Upgrade from Vista Home Basic 32-bit to Vista Ultimate 32-bit

Good evening,

I have Vista Home Basic 32-bit running which I have done for a few years.
I have a genuine Vista Ultimate 32-bit disc which includes Service Pack 1 and also includes Windows Anytime Upgrade.
My question is, how easy is it to upgrade my laptop and will I lose all my documents and settings and programs that I have downloaded etc.
Thanks very much in advance.

Although this is for Win 7- Windows Anytime Upgrade - Microsoft Windows - I think it answers all your questions.

On the other hand, this applies to Vista- Windows Anytime Upgrade: frequently asked questions. As a result, I don't know if you can still use the anytime upgrade.

Hello Pab,

Microsoft sells four different Vista DVDs in non-emerging markets: Retail/OEM 32-bit, Retail/OEM 64-bit, VL (Volume Licensing) 32-bit and VL 64-bit. The Retail/OEM DVD contains all editions of Windows Vista except Enterprise. The license-key purchased determines which version will get installed; the VL DVD can only install Business or Enterprise edition. Users can "unlock" the features of the Home Premium and Ultimate editions at any time by purchasing a one-time upgrade license through a Control Panel tool called Windows Anytime Upgrade. Similarly one can upgrade the Home edition to Vista Ultimate.

If you are upgrading Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit to Vista Ultimate 32-bit, you should not lose all the documents, settings and program. However I would say it is better to back up the data before upgrading the Operating System.

For more details, see:
Windows Vista editions (Wikipedia).
Windows Anytime Upgrade (Wikipedia).

Hope this helps!