Confused about upgrading from XP Home 32-bit to Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Kua

Kua

Kua

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I've come across a product called "Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade". And as far as I understand it, if I already have XP installed I can use this to install Vista Home Premium 64-bit, saving myself a bit of cash. Is that about right? And if I do get the Upgrade version, it doesnt have to necessarily expressly say its the 64-bit version because I will have a license for both the 32-bit and the 64-bit?

Meh, and finally! Is it safe enough to buy a used version, or am I counting on the fact the seller has uninstalled?

Seeing how cheap the upgrade is, I wish I'd done this a long time ago!
 
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So many questions :)

Right, the retail upgrade version was designed to allow owners of older OS's to get a cheap way of upgrading to the latest OS.
So if you've bought WinXP you can upgrade this license to a Vista license for less than buying the full version.

A Vista license will cover you for both the 32bit & 64bit version of the OS.
However Vista Home Premium only ever shipped with the 32bit install media - to get the 64bit installation media you needed to send off £7 to Microsoft who would then send you the 64bit media.

It used to be the case that you could install your retail upgrade as a full version and simply insert your old OS disc when requested.
Example being you bought WinXP Upgrade.
You could have an empty HD and during the WinXP installation you would be asked to insert say your Windows 2000 CD and this verified you had an OS to upgrade from.
This changed with Vista - probably because simply inserting an old OS disc in no way proved you held a license for said OS.
I believe there are ways around it, but generally speaking to use the upgrade you do need to have the old OS installed first.

However, as you are moving from a 32bit to a 64bit OS your old installation will in effect be removed during the VIsta installation.

Are you safe buying second hand?
Make sure you get the full retail packaging with the CD key and that the disc supplied is legitimate and not just a CDR.
The onus is on the seller to have removed the OS from his own machine befroe selling, so from this point of view you'll be fine.
However if he has kept a note of the installation key and keeps on using it then it "may" cause some grief when you come to activate your OS if it doesn't work automatically online.
However you should be able to talk your way through that.
There is always potential for problems with second hand software.
 
stoofa said:
However Vista Home Premium only ever shipped with the 32bit install media - to get the 64bit installation media you needed to send off £7 to Microsoft who would then send you the 64bit media.
Click to expand...

Cheers for this. So if I understand right whether I get Vista Home Premium or Vista Home Premium Upgrade I'd still have to pay £7 to get 64-bit... Meaning Upgrade, being generally cheaper, is the obvious choice.
 
Eulogy said:
I don't believe you can upgrade between 64 bit Windows XP and 32 bit Windows Vista

I think you have to go 32 bit to 32 bit and 64 bit to 64 bit
Click to expand...

Oh. That's a downer. So because I have 32-bit XP and I want to upgrade to 64-bit Vista. I'll need to buy the full "Vista Home Premium".

May be I should just download the Windows 7 beta via torrent (I'm assuming its 64-bit). As far as I understand because its a beta this is fairly legit. I could be wrong though...
 
Kua said:
Oh. That's a downer. So because I have 32-bit XP and I want to upgrade to 64-bit Vista. I'll need to buy the full "Vista Home Premium".

May be I should just download the Windows 7 beta via torrent (I'm assuming its 64-bit). As far as I understand because its a beta this is fairly legit. I could be wrong though...
Click to expand...

you "could" but it's only working until August;)
 
Kua said:
Not worth the hassle or the bandwidth then (fuppin FUPs). Thought it would be interesting to see what all the fuss is about...



In that case, is anyone able to confirm that Eulogy has this right?
Click to expand...

Indeed "Eulogy" is correct, 32bit-32bit, 64bit-64bit, due to having different kernals I believe.
 
mctiny said:
Indeed "Eulogy" is correct, 32bit-32bit, 64bit-64bit, due to having different kernals I believe.
Click to expand...

Poo. Oh well, cheers for clearing that up. I was very close to buying the upgrade version on the 'bay t'other day (you know what, I'm a poet and I don't know it). Good job I didn't :p .
 
Alternatively go install vista off any installation media, don't enter any key, choose any edition you want, then when the 30 day activation grace period is up just use this to reset it to 30 days again :P

http://glovario.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/how-to-reset-activation-on-windows-vista/

All perfectly legal etc according to MS from what I can tell, this will allow you to use Vista for 120 days as you can rearm it 3 times
 
The best way to install Vista is a clean install, which an upgrade key wont let you do directly.

The way to get around this (documented by MS), is to install Vista WITHOUT a CD key first time, the once it is installed insert the cd again, enter your upgrade CD key, and it will "upgrade" to the same version fine.
 
thepeganator said:
The best way to install Vista is a clean install, which an upgrade key wont let you do directly.

The way to get around this (documented by MS), is to install Vista WITHOUT a CD key first time, the once it is installed insert the cd again, enter your upgrade CD key, and it will "upgrade" to the same version fine.
Click to expand...

*Whoosh* :D
 
ShakenNstirred said:
i upgraded from winXP(32bit) to vista 64 bit just fine
just but the disc in and it asked if i wanted to upgrade
it save all the old XP files in a folder called old windows
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That's not an upgrade, that's a clean installation over the top of your old OS. An upgrade keeps all your files, profiles etc in place even after completion, a clean install of vista over your old OS will put all your files into a folder called windows.old
 
Eulogy said:
That's not an upgrade, that's a clean installation over the top of your old OS. An upgrade keeps all your files, profiles etc in place even after completion, a clean install of vista over your old OS will put all your files into a folder called windows.old
Click to expand...

Still seen as its not really any different from a fresh install I might as well get the upgrade version, being cheaper and all that :p .
 
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