Vista Licensing Question

Rocker · 13 Jun 2010 at 20:19

I have a PC with an installed version of VISTA Ultimate 64bit which I have the CD for.

I also have an asus laptop which has VISTA Ultimate 32bit installed (i dont not have the disk but obv I hav the proof of license sticker with the product key on it).

My question is:

Can I wipe Vista Ultimate 32bit off the laptop and install Vista Ultimate 64bit on the laptop (using my CD) but use the Vista Ultimate 32bit product key?

SiriusB · 13 Jun 2010 at 20:54

Assuming the key and the disc are both Retail then it should work. However, I don't know if MS have separate keys for 64-bit and 32-bit versions.

ticklemebougy · 13 Jun 2010 at 22:14

I installed vista home premium 64bit with my oem disk using the 32bit cd key on the bottom of his laptop. not sure if it would work with a retail disk.

MiNxYyY · 13 Jun 2010 at 22:21

it would be fine

32 work with 64 and vice versa

Rocker · 14 Jun 2010 at 08:42

So im presuming we are saying it will work?

I should have mentioned that the Vista 64 disk I have is OEM and the 32bit product key on the label is also OEM. So im thinking it should work.

CaptainCrash · 14 Jun 2010 at 09:36

Yes, it will work, your key is valid for both 32-bit and 64-bit (not both at the same time, obviously). Furthermore, with Vista it doesn't matter if it's generic OEM or retail - the discs are all the same, unless you have Enterprise or one of the manufacturer-specific BIOS-locked OEM discs.

BTW, it's "should have", not "should have" - I'm not normally a grammar Nazi, but that abhorrence really does drive me absolutely insane.

Rocker · 14 Jun 2010 at 13:08

Cheers folks.
...appologies for my bad grammar...

Just a thought, would this also be the case if having an OEM Vista pro or home product key and using a Vista Ultimate disk? Or are they keys different for Home/Pro/Ultimate?

CaptainCrash · 14 Jun 2010 at 13:30

All Vista discs are identical, regardless of the version you bought (with the exceptions I mentioned above) - each disc contains the code for every version of Vista, but the key you enter during setup determines what features are available, and whether it's OEM or retail channel.

x86 discs are not the same as x64 discs, but that's really the only difference worth worrying about.

Rocker · 14 Jun 2010 at 13:35

Thanks for that

Cheers

Crowort · 14 Jun 2010 at 15:54

Pretty sure all will be fine, but make sure and make an image of the laptops Windows partition. Just so you have something to fall back on if you have problems.

thepeganator · 14 Jun 2010 at 15:57

Will be fine, all keys do 32 and 64 bit, and all disks have all versions on, the key changes what you put on.

Rocker · 14 Jun 2010 at 19:17

Out of interest, is this the case for Windows 7 too?

AMG · 14 Jun 2010 at 19:45

as long as its ultimate key than it don't matter...

yes just not a vista one

CaptainCrash · 14 Jun 2010 at 23:29

Rocker said:
Out of interest, is this the case for Windows 7 too?

Not quite - all discs contain all versions as per Vista, but each version identifies itself by the contents of the ei.cfg file, so you can't use, say, a Home Premium product key with an Ultimate disc.

It's quite an easy issue to work around though: http://code.kliu.org/misc/win7utils/