Need to copy a WSS 3.0 database to a SQL Server 2005 x64?

Hi, I need to copy or export/import a WSS 3.0 database to a SQL Server 2005 x64 server.

Here is my setup(environment):
Current WSS 3.0 server:
Server 2003 R2 x32 Standard using the built-in database of SharePoint Services 3.0

New Servers:
Server 2008 R2 Standard running SharePoint Foundation 2010 farm that the database is on another server running SQL server.

Server 2008 R2 Standard running SQL Server 2005 SP4 that will host the database for the SharePoint Foundation 2010 server.


Thanks to a guru here, I have this link
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287738(office.12).aspx
that explains the steps.  

However, I have concerns about removing the web application associaton, because I would just like to copy the current database and keep it up and running on the current server while I finish tweaking and getting the new server up and running.

So, can I remove the web application association just long enough to copy the database content from the server and then reassociate it to the web application and everything be running as if nothing happened from the users view?  Or maybe even boot the server in safe mode to copy the database content and then reboot in normal mode?

Thanks in advance.