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Need help please! Windows 7 64 bit dilemma.

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Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy

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Ok go easy I am not a computer persons a**hole, talk to me like you would a 7 year old, just not a tech savvy 7 year old:D.

I just brought a new laptop, Toshiba Satelitte L500 with Windows 7, beautiful looking bit of kit that a person like myself will not be able to make good use of.

When I got it home from Harvey Norman I switched it on and the first thing it is asked me when the screen fired up was if I wanted to run 32 bit or 64 bit, like an idiot I chose 32 bit when the new machine has a 64 bit operating system.

Now how do I change it from 32 bit to 64 bit?
I assume it is a really easy fix but I have searched high and low and can not find the option anywhere.

If somoeone out there could help me I would be forever greatful:)
 
First question do you have any important stuff on the computer? Considering you just got it, I don't think you would have put anything important on it yet? You will have to do a clean install (which means formatting the hard drive and installing Win 7 64 bit). Keep all the DVDs with the Win 7 software, OS etc handy. Hope this helps get back to me if you need anymore help.
 
spitlizard said:
At what stage did it ask the question?
Have to admit, that sounds a bit odd!!
Click to expand...

Yeah it does.... :cool:

Anyway you have to do what alpha1 said.

Insert the dvd and choose a clean install (which is custom on the option screen) it should keep any files you have already made and stores them in a folder called windows.old

Never trust that windows.old there are so many things that can go wrong so always backup your files anyway.
 

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spitlizard said:
At what stage did it ask the question?
Have to admit, that sounds a bit odd!!
Click to expand...

I appreciate your interest.

When i first switched on the lap top, it was just a black screen, it gave me an option to run in 32 bit or 64 bit.

As I said I chose 32 bit in error now I want to change it to 64 bit and I can not find anywhere in the setting that allows me to do it:(
 
BLue_Bloys said:
Yeah it does.... :cool:

Anyway you have to do what alpha1 said.

Insert the dvd and choose a clean install (which is custom on the option screen) it should keep any files you have already made and stores them in a folder called windows.old

Never trust that windows.old there are so many things that can go wrong so always backup your files anyway.
Click to expand...

Thanks gents.
I will give it a go, albeit with great trepidation.
I really thought it would have been an easier fix than that.

By doing this will I lose any of the free softwear titles that were pre loaded?
I have not loaded anything myself so the HDD is as clean as a whistle.
 
bradway said:
I appreciate your interest.

When i first switched on the lap top, it was just a black screen, it gave me an option to run in 32 bit or 64 bit.

As I said I chose 32 bit in error now I want to change it to 64 bit and I can not find anywhere in the setting that allows me to do it:(
Click to expand...

You have to format your HDD (clean install) and then run through the setup process again, and then choose Windows 7 64 bit. Yes if you don't do a backup you will loose everything.
 
Alpha1 said:
You have to format your HDD (clean install) and then run through the setup process again, and then choose Windows 7 64 bit. Yes if you don't do a backup you will loose everything.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate your help.:thumbsu::thumbsu:
 
If you got a windows CD, put it in the machine and do an install over the top of the current install but select 64 bit this time. You don't need to bother with a clean install as it's new anyway and that way you should keep all your programs.
 
sgPanther said:
If you got a windows CD, put it in the machine and do an install over the top of the current install but select 64 bit this time. You don't need to bother with a clean install as it's new anyway and that way you should keep all your programs.
Click to expand...

Hi sgpanther.
Thanks for the advice.
I havent done anything yet because there was no disc in the box with the laptop, should there have been?
Can I go back to Harvey Norman and demand a copy of the windows CD now?
 
Is there any CD, like a recovery CD or something? Maybe a call to Toshiba support or a visit to HN would be an idea if you get stuck any further.

It's not really that big a deal to be running 32 bit anyway unless you've got 4GB or more memory.
 
sgPanther said:
Is there any CD, like a recovery CD or something? Maybe a call to Toshiba support or a visit to HN would be an idea if you get stuck any further.

It's not really that big a deal to be running 32 bit anyway unless you've got 4GB or more memory.
Click to expand...

Not a CD to be seen.
And yep got 4GB of RAM.

Off to HN I go then.
 

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weevil said:
Errr...why exactly do you want to change to 64 bit?

I don't see any reason why you should.
Click to expand...

Hi Weevil,
Why wouldnt I want to run in 64 bit? Isnt is faster, better, stronger etc.?
I really dont know, maybe you could shed some light.

By the way, loving the "Great Sage Equal of Heaven" motif you have going on:thumbsu:
 
Do a quick search on google for windows 7 64bit vs 32bit. There are many write ups about the differences.

From what you've said about being a relatively novice user, I think it won't really make any difference. The only issue I see that makes me say go to 64bit is that you have 4GB and W7 32 bit cannot fully use that memory. It can only use 4GB less your video memory or something like that.
 
bradway said:
Hi Weevil,
Why wouldnt I want to run in 64 bit? Isnt is faster, better, stronger etc.?
I really dont know, maybe you could shed some light.

By the way, loving the "Great Sage Equal of Heaven" motif you have going on:thumbsu:
Click to expand...

Far and away the biggest advantage of 64 bit is its ability to access more than 4GB of ram, you ‘only’ have 4GB so that is not an issue.

There are some other theoretical benefits but these are very, very, very, very hard to actually see in the real world. Added to that 64 bit is not as well supported as 32 bit so you are actually more likely to have problems if you go that way.

64 bit will eventually be the norm, and for high end users the extra ram is great, but right now and for quite some time to come there is no reason for a ‘standard’ user to go 64 bit.
 
Gents thankyou.
You have been very helpful.

I will report the outcome once I, or my office IT guy, figures it out:D
 
If your office IT guy can't figure out how to freshly install W7, fire him immediately.
 

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My guess is that the computer has a Recovery partition (a section of your hard disk) which has the customized Toshiba version of the OS on it. Recovery is the usual name for this as you use it to reinstall when the OS craps itself, but in your case it acted as an initial install. They would have done it that way instead of being installed already because it had the option of 32 or 64.

This is what Dell usually do.

It's further likely that there is a boot-up option to perform that recovery process again from that recovery partition and there should be a easy paper guide which tells you how to go about that.

Scavenge around the paper documentation that came with it and look for the Installation or Getting Started type guide and look for "recovering your operating system" or something like that. It will tell you to hit some keys when it starts up and choose a menu option and walk you through that.

RTFM :D

And I would be using 64 bit if I were you. There's no problems only benefits.

And that recovery option is much better than disk install because it will have all the Toshiba supplied drivers and applications already installed. As a noob you will find that very handy.
 
Office IT guy re installed the OS now running 64 bit, so far havent noticed any dramatic changes, time will tell I guess.
Thanks for all the replies.
 

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Need help please! Windows 7 64 bit dilemma.

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