W7 (32) on 64-hardware

[borate]

SATA drive has W7 32-bit.

If that is installed as a second drive and booted on a PC with new 64-bit hardware (which has W7 64 on its main drive), will the W7 32-bit O/S run?

If instead the SATA drive has XP 32-bit loaded, will that O/S run on the 64-bit hardware?

Any mods required?

Gracias

 

[EXCellR8]

32bit operating systems will run fine one 64-bit hardware... it's backwards compatible. you might have to reinstall some 64-bit drivers if the hardware is different or it may be easier to just reformat. the OS might not run at all if the correct drivers are installed. as a general rule it's always best to do a fresh reformat and installation when changing hardware, why are you looking to boot from multiple drives?

 

[SNGX1275]

As EXCellR8 said, no issues with 32bit on 64bit capable hardware.

There almost certainly will be issues if you try and take a hd from 1 machine and put it in another and expect to boot Windows on it without a reinstall.

 

[borate]

Appreciate the feedback. The two drives are part of a back up/imaging strategy that has worked well here for a decade. In light of this info, I may craft another approach.