Safest way to go from x86 to x86_64

[Richard W.M. Jones]

On Tue, Dec 14, 2010 at 02:07:37PM +0000, Paul Johnson wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> My main box decided to snuff it last week (motherboard and processor decided
> to fry). My erstwhile friend in the computer shop I use has said that he has
> a nice 64 bit processor and motherboard going for a small amount of money.
> 
> The problem I have is that if I go the 64 bit route then I'll need to
> install the 64 bit OS (I can stay 32 bit, but what's the point with 8Gb of
> memory).
> 
> Is there a safe way to install the x86_64 system over the 32 bit version and
> then clean off the 32 bit stuff that is no longer needed? If I was using
> f14, I'd just trash the drive and then install, but I've got things how I
> want them under rawhide.

Not really.  I would definitely suggest that you reinstall.

I've been using x86-64 machines routinely for 6 years now, and they
are better in every way than i386.

Rich.

-- 
Richard Jones, Virtualization Group, Red Hat http://people.redhat.com/~rjones
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