HELP - 32 bit vista to 64 bit vista??

shadowsnypa1 · 28 Dec 2008 at 23:49

Dear all

I want ot upgrade my Vista home premium 32-bit to Vista 64 bit, my current set up is in my signature, and was wondering what I need to upgrade the software, i.e. EOM or Retail (even though I do not understand the difference)!

and does it have to be a 64 nit home premium upgrade. or do can i upgrade to ultimate?

a friend told me that you need a compatible processor and Mobo as well! is this true? are mine compatible?

Thanks in advance for any help or answersw to my Q's

Dappy · 29 Dec 2008 at 00:45

A basic description of OEM & Retail licensing:

1 - OEM is a non-transferable licence and is tied to the PC it was first installed on.

2 - With Retail you can transfer the installation as many times as you like from PC to PC providing you've removed it from the previous machine as you go along.

To upgrade to Vista 64 you'll need to purchase the Vista 64 CD media from Microsoft for around £15 and use your existing licence key.

Your motherboard and processor are more than adequate to run Vista.

shadowsnypa1 · 29 Dec 2008 at 01:12

Thank you very much Dappy for the info very useful.

the £15 media CD, where does one get hold of that from, is it from microsofts website or somethiing. And this will allow me to upgrade my 32-bit vista to a 64 bit vista, yes?

Also off topic, i have the same mobo as you, and it seems that it a bit of a problem when overclocking, can you please let me know your experience if you have overclocked?

Thanks so much in advance.

Dappy · 29 Dec 2008 at 01:18

Go here to order the media - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/1033/ordermedia/default.mspx

My motherboard has been fine running at 3.2Ghz with my ram etc, not had any problems with it being overclocked.

Burnsy2023 · 29 Dec 2008 at 01:19

shadowsnypa1 said:
the £15 media CD, where does one get hold of that from, is it from microsofts website or somethiing. And this will allow me to upgrade my 32-bit vista to a 64 bit vista, yes?

You cannot 'upgrade' from 32 to 64, you'll need to reinstall. There are links in the sticky to order 64bit OEM media.

Burnsy2023 · 29 Dec 2008 at 01:20

Dappy said:
Go here to order the media - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/1033/ordermedia/default.mspx

My motherboard has been fine running at 3.2Ghz with my ram etc, not had any problems with it being overclocked.

That's not the link for OEM media.

shadowsnypa1 · 29 Dec 2008 at 01:53

Thanks so much for all your help fellas.

So

1- I cannot upgrade from 32 bit to 64 but, Must format and instal the 64 bit., correct?

2-how can I find out what version my vista is (i.e. retail or OEM)? I bought this when I purchased my pc 1 year ago.?

Thanks again to all

Puppetmaster · 29 Dec 2008 at 07:15

check the label? with your product key on.

if its oem it will say "Windows Vista Home Premium OEM" or something. dunno what the retail one looks like.

Dappy · 29 Dec 2008 at 10:31

Burnsy2023 said:
That's not the link for OEM media.

Thanks for pointing that out Burnsy.

For OEM media, the OP will need to use this link: https://om.one.microsoft.com/opa/st...A2BC-2B60DDA37DB1&NewTrans=1&localecode=en-us

And yes as Burnsy says, you can't upgrade from 32 to 64 bit, you have to backup all your data and do a clean install from scratch.

If you purchased Vista along with the PC specs in your sig which looks to be self built, then more than likely you got the OEM version and should have a sticker attached to your PC.

If you bought Retail, then you would have got a large book sized Vista box with an orange key stuck inside.