I have a new 64 bit computer. I also have a retail copy of XP Professional 32 bit. On my new computer the only OS is Win 7 RC 64 bit. I have ordered Win 7 Professional Upgrade. When I receive the new OS in Oct, I'd like to install it on this new 64 bit computer in 64 bit mode. My question is "How do I do that?" From what I have read, I can install XP Pro on a HDD and then do a clean install of Win 7 Pro over that. But, since my XP ver is 32 bit I can only install Win 7 as 32 bit. So from what I see, to get Win 7 64 bit I must either buy a copy of XP Pro 64 bit and clean install over that, or I must buy a copy of 64 bit Vista and upgrade that to Win 7. Can anyone confirm that I am correct in my beliefs? And is there a certain version of Vista that I'd need for an upgrade to Win 7 Pro? (In other words, can I upgrade Vista Home Basic to Win 7 Pro?). Thanks Dave

The 32-/64-bit difference matters only if you want you do an in-place upgrade (install OS Y on top of OS Z, maintaining all your programs and settings intact). That won't work - but an in-place upgrade from XP to Windows 7 won't work anyway, even if you had XP Pro 64-bit. The only way for you is a "clean install" (having to reinstall all programs and settings - no big problem on a new pc), and you are licensed to do that with upgrade media because you own a qualifying version of a previous Windows (XP Pro 32-bit). No need to buy another Windows version again, only to install your new OS.Mobile AMD64 3000+, VIA Apollo K8T800 chipset, 1 G RAM, ATIRadeonMobility 9700, 20x DVDRW, C:XPSP3 (55G),D:WIN7 (25G),F:DATA (250G)