Vista - Upgrade Vista Ultimate 32-bit to 64-bit.

Is it possible to upgrade my Vista 32-bit to Vista 64-bit without a reformat? I really don't want to have to go and deal with the PITA backups and reinstallation of programs... I looked around the net and got distracted by my 64-bit version of Windows 7 (which got me thinking "Damn it, now I need more RAM) before I could find any answers...

You cant upgrade from 32 to 64bit

Not at all? Even with some lengthy and complicated steps that are hidden in the bowels of the Internet?

That's right. The only way to move from 32-bit to 64-bit is to format and install from scratch.

They're right about not being able to upgrade.

But here's something to think about - doing a "clean install" will backup your old Windows OS to a folder aptly named "windows.old".

While you will still need to reinstall everything after doing a clean install of Vista 64, at least your old system’s program files, Documents, Music folder, etc are left intact and can be accessed, moved/copied from the windows.old folder.

Here's the tutorial on doing a clean install - Clean Install From Upgrade Vista

Just a thought, and as always, do backup just in case.

Incidentally, should you wish to remove Vista 64 and go back to your previous OS, don’t delete the window.old folder. Info here - Uninstalling Vista Ultimate Upgrade

Not sure if you mean you cant upgrade vista 32 to vista 64, but:

I "upgraded" xp pro 32 bit to dual boot with vista buisness 64 bit (upgrade disk)... Did that by installing vista 64 on terabyte SATA drive I purchased for upgrade, leaving 32 bit xp pro on the original drive that came with the machine. Only problem I ran into was I didnt realize I had to create a different computer name for each O/S so that AD would allow me to log into a domain from either O/S. Office 2007 even let me use the serial numbers still running on XP pro for Vista 64 bit.

What the original poster (OP) means, and thus the answer no, is that you can't upgrade to Vista without reinstalling your old programs and files.

Unlike when you did an upgrade from Windows 2000 to XP, XP let you keep most of your settings, and all your Program files, Folders, etc were pretty much keep intact without having to reinstall them. Vista won't allow that.

In this case the question is about upgrading from Vista 32 to 64, but the answer still remains the same...you can't "upgrade" to Vista in the sense of keeping your old settings and program files from other OS's, including Vista.

Thus the "no, you can't upgrade"

However, you can do a Repair Install For Vista, but that's from Vista to Vista, and both have to be the same versions.

Well, all my Music, Pictures, and Video media are on a separate 500GB HDD than the OS, all I need to "backup" file-wise are my documents. However, I have like 200GB worth of programs/games no my machine as of now...