Shipping with 32bit Vista Business - upgrade?

Hiya,

Newbie / lurker here.

Just bought the w7s and love it except for one small problem. It came preloaded with the 32bit version of vista business.

Any easy/legal way to upgrade to 64bit OS without having to repurchase vista?

Why would they preload it with the 32bit OS anyway?

TYIA

 

No way to upgrade - you have to purchase an actual license for other Vista versions you want to use.

The drivers are more abundant and reliable for the 32bit OS, by comparison.

 

ClearSkies is incorrect.

For a minimal fee, including shipping and handling, you can buy from Microsoft a 64-bit version of Windows Vista as long as you provide them the product key that came with your Windows Vista DVD (or CD). They call this additional DVD they will send you as "Windows Vista Alternate Media".

The link is here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/1033/ordermedia/default.mspx

Just choose a "ship-to country" from the drop-down box below.

EDIT: ClearSkies is also incorrect that drivers are 'more reliable' for the 32-bit OS as it is the contrary. Drivers are more abundant for 32-bit Vista, yes. But they are far more stable for 64-bit Vista because they require a mandatory digital signature by Microsoft (e.g. Microsoft is the one that approves drivers). Faulty drivers are, afterall, the main cause that lead to the blue screen of death. I also did not mention the numerous security advantages that the 64-bit OS features that the 32-bit OS lacks, including Address Space Layout Randomizer (ASLR) which eliminates over 99% of all remote attacks against the OS. Read more on security features of the 64-bit OS here: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_ff_x64.asp

 

I was unaware of the upgrade option that squawks mentions. It had seemed to me that there were more reports of folks having issues with 64bit Vista, which formed the basis for my comments.

I stand corrected. thx.

--CS

 

I thought the 64-bit upgrade was available to Retail versions only? Has anyone with an OEM License key successfully ordered the 64-bit DVD from this site?

EDIT: I just tried validating the OEM key that came with my NB and no luck, "No Offer Found".

 

ty - I noticed this while googling but couldn't get the online order to work. I guess I should just call or perhaps I need register?

I'd really love to have an OS backup disc in any case.

Anyone have experience with the 64bit version? Is there a performance increase?

 

okay - I contacted MS and the alternative media is only available for retail copies of Vista, not preloaded copies

 

Hmm, I remember in the final phases of Windows XP a few laptop vendors actually allowed you to have the actual OS installation CD/DVD with a minimal fee when you purchase your laptop.

Regardless, I just realized that there is no such thing as an 'upgrade' from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Vista. If you start off with 32-bit Vista you have to do a 'clean install' using 64-bit Vista and because your laptop failed to come packaged with it you are forced to buy the 64-bit Vista DVD. As Microsoft sees it, 32-bit Vista is completely different from 64-bit Vista and they don't view going from 32-bit to 64-bit (or vice versa) as an upgrade. Microsoft only sees going from Basic -> Premium -> Ultimate as the series of upgrades you can take, not intermingling the different bit architecture.

 

It's daft that there's no offer to change the media, but doing so is fully legal. An OEM vista license gives you the ability to use one instance of a version of vista - the platform is unimportant. Simply obtain a copy of Vista 64 bit from another source and use your existing product key.

If you don't have a product key on the COA, that's obviously not going to work. Also make sure you don't get a special OEM version of Vista from Dell and a minority of other large manufacturers - these OEM versions are tied to the system BIOS and do not require activation.