Hi, Bill.
Interesting. Please tell me then, where I went wrong. ....
But when I tried to install 64-bit Vista from 32-bit XP or 32-bit Vista
This is where you went wrong, Bill. Because of hardware and driver
differences, we cannot install ANY 64-bit operating system while booted into
a 32-bit OS - or vice versa. It requires a reboot to get the computer's
infrastructure into the other "bitness".
So, you can boot into a 32-bit OS, either WinXP x86 or Vista x86, then
insert a 32-bit WinXP CD or a 32-bit Vista DVD and run Setup from there.
But if you insert a WinXP x64 CD or a Vista x64 DVD and try to run its
Setup, you'll get the "incompatible" message you saw. (I don't recall for
sure, but I think the same is true if you try to run 32-bit Setup from a
64-bit desktop.)
So, how do you install 64-bit Vista when you have ONLY 32-bit WinXP/Vista
already installed? You can always reformat and start over, booting from the
DVD and letting it prepare your hard drive. (Setup has built-in utilities
to create, delete and format partitions as needed, or you can do much of the
job with Disk Management in your existing OS before running Setup - all
except reformatting the system or boot volume, of course.)
If you have only an Upgrade Vista package, it will want to see a qualifying
version of Windows already installed. (The old "show me the qualifying
disk" won't work for Vista; it wants to see the other system installed and
activated.)
Several users have reported another method, which I haven't tried. They
Do you know a way to install 64-bit Vista from a 32-bit Windows OS so the
drive letter scheme can be consistent in all installations? Thanks.
Yes. Sort of. Depending on what you mean by "consistent".
If you boot from the DVD to run Vista Setup, your Vista boot volume will
become Drive C: (to Vista), even if that is the 3rd partition on your second
HD. So your boot volume will "consistently" be "Drive C:", whether you are
running your original 32-bit Windows or your new 64-bit Vista. But Drive C:
will refer "inconsistently" to a different volume in each OS.
It's easy to get consistent drive letters for all volumes EXCEPT the System
and Boot volumes. Just boot into each OS in turn and use Disk Management to
set the letters to your consistent theme. My system has "just growed" over
the years as I've added and retired HDs and OSes, so my drive letters long
ago escaped from my original theme, but a few assignments have survived
since Win98: My Data volume is always Drive E:, my Mail Stores are always
on H: and my Photos are on M:. My DVD burners are V: and W:. Other letters
come and ago as new beta builds arrive and then are retired.
There are several convoluted methods to get the system and boot "drive"
letters aligned in all OSes. But I think the better approach is to break
out of the drive-letter mindset and recognize that those letter assignments
are too changeable to rely on. I'm currently running the Win7 x64 pre-beta;
my boot volume is Drive Y:, the 7th volume (6th logical drive in the
extended partition) on my second HD. My system volume is the first
partition on my first HD, which Win7 sees as Drive D:. But, no matter
whether I'm running Win7 x64 or Vista x86 or WinXP x86, that system
partition is always "SATA 200" and Win7's boot volume is always "Windows 7".
One of those convoluted ways is to install the 64-bit system twice. Accept
the default drive letters for the first installation (either WinXP x64 or
Vista x64), but do not put it into the volume where you want Vista x64 to be
permanently. Then boot into that "sacrificial" x64, use its Disk Management
to assign letters to fit your desired scheme, and then run Vista x64 Setup
again from that 64-bit desktop, letting it detect the existing letters.
Finally, boot into this new Vista x64 and delete the temporary installation.
All this is harder to explain than to do, Bill. Much of it won't make sense
until you do it yourself a time or two. Then, just like the rest of our
computer experiences, it will become second nature to us.
will become Drive D: when Vista is booted.