Upgrading from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Windows 7

[Crazysah]

Hello guys...

Is there any problem in upgrading from Windows Vista 32-bit to Windows 7 64-bit?

Also... whats the best way to install Windows 7 and dual boot Vista and Windows 7?

Thanks

Crazysah

[sharp65]

You can't upgrade, you need to do a fresh install. As for dual booting, just make a new partition and install windows 7 on it, there's really not much that needs to be done yourself. It will setup the dual boot itself.

[ThreeLies]

That should be no problem as long as you have a x64 cpu, which I assume you know.

The way I installed it was just use a partition tool to shrink your current partition and leave unpartition spaced. Once you start it up just install it to that space and it will do all the work for you....Install bootloader as needed and such.

[scratch42069]

32-bit OSes can't be upgraded to 64-bit via the upgrade install. You need to do a clean install.

[Greenstein]

I currently run Vista Home Premium. I am attempting to download the 32-bit ISO and get it burned to a DVD. Assuming I get a good burn, if I put the DVD into the drive to start the install, will I be presented with the opportunity to do a clean install instead of an upgrade?

[Thirtythree]

That should be no problem as long as you have a x64 cpu, which I assume you know.

The way I installed it was just use a partition tool to shrink your current partition and leave unpartition spaced. Once you start it up just install it to that space and it will do all the work for you....Install bootloader as needed and such.

scratch42069 covered the answer to that question. You cannot upgrade from a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS. It has nothing to do with the CPU's ability to handle x86-64.

I currently run Vista Home Premium. I am attempting to download the 32-bit ISO and get it burned to a DVD. Assuming I get a good burn, if I put the DVD into the drive to start the install, will I be presented with the opportunity to do a clean install instead of an upgrade?

Yes. In fact, you should do a clean install as opposed to an upgrade.

[Crazysah]

Thanks a lot guys. I guess I will do a clean install of the 64-bit version.

Last question... what is the easiest way to downgrade? Like if I want to delete Windows 7 and only use Windows Vista?

[fix-this!]

I don't think you can downgrade ? Just install 7 to a seperate partition and keep vista on its own !

[Brandon]

The upgrade from vista HP 64 bit to 7 ultimate 64 bit did not work. had to do a clean install

[Crazysah]

Ok. It is easy to uninstall Windows 7 and get rid of it right?

[sharp65]

Just pop in the vista disk and reinstall. Just make sure to backup your data :)

[Thirtythree]

Thanks a lot guys. I guess I will do a clean install of the 64-bit version.

Last question... what is the easiest way to downgrade? Like if I want to delete Windows 7 and only use Windows Vista?

No downgrade option. You'd have to wipe it and clean install Windows Vista. You should be set though. You have Windows Beta that will last till July, the first Release Candidate should be out by then. Add maybe 6-7 more months. By then it should be RTM.

No real need to go back to Windows Vista and you'll be best to help test Windows 7 and improve it as well.

[Crazysah]

Yeah. Here is the thing. I am doing a clean install of Windows 7 and will be dual-booting WIndows 7 and Windows Vista.

Now if I want to uninstall Windows 7 and save my data... whats the best way of doing that?

[Ambroos]

You can only do that if you put all your data on a seperate disk. If you want to go back to Vista you just format your Windows 7 disk and install Vista on that disk. Your data disk doesn't get touched.

[Deathray]

Yeah. Here is the thing. I am doing a clean install of Windows 7 and will be dual-booting WIndows 7 and Windows Vista.

Now if I want to uninstall Windows 7 and save my data... whats the best way of doing that?

Keep your data on a separate partition or drive? Keep it away from the OS to make it easy (which is what I should do, argh...)

[Denis W. Veteran]

If I were you, I'd put my user folders on a different partition. That way it'll survive through many OS installations. Folder redirection is as simple as drag and dropping folders from %USERPROFILE%. :yes:

[Crazysah]

You can only do that if you put all your data on a seperate disk. If you want to go back to Vista you just format your Windows 7 disk and install Vista on that disk. Your data disk doesn't get touched.

