Vista Express upgrade - 64 bit

I got XP MCE with some new PCs, with a voucher to upgrade to Vista Home
premium.

However, I bought 64 bit PCs, and am somewhat surprised to find that my
only upgrade path is 32 Bit vista.

If I'd opted for the cheaper XP home with my PCs, I'd have the option to
get Vista 64 bit - so how come I'm stuck with 32 bit for the premium
edition?

Surely, it's the premium edition that benefits most from the 64-bit tech
(specifically, the ability to play HD video, something greatly
publicised as being disabled in 32-bit editions)?

Is Home Premium offered in 64 bits, and if so, will it ever be offered
as an upgrade? Or are my upgrade vouchers worthless, forcing me to pay
full retail price for vista?

Regards,

M

When you spoke to the sales people prior to making your purchase, what did
they have to say about this. It "is" between you and the sales organization.
They are the ones who offer the upgrades.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!



"Mark" <markr75@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:dPadnYWEvtvbKxjYRVnyjwA@bt.com...
>I got XP MCE with some new PCs, with a voucher to upgrade to Vista Home
>premium.
>
> However, I bought 64 bit PCs, and am somewhat surprised to find that my
> only upgrade path is 32 Bit vista.
>
> If I'd opted for the cheaper XP home with my PCs, I'd have the option to
> get Vista 64 bit - so how come I'm stuck with 32 bit for the premium
> edition?
>
> Surely, it's the premium edition that benefits most from the 64-bit tech
> (specifically, the ability to play HD video, something greatly publicised
> as being disabled in 32-bit editions)?
>
> Is Home Premium offered in 64 bits, and if so, will it ever be offered as
> an upgrade? Or are my upgrade vouchers worthless, forcing me to pay full
> retail price for vista?
>
> Regards,
>
> M

Hi Mark,

> However, I bought 64 bit PCs, and am somewhat surprised to find that my
> only upgrade path is 32 Bit vista.

If the existing OS is 32-bit, then the only upgrade path is 32-bit. One
cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS.

> If I'd opted for the cheaper XP home with my PCs, I'd have the option to
> get Vista 64 bit - so how come I'm stuck with 32 bit for the premium
> edition?

Quite possibly some of the hardware on the system does not have 64-bit
signed drivers available. Without them, you will lose some functionality.
The proper place for this question of whether or not they have drivers
available is the manufacturer of the system.

> Surely, it's the premium edition that benefits most from the 64-bit tech
> (specifically, the ability to play HD video, something greatly publicised
> as being disabled in 32-bit editions)?

Possibly, but again this is a question for the manufacturer.

> Is Home Premium offered in 64 bits, and if so, will it ever be offered as
> an upgrade?

Again, no, as there is no such upgrade path. If you want to run x64, you
will need to purchase a full version and do a clean installation of it.

> Or are my upgrade vouchers worthless, forcing me to pay full retail price
> for vista?

Not worthless, they will give you the 32-bit version of Vista on the machine
that was sold to you with the 32-bit version of XP MCE. The facts are that
most new systems, regardless of whether the hardware is 64-bit capable, come
with the 32-bit software as that is currently more compatible with most of
the available after-market hardware and software that uses device drivers.
Until support for x64 becomes more widespread, this trend will continue.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

I wonder if Microsoft should have designed a universal policiy and universal
price structure for this voucher thing. As it seems to be now, it's a mess.
Perhaps I will note it and put it on a some future Microsoft wishlist list
for some future Microsoft OS.


"Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23tfGjOiIHHA.2456@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> When you spoke to the sales people prior to making your purchase, what did
> they have to say about this. It "is" between you and the sales
> organization. They are the ones who offer the upgrades.
>
> --
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard Urban
> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
> (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
>
> Quote from George Ankner:
> If you knew as much as you think you know,
> You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
>
>
>
> "Mark" <markr75@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> news:dPadnYWEvtvbKxjYRVnyjwA@bt.com...
>>I got XP MCE with some new PCs, with a voucher to upgrade to Vista Home
>>premium.
>>
>> However, I bought 64 bit PCs, and am somewhat surprised to find that my
>> only upgrade path is 32 Bit vista.
>>
>> If I'd opted for the cheaper XP home with my PCs, I'd have the option to
>> get Vista 64 bit - so how come I'm stuck with 32 bit for the premium
>> edition?
>>
>> Surely, it's the premium edition that benefits most from the 64-bit tech
>> (specifically, the ability to play HD video, something greatly publicised
>> as being disabled in 32-bit editions)?
>>
>> Is Home Premium offered in 64 bits, and if so, will it ever be offered as
>> an upgrade? Or are my upgrade vouchers worthless, forcing me to pay full
>> retail price for vista?
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> M
>

> If the existing OS is 32-bit, then the only upgrade path is 32-bit. One
> cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS.

Please don't continue to perpetuate this myth. We have established thru
Darrell that a 64-bit upgrade is allowed using the Upgrade SKU.

"Rick Rogers" wrote:

> Hi Mark,
>
> > However, I bought 64 bit PCs, and am somewhat surprised to find that my
> > only upgrade path is 32 Bit vista.
>
> If the existing OS is 32-bit, then the only upgrade path is 32-bit. One
> cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS.
>
> > If I'd opted for the cheaper XP home with my PCs, I'd have the option to
> > get Vista 64 bit - so how come I'm stuck with 32 bit for the premium
> > edition?
>
> Quite possibly some of the hardware on the system does not have 64-bit
> signed drivers available. Without them, you will lose some functionality.
> The proper place for this question of whether or not they have drivers
> available is the manufacturer of the system.
>
> > Surely, it's the premium edition that benefits most from the 64-bit tech
> > (specifically, the ability to play HD video, something greatly publicised
> > as being disabled in 32-bit editions)?
>
> Possibly, but again this is a question for the manufacturer.
>
> > Is Home Premium offered in 64 bits, and if so, will it ever be offered as
> > an upgrade?
>
> Again, no, as there is no such upgrade path. If you want to run x64, you
> will need to purchase a full version and do a clean installation of it.
>
> > Or are my upgrade vouchers worthless, forcing me to pay full retail price
> > for vista?
>
> Not worthless, they will give you the 32-bit version of Vista on the machine
> that was sold to you with the 32-bit version of XP MCE. The facts are that
> most new systems, regardless of whether the hardware is 64-bit capable, come
> with the 32-bit software as that is currently more compatible with most of
> the available after-market hardware and software that uses device drivers.
> Until support for x64 becomes more widespread, this trend will continue.
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>
>

Richard Urban wrote:
> When you spoke to the sales people prior to making your purchase, what
> did they have to say about this. It "is" between you and the sales
> organization. They are the ones who offer the upgrades.
>

They're just a local builder, so don't deal with the upgrades
themselves. They just said that Microsoft are offering an upgrade to
Windows Vista Home Premium. They didn't know about 32/64 bit, but
thought that Vista would be supplied with both versions on a single
disc, or that you'd be able to choose when ordering the upgrade.

Anyway, the upgrade is nothing to do with them. They've given me a
voucher which I have to send to 'moduslink' after going to their web
site and ordering the upgrade.

If I go to the moduslink site, and I order an upgrade from XP media
center, I'm only offered Vista HP 32. However, if I pretend I have XP
home, then I'm offered Vista Home 64 as well as 32.

It's a bit of a shame, because all the components in the PC are fully
64-bit ready, the builder has 64 bit XP drivers for all the components,
and, even now, I can easily download Vista 64 bit drivers from the
various manufacturers of the components.

I'm just a bit upset that I won't be able to get the maximum performance
and future-proofing from my new PC, unless I buy a 2nd (full price) copy
of Windows.

M

Actually, I think what he is getting that from, is that you can't physically
upgrade the computer from x86 to x64 with the x64 media. You can only do a
full install from the dvd. Has nothing to do with the availability of the
product itself tho.

