OEM 32x to 64x using an activated key?

C

Clovis

New Member
Long story short, last year I built a new machine and bought a copy of vista home premium 32x (OEM / system builders).

Now I want to upgrade to the 64x to take advantage of 8gb of ram - the system is 64x compatable.

I've tried microsoft's alternative media request but apparently it will only accept a product key from a retail (not OEM) product key.

So here's my question, assuming I can find away to get the 64x version of vista, can I use my already activated OEM 32x key to activate the 64x, in which case the 32x would no longer be in use?

I've heard of people using the 32x key to activate but so far only in cases where the 32x hasn't already been activated. Basically I'm trying to avoid having to repurchase vista, just to use the 64 bit version.

Thanks,

-Clovis
 

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Hi Clovis and welcome to Vista Forums :party:

You should be able to get a copy of 64-bit Vista OEM from the same place that you obtained the 32-bit version. If you go down this line, use the product key that comes with it. Incidentally, have you considered the Ultimate version? However, don't overlook the retail (upgrade) version. This can be clean installed on a blank system - see the following Tutorial: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/68767-clean-install-upgrade-vista.html. Although more expensive, it does mean that you can move it to a new system when you upgrade (one of the disadvantages of the OEM version, and one of the reasons why it is generally cheaper, is that it lives and dies on the original system that it is installed on - a retail version can be moved, so long as the previous installation on the previous machine is uninstalled).
 

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    Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
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    ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
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    1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
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    Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
Hello and thank you for the welcome.

That's a good point about the retail version; it's already killing me (figuratively) enough that I have to rebuy vista to begin with (I build my own systems, but this was the first version of windows I had actually paid for since.. umm, 3.xx?).

With the $100-120 I'll have to spend to get a 64 bit OEM version, coupled with the $120 I already spent I could have just bought a retail version and had the transportation option but unfortantely at the time I was unware of that. To top things off I have two identical systems (one for myself and one for my wife) - heaven forbid she decides she wants to utilize her full amount of RAM (the sole reason I want 64; I have 4gb currently but need to expand to 8 for what I want to run).

With the new i7 intel chips that have come out and recently fallen in prices like all new technology, the possibility of upgrading my motherboard is very real as well and if I had to rebuy vista again for the third time on one machine, I'd probably shoot myself in protest =P

But, if I can get the vista 64 DVD, will be 32bit key re-activate it assuming the motherboard is unchanged? Does microsoft offer a download option? That way I could just burn the ISO to a dvd?

Thanks,

-Clovis
 

My Computer

System One

But, if I can get the vista 64 DVD, will be 32bit key re-activate it assuming the motherboard is unchanged?
Click to expand...

Yes it will for the same reasons as how it works with Microsoft's alternate media program. The key is version dependent, not x86 or x64 dependent.
 

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    Me
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    Athlon x2 7750 BE
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    Asus M4A78 Pro
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    2x2gb Kingston
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    Sapphire HD 4830
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    Logitech Wave
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