From what little I've found, so far, it sounds like FS9 (and all 32 bit apps) must reside in something called "Programs X86" in the Win7 OS install? This would seem to preclude running FS9 on it's own HDD.Is it the same way for XP 64?

Not exactly - the programs do not have to reside in the "C:\Program Files (x86)"directory. You can still very much install applications to their own dedicated drives and/or directories. XP 64, Vista 64, and W7 64 all include a separate "32-bit" Program Files directory in order to separate out 32 and 64 bit programs in the event they wanted to use the same library files. But you are not at all restricted from placing your 32-bit programs in other directories in XP64, Vista64, or W7-64.Carry on!

Not exactly - the programs do not have to reside in the "C:\Program Files (x86)"directory. You can still very much install applications to their own dedicated drives and/or directories. XP 64, Vista 64, and W7 64 all include a separate "32-bit" Program Files directory in order to separate out 32 and 64 bit programs in the event they wanted to use the same library files. But you are not at all restricted from placing your 32-bit programs in other directories in XP64, Vista64, or W7-64.Carry on!

Thanks...that is good to know going forward.