work with Win7, and that was the major complaint of users.  It's supposed to be a tad faster, though I don't really notice in day to day operations.  It sure boots and shut down faster though.[/i]

Viper, what's your CPU?  My laptop's based on an Athlon QL-65, and the speed increase was pretty dramatic; I seem to recall that the speedup was more drastic for 2-core systems than 4-cores.  It also seems like they intended to bring 32-bit with its 3 GB RAM limit closer to 64-bit speed.

Thinking about mail contacts: there's no built-in Windows Mail program.  You'll have to install your own mail client or use one integrated with a browser (Opera has one, and I believe an add-on for Firefox adds that functionality).  It's not such a chore as it sounds since they finally let you pin things to the taskbar the way Mac lets you do with the dock.