Upgrading to 64-bit Windows?

Microsoft finally got my order processed for a copy of Windows 7 Pro (upgrade), which I'm now waiting for to come in the mail some time next week. 7 apparently ships with 32-bit and 64-bit versions in the box, and I'd really like to go with 64-bit, but I'm not sure if this will work or not. I'm ordering a new hard drive (500GB Toshiba) to put in my MacBook Pro so I'll have enough HDD space to partition my drive and use Boot Camp. I have a full copy of Vista Home Premium, but it only came with 32-bit discs when I bought it last year. I want to run 7 in 64-bit though. I've heard that it's possible to install Windows with the upgrade DVD, but you just have to pop in an older copy of Windows during some point of the installation. If this is true, will it work to install 64-bit Windows and pop in the 32-bit Vista disc during that point in installation? If not, then I'll just buy and wait for the 64-bit disc of Vista to come in the mail, but I'd like to save even just that $20 and the time if possible. What would be the way to do this? Thanks for any/all helpful responses in advance!

Tags: 32, 32-bit, 32bit, 64, 64-bit, 64bit, 7, bit, home, install

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Permalink Reply by reaper on November 11, 2009 at 11:23pm: hmm according to the upgrade chart you can only upgrade up to a 32 bit windows 7....otherwise a 64 bit install requires a disk wipe for a full install....well a partition wipe in your case i guess; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by tjbackstage on November 11, 2009 at 11:26pm: Well I'm going to get Boot Camp set up on this new HDD, but I'm wondering if I can install 7 from the upgrade disc. I've heard rumors of this being possible, but is it? Or do I need to order the 64-bit install discs for Vista and then upgrade to 7 from there?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by reaper on November 11, 2009 at 11:31pm: if you have bootcamp setup yes you can upgrade to 7, however its the same answer i already gave about the 32/64 bit limitation on upgrading

you should not need the vista disc if the machine already has a full installation on the machine; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by tjbackstage on November 11, 2009 at 11:34pm: Well I don't have Boot Camp or Vista set up yet, so I'm trying to find out if I can install 7 with just the upgrade disc if there isn't anything on that partition of the hard drive.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by reaper on November 11, 2009 at 11:36pm: just learn by doing it then....most likely it'll work once u begin to play with it; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by JT on November 11, 2009 at 11:54pm: I not absolutely positive about how an upgrade works but I think that it will just ask you to prove that you have a previous legal license of Vista and then it will let you do the install. I think during the installation process it will ask you to remove the Windows 7 DVD and then insert the Vista DVD.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by tjbackstage on November 12, 2009 at 6:56am: Yeah, I've heard that. My only worry though is that the Vista disc is 32-bit and I want to use the 64-bit version (using the 64-bit disc) of 7.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff on November 12, 2009 at 10:57am: You might want to check this to do a clean install, http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

I for one was able to do a clean install from the student discount upgrade disc from just booting up from the dvd.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rex Torres on November 12, 2009 at 6:19pm: Hey TJ: If you're going to do the upgrade from Vista Home premium to the 32-bit Windows 7 Pro, all it will do is copy all the Windows7 system files to your hard drive. It will rename your Windows folder to Windows.Old and it will create a new Windows folder on your C drive where it will save your Windows7 files. Other than that, it won't touch anything else, except for your registry settings.

Now, if you decide to install the Windows7 64-bit version, the installation program will warn you that all files on your hard drive will be lost in case you decide to proceed with the installation. If you decide to proceed, then it will restart your PC, and then it will erase your hard drive first, before it performs a clean install of the new OS.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by tjbackstage on November 12, 2009 at 6:43pm: Well I don't have Windows installed yet (and I'm getting a new hard drive next week, too, to install 7 on). I'd like to install 7 in 64-bit and without having to install Vista (if possible), but my installation disc for Vista is 32-bit, not 64-bit. So is there a way for me to install 7 using the upgrade disc on a blank hard drive?; ▶ Reply to This