Windows 7 Upgrading To 64 Bit

Hey guys it's been awhile, you might remember I was going to buy a brand new gaming computer but eh issues arose, I wasn't doing aswell as I should be at school and what not, ANYWAY...
The point is I can't get a new computer (YET!!! I will get one eventually and the feedback given will help me in the future) but my computer now is okay, I played the BF3 beta fine for the most part it was crashing sometimes but I think that was just because it's a beta, not sure.
So I'm thinking of upgrading my OS from 32 - 64 cas well 64 is better. I have 4 gig ram now but I think i should upgrade to like 6-8??? (Thoughts on that the MOBO i have is an ASUS p5q3 deluxe, I dont know what ram i can get with that.)

My main question is - how do I go about changing from 32 - 64, can i just load the entire contents of the HDD onto my external, then use the windows 7 64 bit disk to install it, then reload it??

thanks alot once again!!

P.S Lately my computer has been blue screening with the message - IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL - or something like that, anyone know anything about that?

 

Yes, normally a bad driver update, the quickest and easiest way is to do a system restore to a time before the problem started.

the best way would be if you installed some software or driver update just before it started to roll, back to the old driver.

the difficult way would be to have to track down, and work out which driver is the problem.

 

I think Match has answered the question regarding the IRQ Not less or equal problem.

Now for 64bit.

The 64bit version of W7 is not much use if the processor isn't a 64bit one, obviously the motherboard needs to be able to handle that processor as well. Everything else will be OK, the RAM and hard drive will be OK, Also if you can upgrade, providing the processor is 64bit compatible, you can then extend the amount of RAM up to the limit the mother board can handle. It is the mother board that tends to be the limiting factor rather than the OS.

Not knowing what your processor is, I can only suggest looking up the spec for it either on the manufacturers website or good old Google.

Edit, to add, I knew I would find something useful in a minute or two, have a look at this Microsoft article or help page.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-vista/32-bit-and-64-bit-Windows-frequently-asked-questions

Have a look at the fourth one down,
"How do I tell if my computer can run a 64bit version of Windows."

Nev.

 

Your motherboard specs are listed here - http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5Q3_DeluxeWiFiAP_n/#specifications

Your motherboard can support upto 4x4GB DDR3 RAM sticks at either of these speeds 2000(OC)/1600/1333/1066MHZ, probably best to go with 1600MHz, as for the amount of RAM 4GB is fine as it is, if you were to upgrade best to get 2x4GB sticks because the motherboard supports dual channel RAM.

As for your question of reloading the contents of the drive (assuming you meant programs and games as well as data), you would only be able to transfer over your data i.e. Music, Photos, Documents, Films etc, from an external HDD, all programs and games would have to be reinstalled as new registry entries would need creating.

 

Thanks for the ninja-quick replies guys . How exactly do I go about doing a system restore, do i just click the button and choose a date?
Also, the computer in question is really my fathers and the most important thing is that he doesn't lose his email, cas you know chain mail is oh so important.
How do i go about saving his emails (OUTLOOK) so when i save everything on the external he doesn't lose them

 

click start, type in the search box system restore, follow the prompts

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/270670

 

You cant go from 32 bit to 64 without a complete reinstall