W7 Home 64 to W7 Pro 32

[jhausch]

Thanks again to Nick for the help with DBAN. As luck would have it, the HDD on the new laptop crashed 2 days ago. Unable to recover any files - I've only lost (I think) one week of data - so I am debating on whether or not I want to spring for the $600 crap-shoot clean room recovery. They will give you a list of what they found and were able to recover; if you don't see what you want on that list you don't pay.

So - tip #1: avoid the new low-cost Lenovo think pads.

With the first PC, I learned that W7 64 Home caused some grief for apps I need to run. On round 2 with the same make and model, I bought the W7 64 bit upgrade. Still had problems.

So, now, with the new laptop (new make and model this time), I want to go from 64 bit to 32 bit. The laptop comes with 64 Home, I bought the full discs to install 32 or 64 Pro.

I first made a system image of this new laptop using 3 DVD's. I then made a system recovery disk with another DVD.

I then booted from the 32 bit Pro disc. I deleted all the partitions it would let me. It next asked me about creating a new partition, but I was not sure what size to use so I used the default. It went through all the itterations, but now I don't think I have any drivers for any devices on this laptop. The display looks funny and I don't think there are any network device drivers (wired or wireless)

Anyone out there have some time to give me a little guidance?

(I am typing this on my 5 year old laptop running XP. It's just gotten so slow) . . .

 

[EdFred]

What were the problems with 64? I have W7x64 Ultimate and W7x64 Home, and the only issue I had was with some old peripherals where the mfg didn't make, and said they were not going to make drivers for W7.

 

[jhausch]

I have a thin client SW I need to run to access our company systems. It was flaky on 64. I have a phone interface/contacts SW (also from the company) that did not work on 64.

I have automation programming SW that does not work right on 64.

I have USB-Serial converters for those same automation companies' hardware- didn't work on 64.

Long story short, I got it to work - I am typing this on the new laptop running W7Pro32.

 

[gismo]

What were the problems with 64? I have W7x64 Ultimate and W7x64 Home, and the only issue I had was with some old peripherals where the mfg didn't make, and said they were not going to make drivers for W7.

So far I've found two or three design tools that don't work under Win7 64 without setting them up on a virtual PC running XP. For most folks this isn't likely to be a problem as long as you upgrade your apps to newer versions.