So you are saying I will have to put all my data on a seperate drive and then format windows 7 and install Vista?

Keep your data on a separate partition or drive? Keep it away from the OS to make it easy (which is what I should do, argh...)

Yeah. On a seperate drive I would imagine would be safer.

If I were you, I'd put my user folders on a different partition. That way it'll survive through many OS installations. Folder redirection is as simple as drag and dropping folders from %USERPROFILE%. :yes:

So right now all my user folders are in drive C:. If I install Vista in drive K then my user folders should automatically be there? So for me to keep the data, I put all my data in drive C. Then when I format Windows 7 (by formating you mean uninstalling? Or how?)... all my data will be fine?

[Denis W. Veteran]

Sorry for these late answers. Hope this might be helpful in case you haven't installed Win7 yet.

So you are saying I will have to put all my data on a seperate drive and then format windows 7 and install Vista?

See below...

So right now all my user folders are in drive C:. If I install Vista in drive K then my user folders should automatically be there? So for me to keep the data, I put all my data in drive C. Then when I format Windows 7 (by formating you mean uninstalling? Or how?)... all my data will be fine?

No, if you install Win7 in drive K, it'll recreate a new set of user folders at K:\Users\<yourname>\. Your existing Vista folders will remain in your C: drive.

But installing Win7 in a partition and giving it the drive letter K is not possible if you boot your Win7 disc following the startup POST beep. If you were to run the installer within Vista, then the installer will try to preserve your drive letters as they appear in Vista, so yes, your Win7 will rest on drive letter K. Otherwise, your Win7 drive will be C:, your other partitions (if any) will be assigned letters based on the age of the partitions, and your Vista partition won't be given a letter at all; you'll have to assign it one in Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc).

Now say you plan on dualbooting Windows 7 and Vista (and you should with beta OSes anyway, if you can afford the disk space) and you can't be bothered moving the data to another partition. Once you're done installing Win7, you could try "redirecting" your user folders to your Vista install, so that personal files saved while you're in Win7 won't disappear should you decide to wipe it off your hard drive. To do that, after Win7 is done installing, open up your Vista user folder, allow it to get access to the folder, then right click on the folder, go to the Security tab, and add yourself as a user and grant yourself full access to that folder. Then go back to Win7's user folder, view the properties of each of the folders (My Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc.) and under Location, point the directory path to that of the equivalent Vista user folder.

Saying all that, it's still easier to place your user folders on a separate partition. That way it's safe in case either the Vista or Win7 partition does kaput. ;)

[Crazysah]

I get what you are saying but what exactly do you want me to do?

At the moment I have one hard drive partitioned into drive C and drive K. So which folder should I install it in?

Also, I am going to run the installer within Vista. So after I install it, what exactly should I do?

Thanks!

[Denis W. Veteran]

I get what you are saying but what exactly do you want me to do?

At the moment I have one hard drive partitioned into drive C and drive K. So which folder should I install it in?

Also, I am going to run the installer within Vista. So after I install it, what exactly should I do?

Thanks!

If you're running the installer within Vista, then install 7 in drive K (assuming Vista is currently in C). After setup is complete, if you open Explorer in Windows 7, you'll find your drive layout to be the same as that in Vista.

I think if you run Win7's installer within Vista, it'll automatically mount your Vista partition as drive C after setup's done. So simply open up C:\Users\yourname and let it grant your user account access to your Vista user folder. From there, begin redirecting your user folders as explained above.

[Crazysah]

Thanks.. that is what I will probably do.

If I run the setup from a USB port or a DVD then what shall I do?

