Newbie needs help with 64bit win 7 & win xp 32 bit FF transfer

I am have just bought only my second laptop. It is windows 7 professional 64 bit with i5 processor. My old 2006 win xp home media sp3 32 bit is still running fine. I have never attempted to put old software on a new computer and honestly dont know where to begin. My ideal goal is to have my image editing software & heavy duty stuff on the win 7 and have the old xp for internet surfing & lighter things. The i5 processor is the best I could afford & I hope that I will have enough power (4GB Memory / 500GB Hard Drive) to be able to run PSE4, FF & other plugins properly.

I use photoshop elements 4 on the xp 32 bit and use FF mostly as a plugin in the PSE4. According to the system requirements listed on this site, if I were using a 64 bit processor- I can only use FF as a standalone, but not as a plugin. Is this still true?

Does anyone have any suggestions as to the best way to transfer PSE4 fr om win xp 32 bit to win 7 64 bit? Do I just use my old PSE4 installation disc on win 7? What about virtual operating system software like vmware fusion/ virtual box or parallels? Has anyone had experience with the xp compatibility mode on FF in win 7 professional? How can I keep FF as a PSE4 plugin on my new win 7 64 bit system? Or should I just bite the bullet to upgrade to PSE 8 and install it alone on the win 7 and keep PSE4 on the old xp- & would FF still be a standalone with PSE8 on a 64 bit win 7?

I hope I am not rambling and tried to be clear- but this is all new to me and I just dont know wh ere to begin.

Any advice at all is appreciated...

Thank you for replying! I am not sure what "host application" is referring to- the operating system or the software? Are you saying that I can run PSE4 32 bit on a 64 bit win 7 operating system with FF as a plugin? Yayy, if so that is good news

Would the simplest route be just to try to install the PSE4 disc on win 7 first & see if FF will open as a plugin?

I know PSE4 is sooo old, it probably is not 64 bit- came out in 2004 or 2005.

Just an update so far...

I have win professional, it has windows xp mode installed on it and just to be safe, I downloaded the old PSE4 in xp mode and it is working beautifully (thank goodness!) From what I understand windows 7 home does not run xp programs, but win 7 prof does.

I am hoping that when I transfer FF2 over from the old computer in xp mode, then FF2 will not have any problems with the 64bit system because xp mode runs in 32 bit.