I am currently running an old (10 years?) HP laptop, that originally ran under XP. I finally got around to upgrading it to 32-bit Win-7 a year of so ago, and have been perfectly well satisfied ever since.
But this morning I got a shot across the bow that makes me worried that this old machine may be getting ready to fold (vidio problems). I'm thinking that it is probably about time to buy an new laptop. My problem is that nobody is still selling what I'd like to buy. My ideal machine would be a 32-bit Win-7 box. I just recommended a very nice laptop to a relative that I would be very happy with myself, but it comes with 64-bit Win-7. I have a LOT of very old software that is not realistically replaceable that won't run in a 64 bit system.
So my question is, is it possible to buy a machine with 64 bit Win-7 installed, and then use my remaining license to "downgrade" it to 32 bits? Or will I run into some unexpected gotcha? My 3 license disk is an upgrade disk, and I'm afraid Mother Microsoft won't allow me to downgrade from the pre-installed 64 bit version to the 32 bit version. And, if I reformat and try to install from scratch, I suspect it probably won't allow that either.
So, what are my options? I do know that I could go with a refurb or off-lease machine, but would much prefer to go with a new one if possible.
But this morning I got a shot across the bow that makes me worried that this old machine may be getting ready to fold (vidio problems). I'm thinking that it is probably about time to buy an new laptop. My problem is that nobody is still selling what I'd like to buy. My ideal machine would be a 32-bit Win-7 box. I just recommended a very nice laptop to a relative that I would be very happy with myself, but it comes with 64-bit Win-7. I have a LOT of very old software that is not realistically replaceable that won't run in a 64 bit system.
So my question is, is it possible to buy a machine with 64 bit Win-7 installed, and then use my remaining license to "downgrade" it to 32 bits? Or will I run into some unexpected gotcha? My 3 license disk is an upgrade disk, and I'm afraid Mother Microsoft won't allow me to downgrade from the pre-installed 64 bit version to the 32 bit version. And, if I reformat and try to install from scratch, I suspect it probably won't allow that either.
So, what are my options? I do know that I could go with a refurb or off-lease machine, but would much prefer to go with a new one if possible.