Ultimate 64-bit disk for Home Premium Install?

[xiowan]

Hello all:
I have Vista Ultimate installed on one of my pcs. It came with a 32 &
64-bit disk in the Retail pkg. I have Vista Home Premium 32-bit Retail
version installed on a second pc. I would like to re-install Vista Home
Premium on that 2nd pc and use the 64-bit version. Is it possible and
permissible to use the Ultimate 64-bit disk to install the Home Premium
version of Vista on that 2nd pc using the Home Premium key that came with my
retail version of Home Premium? I know I can order a 64-bit version of Home
Premium from Microsoft but it runs about $10.00 and if I don't need it, I
don't want to just throw away the $10 and wait for a couple weeks for the
64-bit disk.

xiowan.........in tucson

 

[Mick Murphy]

No!

 

[JW]

And ordering another disk won't help either because it does not come with a
new key. And you probably won't be able to anyway since you already have the
64bit disk that came with ultimate.retail.

 

[xiowan]

Hello JW:
Wow! I guess I misunderstood Microsoft's EULA. I thought that the
purchase of the Retail version of any of the Vista versions permitted
installation of either 32 or 64 bit systems. I understand that only Vista
Ultimate comes with both the 32 and 64 bit DVDs but thought I read at a
Microsoft site that you could order the 64 bit DVD of Home Premium for a
"nominal fee" and use that if you preferred 64 bit. Since they allow
uninstalling of any retail version of Vista and re-installing with new
hardware or even on another pc, I was under the impression that when you
uninstalled it and re-installed it you could use either 32 or 64 bit? I own
2 retail versions of Vista....one Ultimate and one Home Premium. I thought
maybe the Ultimate 64 bit dvd contained all versions of Vista and maybe I
could just use that dvd for my Home Premium Retail 64 bit install in place of
the original 32 bit installation? Why would they not even allow me to
uninstall my 32 bit installation and re-install in the 64 bit version....I'd
still only be using my Home Premium license on one pc?

xiowan.........in tucson

 

[JW]

xiowan,
You have it correct I misread your original post.
When you purchase the retail version you get a single key with which you can
install either the 32 or the 64 bit version. In the case of purchasing the
Ultimate retail version you get both DVDs in the package and you can install
one or the other. And yes if you uninstall the one yes you can uninstall
the other.
I purchased the retail version of Vista Home Premium and it came with the
32bit version DVD and I have installed that.
I also ordered the 64bit version and It cost me $10 and did not come with a
new key.
I plan next year to upgrade my system to a 64bit CPU and at that time I will
replace my 32 version with the 64 bit version. After rereading you original
post yes you can probably do exactly what you stated since AFAIK there is no
difference in the actual 32 or 64 bit DVDs the difference in which version
is only based on the key.

 

[xiowan]

Hello JW:
Thanks for the reply! I was really anxious to switch to 64 bit on my
Home Premium pc and sure hated to wait for a 64-bit dvd but didn't want to go
thru hours of downloading updates to a new install if it wouldn't be
approved by Microsoft. I have already switched my main Vista Ultimate pc to
64 bit and all my hardware on the Home Premium pc has 64 bit drivers
available now so I'm all set to move to 64-bit I guess. In 3 months I've only
had one minor glitch with the Ultimate 64 bit pc......after 3 months one day
it decided my modem had magically changed to a different brand and
automatically installed drivers for my non-existant "new modem". It was easy
to fix and hasn't re-curred. I'm guessing that the daily use of "sleep mode"
without re-starting for weeks may have caused the problem or perhaps one of
the windows updates......who knows. I used a quad-core cpu in the Ultimate
pc and is sure is nice to do anything on the computer simultaneously without
any slowdowns. I didn't need that powerful a cpu but since it was priced
almost the same as a dual-core I thot it might be a bit more "future proof".
Thanks again for your time in replying to my question.

xiowan.........in tucson

 

[That Guy]

Everyone wants something for free, lol

 

[xiowan]

Hello "That Guy":
What do you mean free? I paid over $500.00 for my two Vista Operating
Systems and my question was only to determine if the Vista Ultimate 64-bit
disk contained all the operating systems on the same disk. As it turns out,
it does. I have now used the Ultimate 64-bit dvd to install the 64-bit Home
Premium version on my pc and the original key was accepted and Microsoft has
validated the operating system. Microsoft is keenly aware that many people
would be unable to use the 64-bit O.S. until more hardware & software
providers provided good 64-bit software. I tried 64-bit and everything
worked fine except the MSN software, so I uninstalled the 64-bit and
re-installed 32 bit. Now I have functioning MSN software and so I switched
back to 64 bit. Where does something for nothing come in?

xiowan.......in tucson