Difference Between Custom Install And Deleting A Partition, Formatting, And Installing
I have a few questions about installing Windows 7.
(1) I'm preparing to upgrade my Windows XP Pro SP3 machine to Windows 7 Pro. I'm been planning my "attack" on this for several weeks now and recently settled on using Windows Easy Transfer and installing onto my current Windows partition. I understood that this would create a Windows.Old folder with all my old files and settings but that I would nonetheless have a "clean" install of Windows 7.
However, this article on cnet.com leads me to believe otherwise:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-10386856-250.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0.
Essentially, the author seems to suggest that custom install "set up [his] computer more-or-less cleanly with Windows 7."Â He goes on to say that "I really wanted to do was re-format my hard drive and start from a blank slate on my computer," and that he eventually worked up the courage to simply reformat his partition (rather than install over it) reinstall Windows 7 again.
This absolutely, positively, confuses me. What on earth is the difference between using the Custom Install option to upgrade Windows XP to Windows 7 and formatting the partition and installing clean? I thought using Custom Install was a clean install - am I missing something?
(2) If I do elect to simply format my existing partition and install Windows 7 there, will I even be able to use that option since I am installing an "upgrade" version of Windows 7? The author in the article I linked to above was able to, and he notes that many others were able to as well, but he seems to make the suggestion that some have had troubles. Does anyone have any information on this?
(3) Finally, I'd like to install the 64-bit version of Windows 7. Currently, I am using a 32-bit version of Windows XP. Will that limit my ability to install the 64-bit version of Windows 7?
View Replies (Posted: Monday, November 02, 2009 7:57 AM)
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