HP Upgrade to Win 7 - warning and question

[frozen777]

Hello everyone

I recently bought a new PC with Vista (64 bit) and it qualified for a reduced price upgrade to Win 7. After about 3 weeks my Win 7 disk came through the post and I got started with backing-up my data with Windows Easy Transfer. After this I stuck the main CD in to go through the upgrade process.

All was going well up until I got a warning saying I couldn't upgrade a 64-bit system to 32-bit version of Win 7, but it included a link to a Microsoft help site, which I followed. On this site it said amongst other things that the installation disks included both versions of Win 7, but if you had 'basic settings' installation problems you would have to opt for a custom installation, and this would be a clean install.

Oh well, bit of a ball ache, but I figured I'd bite the bullet and put up with having to reinstall various bits of software, especially as Windows Easy Transfer helped by listing previous software titles. I stuck the disk back in and successfully installed Win 7 - phew! It wasn't until I went to Windows Easy Transfer to re-install all my settings that I got an error message - words to the effect of "you can't run 64-bit files on a 32-bit system" - which struck me as odd as I was running a 64-bit machine...wasn't I? I did a check to find to my horror that I'd installed a 32-bit version of the software - although on relfection I was never given an option to choose.

Only when I ejected the disk did I notice it said '32-bit version only'. I've since contacted the vendor - Arvato Digital Services - to find that dispatching the wrong version is not a rare event, even though the invoice clearly says 64-bit too! Warning over...

Two questions:

Presuming Arvato send me the correct disk in the next few weeks, does anyone know if I can simply stick the disk in the drive and it will solve the problem, upgrading me [back] to a 64-bit system?

Secondly, presuming answer 1 is 'yes', has Windows Easy Transfer saved all my personal files from Vista, even if they're in odd places? (c:/JB/letters/Jan09 ...sort of thing)

Hope somebody finds the warning useful and would appreciate any guidance with my questions.

JB

[AltecXP]

you can not upgrade 64 to 32 so you really just wiped the whole drive, you will have to do the same when you get your new 64bit disc, boot from it, wipe the drive then install.

[ibetheone]

"you can't run 64-bit files on a 32-bit system

The reason is because you are running a 32 bit windows 7 thats why you got those error messages, yes your computer is 64 bit but the win7 32bit software disc isn't. So yes when you get the 64 bit disc and re-install it will solve your first question.

2. For your second question, I'm not sure its posibble.

[tablet_user]

I bought a PC around October 20th filled all the info out and im still waiting for my win7 upgrade disk lol

[frozen777]

I bought a PC around October 20th filled all the info out and im still waiting for my win7 upgrade disk lol

Well when you get it, be sure to check what it says on the disk! I wish I had! Believe it or not the Arvato FAQ has 'I got the wrong disk' as one of its subjects, [sarcasm] which I suppose is always going to be a problem when there are so many versions [/sarcasm]

[hoosier28]

I bought a PC around October 20th filled all the info out and im still waiting for my win7 upgrade disk lol

I bought a laptop in July and received my upgrade disc last week. You'll probably be waiting for a while.

[frozen777]

...and now Arvato have mixed-up their customer services replies, sending me a message to say 'all is well' but quoting someone else's correspondence underneath. For Germans their organisation is cr@p!