Will I have to backup my files then install windows 7 64 bit as a clean install or will my 32 bit home basic allow me to simply upgrade and transfer all files and settings over. My processor will support 64 bit as well.

My windows 7 backup is way to big so I will just do a manual backup of files like what was suggested to me. How do I stop windows 7 from backing up my entire OS automatically with images?

Our computer was fried in an electrical storm. Fortunately I have a backup of our files and settings on an external hard drive (this was made using Windows XP Professional). All I really care about is restoring our files to a different computer. My choices are: using my husband’s work computer, which also runs Windows XP Pro or use our soon-coming new computer which will have Windows Vista Home Premium.
Is it possible to open the .bkp file in our external hard drive using my husband’s computer and restoring just the files (I don’t want to overwrite his work stuff)? Or will everything be restored? Is it possible to do this on our new computer with Vista, even though the backup was made using XP?
Help!
To clarify:
When I made the backup, I used XP’s backup utility and selected “Files and settings.”

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