How to reinstall windows 7 if I have win7 x32 installed and I want to replace it with win7 x64?(I don't want to format my hard drive)
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My friend installed Windows 7 on his computer (upgrading from XP).  He wasn't sure if his processor supported x64 or not, so he installed the x86 version, just to be on the safe side.  After I looked it up, it turns out his processor does support x64, and now we want to upgrade.  The question is: is it possible to upgrade without completely re-installing the OS?  Can I? Or do I have to format the C: partition again?
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We get a lot of questions on Super User about Windows activation and licensing. This question is an attempt to answer the most common questions in one place with a .   When reinstalling Windows, the following questions often come up:   Can I transfer the copy of Windows from my old computer to a new one? Does the license key on the sticker on my computer work on any computer? If I have a 32-bit version, can I install a 64-bit version? I have an OEM version of Windows, but only a retail disk. Can I still use it? I want to install Windows with a different language. Do I need a new license in that language? I changed some hardware. Will I be able to reactivate my computer? Can I back up my activation before doing a reinstall? How many computers can I install my license on? Do I have to deactivate my old installation before transferring a license? If so, how? How does licensing work in Windows ? What are the restrictions on transferring, reinstalling, and changing versions of Windows?
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I purchased a laptop with with Windows 7. The OEM did not provide the disc, but there is a Windows installation with a recovery partition. The Windows 7 machine has not been setup or activated.  I need to install a different operating system for testing. Installing the new operating system side-by-side will cause more trouble than its are worth, so I am going to install the new operating system over Windows 7. That is, I am going to "blow out" the existing Windows 7 installation.  Later, I may want to be able to revert to Windows 7. My question is, how do I backup the current Windows 7 installation, without setup or activation, so I can use it again in the future, if desired?    Many existing questions and answers, like ,  and , presume the machine is setup. (I don't have an HP but I expect the process is similar).  I am trying to avoid the setup process because I want the "cleanest" untainted image as possible.    And so I am clear on what I am asking: I am looking for specific instructions, and not vague advice. For example, call out a tool you have used, and provide the two or three steps needed.  Sorry about this item. Without it, its seems like (1) the question could be vague or broad; and (2) I might create a useless backup image that does not restore (and I won't find out until sometime in the future). And testing a broken backup image will blow out things without a way to restore.
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I booted from the Ubuntu ISO which I burned on a disk and installed Ubuntu, and chose the option to replace windows 7 with Ubuntu, now the version of windows 7 I was running was an illegal cracked version and I already had tried to get rid of it without booting into the actual OS and after many attempts was unsuccessful. Now did installing Ubuntu and choosing the option of replacing windows 7 actually solve my problem and did it wipe the previous windows OS EVERY LITTLE PART OF IT.
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I am already using Windows 7. I want to install Ubuntu 13.04 along side Windows 7 in a partition that I already made in one of my hard drive but I am worried about losing the data on my drive. Is there any possibility of data loss?
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I have a Windows 7 64-bit installation on my current PC, and I want to move it to a new PC .. I do NOT have a problem with licensing, as the new system already has its own new Windows 7 license, which I intend to use.  I want to use my existing installation, because it has 3 years worth of installed office related software development software, which installing again could take weeks !  I'm assuming that I can use Windows 7's Backup and Restore feature to backup a system image to a network location, then restore that network stored system image on the new PC ?  Again, like I said, I don't have a WIndows 7 licensing issue, as both machines are corporate provided and come with their own licences.
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I just bought a serial for Windows 7 on-line from the Microsoft store (the most painful shopping experience EVER!). I selected that I wanted to download my version of Windows 7 after purchase. After payment, I have listed a Product Key but no download link in sight.   Where do I download my Windows 7 ISO to burn to disk?  Note: I'm not a Technet or MSDN subscriber.
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I used to run Windows 7 32 bit, but installed the 64 bit version because of a RAM upgrade. During the installation I got this message:      The partition you selected might contain files from a previous Windows installation. If it does, these files and folders will be moved to a folder named Windows.old. You will be able to access the information in Windows.old, but you will not be able to use your previous version of Windows.   The C:\ drive now has two (2) Windows folders:   Windows (15.3 GB) Windows.old (15.7 GB)     Don't see why I need the Windows.old taking over 15GB of space on my hard drive so I tried to delete it. It didn't work.  How can I safely delete this folder?
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How can I find out whether my install of Windows (specifically XP and Vista) is either 32 or 64 bit?  Additionally, how can I find out if my hardware will support a 64-bit operating system?
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I bought a product key for Windows 8 a while ago, but I never got around to using it, because I can't seem to find a 64-bit Windows&nbsp;8  anywhere.  My processor is 64-bit, but my current installation of Windows 7 is 32-bit, meaning that trying to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 through the upgrade Assistant would give me a 32-bit ISO image, which is not what I want. I want a 64-bit ISO image, so I can at least use my processor and memory to the fullest.  Where can I find a legitimate verbatim Windows 8 ISO image to use with my product key?  This is not a duplicate. The linked question does not answer me.
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How do I completly remove XP from my pc. I currently have a dual boot with XP and Windows 7. Since installing Windows 7, I have never used XP. Can I remove it without causing problems with Windows 7?
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I have 2 hard disks, on first I have installed win xp. I boot into xp and run setup of win7 and installed it on second hard disk. Now the problem is that win7 bootloader is installed on first harddisk, so if I remove the first harddisk, I cannot boot into win7.   How I can move / install bootloader of win7 on second hard disk?
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I just replaced a "broken" hard drive in a Dell Inspiron N5110 laptop and it looks like Windows 7 is gone.  Is the operating system saved/stored on the hard drive?  If so, does that mean I need to buy a new OS or is there another way?  I have a warranty on this computer: could a failed HD be covered?
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I want to reinstall Windows on a machine which has some very obscure drivers. I don't much fancy having to hunt round for them (that's if I'm able to locate them at all). Is it possible to save or backup already installed drivers? If so, how do I do this? How do I then go about installing these 'saved' drivers?
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I've been using Windows 10 for a couple of month now (joined the Insider Preview).  Now my hard drive started ticking so I've bought a new SSD and I want to move the windows installation to the new hard drive, which has been connected to the computer (unpartitioned). I don't mind and I even prefer reinstalling it over again.   Since I have the free version of Windows 10 pro, can I still reinstall it anew? Does the windows 10 installation offer disk management and partition like the older Windows installations used to? How should I reinstall Winodws 10 x64 the easiest but still remain on free mode?
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So basically as it stands I have a laptop which has no cd/dvd drive, and I don't have a usb drive.  The laptop has windows 7 installed with ubuntu 11.04 installed through wubi.  What I want to do is remove windows completely, and make ubuntu the only OS installed on the system.  Is there a way to do this without re-installing ubuntu? (i.e. can I take my wubi install away from windows?)  or is there a way to from inside ubuntu have it run the ubuntu iso somehow so I can just wipe the system and install it fresh? (even if it means I need to have an e.g. 2gb partition just for the image to reside in).
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I joined in the  and I don't like it. However, this question may also be relevant to those who install the full version of Windows 10.  How can I downgrade back to Windows 8/7 from Windows 10 or Windows 10 preview?