Windows 7 Enterprise 64bit over written by 32 bit

Hi Guys, Our problem is, we have been running windows 7 enterprise 64bit, we received an upgrade disc from microsoft with service pack 1, loaded the disc hit the upgrade button and it over wrote the 64bit program, the PC reverted back to 32bit, all my programs are 64bit and will not open, I have found the windows old folder, still will not recognise the 64 bit disc when trying to load, the PC is running 2x500gb WD black in raid, I have lost this setup, I can now view both drives, I prefer to run 64bit and would love to have the program up and running again, can you please help or just give me the bad news gently. look forward to any assistance, kindest regards Rob

Reply by Chris from Far Edge Pty Ltd on Wednesday, 14 December, 2011 - 13:38

Hi Rob, In short there's no upgrade path to change 32 -> 64 or vice versa - it's a fresh install. I would suggest copying any data off the computer, format and start again. Why? Because in c:\windows\ & c:\program files\ you'll have a bunch of 32 bit libraries that won't work when you reinstall 64 bit. It *might* just work, but personally I wouldn't bother - I think it would be a lot more work to troubleshoot issues that arose than to just install clean. BTW you don't need a DVD to upgrade to SP1 - Windows update should handle this just fine. And... I would in general suggest Office 32 bit not 64 unless you're working with very large datasets in Excel for example - any Macros etc that you use won't be cross compatible, and most programs out there that have office plugins don't yet work with 64bit. Regards, Chris Far Edge