Install Windows 7 32 Bit

Windows 7 32 bit works on 64 bit processors but you would not be maximizing all the capabilities of your processor. If your Dell came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit and you would like to use your Windows 7 Professional license you bought last year, you can upgrade the install Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional using Anytime Upgrade:

If the license for Windows 7 Professional you have access to is either a retail upgrade or full version, you can use the product key and Anytime Upgrade to move from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional. First, make sure the edition of Windows 7 you are upgrading from is already activated (if its not you will run into complications and you might have start all over by doing a clean install). Click Start, type Anytime Upgrade, click the option to enter a key, enter the Windows 7 Professional key when requested, click Next, wait while the key is verified, accept the license agreement, click upgrade, wait while the software upgrades, (it might take 10 minutes or more depending on if updates are needed), your computer will automatically restart, after restarting, Windows 7 will notifiy you its updating the computer, the computer will restart one more time automatically and the upgrade will be completed, a windows will pop up notifying the upgrade was successful and your computer is ready to use, click close, you should be upgraded to Windows 7 Professional your files, programs and settings preserved.

Nov 13, 2011 Click Install Now. Unlike the Windows 7 64 bit disk, you can start the installation from within Windows 7 64 bit because the Setup program in Windows 7 32 bit is a full 32 bit application. When the setup menu appears, select the custom (advanced) option, select the disk partition where you would like to install Windows 7 32 bit. Simply download a Windows 7 ISO file or disc image and then create a USB or DVD for installation. If you need to install or reinstall Windows 7 you can use this page to download a disc image (ISO file) to create your own installation media using either a USB flash drive or a DVD. Select either 32-bit or 64-bit version to download.

If your intention is to install Windows 7 Professional 32 bit:

If you have the Windows 7 32 bit DVD, you will need to do a custom clean install. This requires that you either start the installation from within Windows 7 64 bit or boot from the Windows 7 32 bit DVD.

Please note, you should go to the manufacturers website for your computer and make sure that you have downloaded all the necessary 32 bit drivers for your system, since the drivers that are being used now are for 64 bit Windows. You will notice that some devices do not work. Also note that if you have 4 GBs of RAM in your computer, this will not be recognized by Windows 7 32 bit.

How to downgrade from Windows 7 64 bit to Windows 7 32 bit
There is no in place upgrade path from from Windows 7 64 bit to 32 bit. This means you will need to backup whatever personal files you have accumulated since you started using your Windows 7 64 bit PC to an external hard disk or burn them to a blank DVD. You cannot use Windows Easy Transfer program when migrating from 64 to 32 bit, it is not backward compatible with the older architecture. This means, you will need to copy and paste files into a folder on an external hard disk or thumb drive. You need to gather all those application and driver installation disks and prepare to reinstall all of them.

Obtaining 32 bit Installation media

If your computer came with Windows 7 64 bit preinstalled, then you will need to contact the manufacturer of the computer about obtaining a alternate recovery Windows 7 32 bit disk set to reinstall Windows 7 on your computer. The manufacturer might charge a small shipping and handling fee.

Some manufacturers will include the ability to choose either 32 or 64 bit Windows 7 at installation time. This will require that you boot into the Recovery Environment, most manufacturers require that you press the F11 Function Key when you start your computer. Please consult the documentation that came with your computer about how to reinstall Windows 7.

If you bought a retail box license (upgrade or full version) then you should have both 32 and 64 bit DVDs included in the box.

If purchased a digital download of Windows 7 from the Microsoft Store, then you will need to go to the Microsoft Store website (http://store.microsoft.com), log in with your store account, select Download Options and select Windows 7 32 bit and proceed to download.

If you have an Anytime Upgrade license, you will need first reinstall the base Windows 7 32 bit license, activate it then do the Anytime Upgrade to the particular edition and then reactivate again.

Starting the Installation
Boot to the Windows 7 64 bit desktop, insert your Windows 7 32 bit DVD, click Run setup.exe when the Auto Play dialog appears. If you want, you can also boot from the Windows 7 32 bit DVD and also do a custom install. Its just that, it’s a bit more elegant when you simply boot to the desktop and start the installation from there.

Click Yes when the User Account Control window appears

Click Install Now

Unlike the Windows 7 64 bit disk, you can start the installation from within Windows 7 64 bit because the Setup program in Windows 7 32 bit is a full 32 bit application.

When the setup menu appears, select the custom (advanced) option, select the disk partition where you would like to install Windows 7 32 bit. Click Next.

You will receive the following warning:

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 be able to use your previous version of Windows.

So even doing a custom install, your personal files are still preserved. It is still recommended you do a manual backup, because you might explicitly format the drive during setup which will delete all information on the drive. Click OK

Setup will now start the installation. During the installation, your machine will be restarted several times.

When the installation is complete, you can complete the Out of Box experience such as selecting your laptop, create a username, password, your time zone. You can then proceed to download the latest updates for Windows and reinstall your applications and drivers. Persons running Windows Vista 64 bit, can also use this method when contemplating whether they should upgrade to Windows 7 32 or 64 bit. If you decide to go the other way around by migrating from Windows 7 32 bit to 64 bit, the same principles apply with some exceptions. You can use Windows Easy Transfer to backup your personal files and settings and you will need to boot from the Windows 7 64 bit DVD to start the installation.
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I suggest you attempt another installation of Windows 7.

When you start the computer, a Boot Menu should be presented with the option to Roll back the installation to your previous version of Windows.

Install Windows 7 32 Bit From Usb

If you are unable to do that or continue the existing installation, I suggest you do a custom install and recover any important personal files from the Windows.old folder.

Boot from the Windows 7 DVD
Click Install Now
Accept License Agreement
When the option is displayed to select an installation type, click (Custom Advanced)

select the disk partition where you would like to install Windows 7 Click Next.

You will receive the following warning:

Install Windows 7 32 Bit Virtual Machine

Install Windows 7 32 Bit On Uefi

(At all cost, do NOT click anything named Format or Delete or Partition. So even doing a custom install, your personal files are still preserved. Click OK

Java Install Windows 7 32-bit

Setup will now start the installation. During the installation, your machine will be restarted several times.

You can then recover your personal files from the Windows.old folder and reinstall all your applications and drivers.