"cvp" wrote:

> > If the existing OS is 32-bit, then the only upgrade path is 32-bit. One
> > cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS.
>
> Please don't continue to perpetuate this myth. We have established thru
> Darrell that a 64-bit upgrade is allowed using the Upgrade SKU.
>
> "Rick Rogers" wrote:
>
> > Hi Mark,
> >
> > > However, I bought 64 bit PCs, and am somewhat surprised to find that my
> > > only upgrade path is 32 Bit vista.
> >
> > If the existing OS is 32-bit, then the only upgrade path is 32-bit. One
> > cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS.
> >
> > > If I'd opted for the cheaper XP home with my PCs, I'd have the option to
> > > get Vista 64 bit - so how come I'm stuck with 32 bit for the premium
> > > edition?
> >
> > Quite possibly some of the hardware on the system does not have 64-bit
> > signed drivers available. Without them, you will lose some functionality.
> > The proper place for this question of whether or not they have drivers
> > available is the manufacturer of the system.
> >
> > > Surely, it's the premium edition that benefits most from the 64-bit tech
> > > (specifically, the ability to play HD video, something greatly publicised
> > > as being disabled in 32-bit editions)?
> >
> > Possibly, but again this is a question for the manufacturer.
> >
> > > Is Home Premium offered in 64 bits, and if so, will it ever be offered as
> > > an upgrade?
> >
> > Again, no, as there is no such upgrade path. If you want to run x64, you
> > will need to purchase a full version and do a clean installation of it.
> >
> > > Or are my upgrade vouchers worthless, forcing me to pay full retail price
> > > for vista?
> >
> > Not worthless, they will give you the 32-bit version of Vista on the machine
> > that was sold to you with the 32-bit version of XP MCE. The facts are that
> > most new systems, regardless of whether the hardware is 64-bit capable, come
> > with the 32-bit software as that is currently more compatible with most of
> > the available after-market hardware and software that uses device drivers.
> > Until support for x64 becomes more widespread, this trend will continue.
> >
> > --
> > Best of Luck,
> >
> > Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> > http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> > Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
> >
> >

Maybe. I agree that "upgrade" is heavily overused, but the original question
was on the "Upgrade Certificate" which relates to the "Upgrade SKU". The
"Upgrade install" is not available from either x64 or x86 when installing x64
(Both full SKU or Upgrade SKU). Only the "Custom install" - sometimes called
clean install - is available.

"dfeifer" wrote:

> Actually, I think what he is getting that from, is that you can't physically
> upgrade the computer from x86 to x64 with the x64 media. You can only do a
> full install from the dvd. Has nothing to do with the availability of the
> product itself tho.
>
> "cvp" wrote:
>
> > > If the existing OS is 32-bit, then the only upgrade path is 32-bit. One
> > > cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS.
> >
> > Please don't continue to perpetuate this myth. We have established thru
> > Darrell that a 64-bit upgrade is allowed using the Upgrade SKU.
> >
> > "Rick Rogers" wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Mark,
> > >
> > > > However, I bought 64 bit PCs, and am somewhat surprised to find that my
> > > > only upgrade path is 32 Bit vista.
> > >
> > > If the existing OS is 32-bit, then the only upgrade path is 32-bit. One
> > > cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS.
> > >
> > > > If I'd opted for the cheaper XP home with my PCs, I'd have the option to
> > > > get Vista 64 bit - so how come I'm stuck with 32 bit for the premium
> > > > edition?
> > >
> > > Quite possibly some of the hardware on the system does not have 64-bit
> > > signed drivers available. Without them, you will lose some functionality.
> > > The proper place for this question of whether or not they have drivers
> > > available is the manufacturer of the system.
> > >
> > > > Surely, it's the premium edition that benefits most from the 64-bit tech
> > > > (specifically, the ability to play HD video, something greatly publicised
> > > > as being disabled in 32-bit editions)?
> > >
> > > Possibly, but again this is a question for the manufacturer.
> > >
> > > > Is Home Premium offered in 64 bits, and if so, will it ever be offered as
> > > > an upgrade?
> > >
> > > Again, no, as there is no such upgrade path. If you want to run x64, you
> > > will need to purchase a full version and do a clean installation of it.
> > >
> > > > Or are my upgrade vouchers worthless, forcing me to pay full retail price
> > > > for vista?
> > >
> > > Not worthless, they will give you the 32-bit version of Vista on the machine
> > > that was sold to you with the 32-bit version of XP MCE. The facts are that
> > > most new systems, regardless of whether the hardware is 64-bit capable, come
> > > with the 32-bit software as that is currently more compatible with most of
> > > the available after-market hardware and software that uses device drivers.
> > > Until support for x64 becomes more widespread, this trend will continue.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Best of Luck,
> > >
> > > Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> > > http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> > > Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
> > >
> > >

