Upgrading Vista to Windows7

[750XL]

Hello,

For some time I've been looking to reformat my Desktop PC (used for gaming along with various other things) as it's generally become clogged up with various things over the year and I'd like to start 'from scratch' again with it. I'm currently running 32bit Vista and can't find the Windows Vista CD I got with the PC, so I thought my best bet would be buying a genuine Windows 7 CD then reformatting it using that.

However, this is where I become a little stuck :} I reformatted another PC a long time ago, in XP days I believe, and I think I inserted the CD into the computer then set up BIOS to 'boot from CD', then followed the instructions for a fresh install, it wasn't too difficult.

I've used software4students before, even though I'm not quite of student age :}

http://www.software4students.co.uk/Microsoft_Windows_7_Professional_64_bit_Upgrade_Edition-details.aspx

Would anybody be able to advise if the above is all I would need for an upgrade from 32bit Vista to 64bit Windows7?

Thank you :ok:

[green granite]

As far as I can tell, yes it should work as a custom install.

If the original install was by disc then it should still be set up that way unless you changed the bios setting for any reason.

[Spitoon]

It looks like this offer will do a clean install but if it doesn't find and existing - and what thinks is a properly licensed - version of Windows on the machine it will ask for a serial number for the old version.

One potential gotcha is support for 64-bit applications and peripherals - I'm not a gamer so I've got no idea how likely it is but you might want to make sure that your fave games will run on a 64-bit OS and that 64-bit drivers are available for any special gizmos you play with. I think that as a rule of thumb Vista 64-bit drivers will work with Win 7 but I stand to be corrected on that.

Lastly - I don't know if you've got any experience of Win 7 but I think you'll find it much better than Vista!

[750XL]

Thanks for the quick replies :ok:

One potential gotcha is support for 64-bit applications and peripherals - I'm not a gamer so I've got no idea how likely it is but you might want to make sure that your fave games will run on a 64-bit OS and that 64-bit drivers are available for any special gizmos you play with. I think that as a rule of thumb Vista 64-bit drivers will work with Win 7 but I stand to be corrected on that.

Thanks for that, I'll have a look into it :cool:


I had a google but couldn't find anything, but am I right in thinking my Windows Vista product key (that is on a sticker on the side of the PC) will work with the Windows 7 CD?

[mixture]

Windows Vista product key (that is on a sticker on the side of the PC) will work with the Windows 7 CD?

I think you know the answer to that question.

Does the word "Vista" sound like "Seven" ?

Do the right thing and buy a legit license, suitable for your needs. If you're not a student, don't buy a student license.

[Saab Dastard]

The single biggest difference is the amount of RAM that can be addressed.

32-bit Win7 Pro is limited to 4GB, while 64-bit is 192GB.

Unless you have apps that will only run on a 32-bit OS, you should go for 64-bit.

Using Software4Students is fine, as long as you actually have a qualifying student that will use the PC - this can be you, if you are currently a student, irrespective of age!

SD

[Milo Minderbinder]

Its very unlikely the setup will ask for details of the old product key. The differences between "upgrade" and "full" versions tend more to relate to whether its possible to run as an inplace upgrade from within windows. I've yet to have a clean Win7 install fail for this reason, even with an upgrade disk
However if it does, theres a simple way round it
Do a clean installation, booting from the disk but do a trial setup and don't put a product key in. This gives a 30-day trial
Then when windows is installed, do a so-called "inplace upgrade" by running setup from within windows - this time it will recognise the first installation as being valid, and will ask for a product key
It will put the windows folder from the first installation into a hidden folder called windows.old - which you can delete safely

As for the software for students licence, anyone can buy that as long as they have a qualifying UK academic e-mail address - something in the @***.ac.uk domain


However if you want to save some cash, theres nothing to stop you downloading a Windows Vista ISO image from Digital River or elsewhere and using that with the product key sticker. Note the key will work with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions: the keys are interchangeable
Also note that with Vista one setup DVD will do all versions: the version you get depends on the key used irrespective of the label. ie any 32-bit disk will install any 32-bit version, any 64-bit disk any 64-bit version

[750XL]

Thank you for the excellent responses :ok:

[Milo Minderbinder]

and heres the page for the Vista downloads from Digital River
Dell Community (http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/w/microsoft_os/3317.2-3-microsoft-windows-vista-official-iso-download-links-digital-river.aspx)

Dell moved the page location from the last time I posted this
Read the instructions closely as you need to download three files and then create and patch the disk ISO

[Spitoon]

When I think back to OS upgrades that I've done in the past I realise I've made a grave error - put it down to the grey cells failing me or the rather good red wine that's on the table this evening.

Earlier I said that an upgrade would look for an earlier version of Windows or would ask for a valid serial/product key. In fact it's the installation disk for the earlier OS that it asks for - it seems to look for a few files or whatever, taking a few seconds, and then continues with the new installation. Obviously a problem if you've lost the original disc but a Digital River installation disc will probably do the job - the check that it does doesn't seem particularly discriminating in my experience.

Sorry for the duff steer to start with.

[Milo Minderbinder]

Spitoon
no - you were right. Some earlier versions of Windows would ask for a "qualifying key"....you're going back to NT4 though I think

In Windows 98 it was easy - it asked for the qualifying disk - so all you had to do was eject and replace the installation disk, point it at the wini.ini file on the same CD and setup continued.

[jcbmack]

I currently run windows 7, but I find XP to have some advantages, and Vista is just a horrific OS except for one added safety feature. The processing difference in this case in terms of GB matters unlike say downloading a JDK for a java programming environment. For example when I downloaded a Java Development Kit JDK for my 64 bit Windows 7 OS it did not run my Internet Development Environments (IDE's) well, but a lower 32 bit JDK ran them great. In this case your computer will either:

1.) Not run Windows 7

2.) Run Windows 7 with various glitches.

In fact when my Windows 7 had anchorage issues it reverted to XP package temporarily.