windows 7 upgrade

[frozentundra123456]

I have been using vista for about a year now: Is it possible to upgrade to windows 7 without losing the data in my system now??

I might want to upgrade, but I don't really want to reload all my data, especially the save games for the games that I play, as each game seems to save the files in a different spot and some are hard to find.

Also, if I upgrade, how will I know where put the data in the new OS compared to Vista?

Thanks for any info.

Thread moved from Software For Windows to Operating Systems.

AnandTech Moderator
mechBgon

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Yes, you can do this directly from within the Windows 7 installer and it works really well. The install will take slightly longer (maybe an hour) because the installer can't just blast your freshly formatted drive with a new image, but it will save you a lot of time in the long run. I'm not sure on this point, but I don't think it will work if upgrading from 32 bit to 64 bit.

As for where the data is stored, it should all be fairly familiar. They've gone back to calling the Documents folder "My Documents" (changed from XP to Vista, now changed back), same with videos and music folders. Your other folders will be just where you expect them to be.

 

[hogtrader]

Can I use my Windows 7 upgrade to go to 64 bit OS from my Windows XP 32 bit OS?

I'm gonna build a new PC with 6 GB of Ram and will need the addressing capability of a 64 bit OS.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

If I remember correctly you will need to format the drive to go from 32-bit to 64-bit, but I'm not 100% sure on this one.

 

[13Gigatons]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
If I remember correctly you will need to format the drive to go from 32-bit to 64-bit, but I'm not 100% sure on this one.

You don't need to format, it will install it cleaning and move the files to .old folders.