OS and Software > Microsoft Help > [WIN8] Questions about the Win8 digital upgrade...

reply to Gem

Re: [WIN8] Questions about the Win8 digital upgrade...

There is this
"Will it be possible with Windows 8 to upgrade from a prior Windows 32-bit version to a 64-bit version?
It is not possible to upgrade from a 32-bit to a 64-bit OS through the Windows Upgrade Assistant. "

Not absolutely positive that you could not download via a 64 bit os and then use that to upgrade a 32 bit , since I have not tried yet .
Will be trying it after Xmas , but with a store purchased disc , ( love black Friday deals )
Don't think it will work , but since it is an XP home install anyway , am prepared to throw enough of a 64 bit install on it for the upgrade to take

Did work and even offered to save personal data . Since everything was backed up , just let it clean install .
Am kind of wishing that we had tried to make a dual boot work
Yes I am fully aware that would not be licensing compatible !

Let me be sure about this, did you upgrade a 32bit version of Windows to a 64bit version of W8 using the $39 downloaded upgrade program from MSFT?

That's what my objective is. I've got a bunch of Windows Operating Systems here, but most are the 32bit versions....

OK to go over it again
1 I Migrated 32 bit XP home to 64 bit Win8 using a RETAIL upgrade disk ,not a downloaded version . Was $29 after rebate so was the cheapest way
The retail upgrade disk has both the 64 and 32 bit versions
Notice I said migrated and not upgraded ! If you go from 32 to 64 , you will have to reinstall everything !
The only way to do what everyone calls a upgrade is from 32 bit 7 to 32 bit 8 , or 64 bit 7 to 64 bit 8 .
.
2 If you download , you will get only whatever you download with . If you download using a 32 bit os , you will get the 32 bit version. If you want 64bit , you MUST download using a 64 bit OS ! If you do not have access to a 64 bit OS , there are some work-arounds , but I do not feel comfortable detailing them . Google is your friend

3 Make sure that the systems you want to upgrade can take 64 bit , and make use of it . In some cases , it is best just to stay 32 bit .

Am assuming that you are planning to burn the downloaded system to a bootable disk and then booting from that . I think I could almost guaranty it will NOT work if you try to boot to the upgrade program from within the old OS !

Thank you very. That's extremely informative.

Using the correct terms, it seems my goal is to "migrate" from 32bit systems to W8 64bit version.

Would you please post a link to where you were able to purchase the Retail upgrade disk for $29 after rebate? Please PM that if not comfortable with posting the link.

Buying the disk to upgrade sounds like the best bet. I prefer a full reinstall in any event.

Thanks.

»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···32416562

Believe this was the promo item from newegg that i bought just b4 christmas for 30.00 with the discount--has both 32 and 64 bit discs...back to 70.00 now tho

Actually , it was an OfficeMax Black Friday deal
Does not really matter . There were several deals running in Nov and Dec where you could buy the retail disk for the same or less than the download price .

To the best of my knowledge, there are NO such deals currently in effect !

The best price for legit keys is currently the Microsoft download program .

I do not know if you could buy 1 full disc set ($69) and then just buy as many download keys as you need ( believe there is a 5 key limit on downloads ).
Also not sure if the download keys are the same for 64 as 32 . Have a feeling they are not , since the key is what determines the os that gets downloaded to you

Remember that the special price is only until the end of the month !
Also remember that the media extender deal ends Jan 31 !

What is the "media extender" of which you speak?

Should have said Media Center not media extender

If you were not aware of it , Microsoft removed Media center capabilities from Win8 , unless you paid extra .
There is a window of opportunity to restore it for free .

»www.techrepublic.com/blog/window···ait/6928 explains things .

This is the page to get the Media Center key
»windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind···re-packs

If you think things are interesting now , wait till all the people buying computers with Win8 installed find out that they got Win8 core , and to do what they were able to on their old computers will have to pay for an upgrade !

reply to MrFixit1
Yes, the keys will work with 32 bit or 64 bit - with every version of Windows since Vista.

Will the win8pro upgrade key work if I install win8pro via the RTM .iso ? I've installed it several ways on my april purchased Lenovo budget laptop and always it has an open handle and lots of errors when win7 image maker runs. Run system cleanup and then SFC shows errors on some kb update to a cannon printer that I don't even have. Hoping RTM will install best.

reply to tcg
Are the key codes the same for the 32bit upgrade and the 64bit W8 upgrades or do they have different keys?

Same key works 32 or 64 bitz

reply to sekim
It should. You may have to fool Windows into thinking you used the right method to install...

Edit: In fact, I know it will. For every college student that has brought their machine in for me to install the (nearly) free Windows upgrade on, I've used the Technet media and their key. Didn't need to do anything special at all.

reply to sekim
Nice!

reply to Gem
I thought that's what I said!