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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Merkuri" data-source="post: 5019131" data-attributes="member: 41321">You can only install a 64-bit operating system on a 64-bit processor.  A 32-bit processor can't handle a 64-bit operating system.  However, most of the time you could install a 32-bit operating system on a 32-bit processor, but that really depends on the processor itself.  Most modern 64-bit processors can operate in 32-bit mode if necessary.Windows 7 and Vista are so similar that upgrading from XP to Win 7 will probably be no different than upgrading from XP to Vista.  Windows 7 is basically what Vista was supposed to be.I work at a software company, and it took us no effort at all to get our products certified as compatible with Windows 7 because they were already compatible with Vista.  The jump from XP to Vista was leagues larger than the jump from Vista to Windows 7.Of course, having said that, Windows 7 is much much better than Vista.  If you have a choice between the two then definitely go with Win7.  Vista is going to be one of those "best forgotten, you're lucky if you missed it" operating systems, like Windows ME.The motherboard determines how much RAM your hardware can handle, but remember that it's possible your operating system may only be able to use so much of it.  If you search for your computer model number or motherboard model number online you can usually find out what kind of memory it takes.  There are a lot of websites that sell memory that allow you to input in the make and model of your computer and it'll tell you how much memory it can handle and will show you a list of memory they offer that's compatible.  Last time I bought memory I went to one of these sites, typed in my computer info, wrote down the specs of the memory it thought I needed, then I went to search for the best price for that memory.  I think I actually went to a couple different memory-selling sites just to make sure they agreed on the type of memory I needed.Edit: Oh, and just a thought about upgrading the video card for a desktop, make sure your motherboard can handle the type of card you buy.  My fiance and I had desktop machines that were ~5 years old and we realized that neither one of us could upgrade our video cards to play the types of games that were coming out now because our motherboards didn't have PCIe slots.  Most modern video cards require a PCIe slot.  And if you want to upgrade your motherboard then you might as well get a whole new PC and cannibalize the old one for parts.</blockquote>

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