[Ernie1060]

ok guys, you all seem to know whats up so hopefully you guys can help me out..

im in law school and i was given a code to buy the windows 7 upgrade. i currently am running windows vista 32-bit on my laptop.

when i chose which version to download i accidentally picked the 64 bit. i havent downloaded it yet. my understanding is i cant "upgrade" from 32 to 64, i need to do a clean install...

my question is, what do i do next?

since i bought the upgrade, can i do a clean install?

since i havent downloaded anything yet, should i just try getting in contact with the distributor of the software and ask for a 32 bit instead?

what is my best choice?

[RObertM24]

Hi there, Im decent with computer but know very little about OSs etc.

If I have Vista 32Bit and get the Win7 64Bit upgrade is there anyway I can do a clean install of this?

[Windows_tweaker]

Vista 32-bit can be upgraded to Windows 7 64-bit using the Upgrade version.

Using the upgrade disks will allow you only to upgrade a 32-bit Vista to a 32-bit Windows 7. Inserting the Windows 7 64-bit upgrade disk will give a message that you can not upgrade a 32-bit Vista to a 64-bit Windows 7. The upgrade disk is a non-bootable DVD, so doing a clean install can not be done directly from the DVD.

How ever there is work around. Keep in mind that moving from 32-bit to 64-bit always means a fresh install!!

What you need is both the Windows 7 332-bit and 64-bit upgrade disks and follow these steps:

-Insert the 32-bit upgrade disk

-Wait for the window with "Install Now" to be displayed.

-Click "Install now"

-When asked, go online to download updates

-Accept license terms

-Wait for the window with the option for Upgrade or Custom/Advanced to appear

-When this window is displayed, eject the 32-bit upgrade disk and insert the 64-bit upgrade disk

-Select Custom/Advanced

-Select the disk and partition on which you want to do the new install

-If you select a disk with an existing Windows installation, you need to confirm you want to install on that disk

-The installation will start with copying Windows files and then Expanding Windows files

-Now the PC will be rebooted, while rebooting pay close attention and wait for the "PRESS ANY KEY TO BOOT FROM CD/DVD" message and hit any key. This step is crucial to this installation so be sure not to miss it. If you do miss this step, then the installation will fail with a DOS window........... You then have to start over again.

You now have created a situation where the installation actually starts all over, however there is no check if your existing OS is 32-bit or 64-bit. So the installation continues:

-Enter your region / language / keyboard settings

-Wait for the windows with "Install Now" to be displayed.

-Click "Install now"

-Accept license terms

-Select Custom/Advanced installation

-Select the disk and partition on which you want to do the new install

-The installation will start with copying Windows files, takes little time and then Expanding Windows files, which is now very slow, so be patient!!!!

-Follow the steps to complete your installation

That's it, your done.

I have tested this on both a Vista 32-bit laptop and a Vista 32-bit desktop and both have now Windows 7 64-bit installed on it.

[ElPatron]

I hope I am doing this right and I get some feedback from the community. I have a problem for which I need help. Normally I am able to troubleshoot my computers myself but this problem is beyond my knowledge....

I have a costume made desktop which I was running on Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit version. I received my copy of Windows 7 with the 32-bit and 64-bit disks. I then tried to install the 64-bit but I got and error messages stating that I couldn't do the requested task. OK, I then tried to upgraded to the 32-bit windows 7. When I ran the compatibility check I was asked to remove the antivirus program which I did. I then tried to reboot the computer. The machine never rebooted again. I now get no POST, No Sound, No Video or nothing. All I see is the fans and I can hear the hard disk spinning but that's it. I don't recall doing anything else. Did I fried my CPU or Motherboard? Here are the specs and thank you for your support.

Motherboard is an ASUS P5N-SLI Deluxe

CPU is the E6600 with Thermal right TRUE 120 Black Heat Sink

2x2 Memory Sticks of Ballistx 240pin.

Video Card is 256gb, it is an Radeon

Power Supply is at 500w

Case is a CM Storm

I have a IDE 300gb HD

A normal DVD RW

etc.