Correct.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"dfeifer" <dfeifer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3A33BF75-6EA1-405C-9C10-44BE7BFA2452@microsoft.com...
> Actually, I think what he is getting that from, is that you can't
> physically
> upgrade the computer from x86 to x64 with the x64 media. You can only do a
> full install from the dvd. Has nothing to do with the availability of the
> product itself tho.
>
> "cvp" wrote:
>
>> > If the existing OS is 32-bit, then the only upgrade path is 32-bit. One
>> > cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS.
>>
>> Please don't continue to perpetuate this myth. We have established thru
>> Darrell that a 64-bit upgrade is allowed using the Upgrade SKU.
>>
>> "Rick Rogers" wrote:
>>
>> > Hi Mark,
>> >
>> > > However, I bought 64 bit PCs, and am somewhat surprised to find that
>> > > my
>> > > only upgrade path is 32 Bit vista.
>> >
>> > If the existing OS is 32-bit, then the only upgrade path is 32-bit. One
>> > cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS.
>> >
>> > > If I'd opted for the cheaper XP home with my PCs, I'd have the option
>> > > to
>> > > get Vista 64 bit - so how come I'm stuck with 32 bit for the premium
>> > > edition?
>> >
>> > Quite possibly some of the hardware on the system does not have 64-bit
>> > signed drivers available. Without them, you will lose some
>> > functionality.
>> > The proper place for this question of whether or not they have drivers
>> > available is the manufacturer of the system.
>> >
>> > > Surely, it's the premium edition that benefits most from the 64-bit
>> > > tech
>> > > (specifically, the ability to play HD video, something greatly
>> > > publicised
>> > > as being disabled in 32-bit editions)?
>> >
>> > Possibly, but again this is a question for the manufacturer.
>> >
>> > > Is Home Premium offered in 64 bits, and if so, will it ever be
>> > > offered as
>> > > an upgrade?
>> >
>> > Again, no, as there is no such upgrade path. If you want to run x64,
>> > you
>> > will need to purchase a full version and do a clean installation of it.
>> >
>> > > Or are my upgrade vouchers worthless, forcing me to pay full retail
>> > > price
>> > > for vista?
>> >
>> > Not worthless, they will give you the 32-bit version of Vista on the
>> > machine
>> > that was sold to you with the 32-bit version of XP MCE. The facts are
>> > that
>> > most new systems, regardless of whether the hardware is 64-bit capable,
>> > come
>> > with the 32-bit software as that is currently more compatible with most
>> > of
>> > the available after-market hardware and software that uses device
>> > drivers.
>> > Until support for x64 becomes more widespread, this trend will
>> > continue.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Best of Luck,
>> >
>> > Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
>> > http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>> > Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>> >
>> >

Just be aware that the Custom Install option does not by itself result in a
clean installation in the sense of formatting the drive and starting over.

The supporting tools for a clean installation are not available from within
Setup when Setup is launched from the desktop. They are under the Advanced
Options, which only appear in Vista Setup when booting from the dvd and
launching Setup there. Just a word of warning. This one is going to catch
a lot of us veterans off guard.

"cvp" <cvp@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CFF5A165-D98C-40BE-8E64-2BB7ADEA62A6@microsoft.com...

>"Custom install" - sometimes called clean install ....