Windows 7 Home Premium - changing from 32-bit to 64-bit. Help!!

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I have an Imac. I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit with Parallels. I realized that I actually need to install the 64-bit. The full version came with two disks (32 and 64). I inserted the 64-bit disk and this is the error message I got:

"The installation disk isn't compatible with your version of Windows. To upgrade, you need the correct installation disc. For more information, check your computer's system information. To install a new copy of Windows, restart (boot) your computer using the installation disc, and then select Custom (advanced)."

I've restarted Windows multiple times and still can't access the disk.

Don't have any data that needs to be backed up.

Help please !!!!
 

chscag

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You can't do that from Parallels without creating another virtual machine, this time for Windows 7 x 64 bit. You can not upgrade a 32 bit system to 64 bit without a clean install. So what you will wind up with is two virtual machines for Windows 7; one 32 bit, one 64 bit. Once you get the 64 bit up and running, you can remove the 32 bit VM.

Even if you were running Win 7 from Boot Camp, you can not update a 32 bit copy of Windows to 64 bit without doing a clean install.
 

cwa107


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I would also question the wisdom of running 64-bit in a VM, unless you're running 64-bit capable apps (things like Photoshop, 3D modeling software, etc, which I doubt you would ever run in a VM to begin with).
 
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Thanks for the tip.

How do you run another virtual machine?

On windows 7, via parallels, I plan on installing Autocad 2010 and Revit Arhchitecture. Any suggestions on whether to its better to use 32bit or 64bit? Thought 64bit would be better for 3d modeling and more memory.
 

cwa107


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Thanks for the tip.

How do you run another virtual machine?

On windows 7, via parallels, I plan on installing Autocad 2010 and Revit Arhchitecture. Any suggestions on whether to its better to use 32bit or 64bit? Thought 64bit would be better for 3d modeling and more memory.

From the main Parallels window, you should be able to just add a new one.

In the case you describe, you would probably want to run the 64-bit version (especially if you intend to use more than 4GB of RAM for the VM). But do bear in mind that 3-D apps do not usually run well in VM. In the case of AutoCAD, I would recommend getting the native Mac version. I don't know that you have that option with Revit Architecture.
 

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