Clean install and product keys - 32 bit Vista to 64 bit W8

LittleGreyCat

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5
I've searched through the forum and I think I have most of the answers, however I am a bit confused over product keys.

I have an older 32 bit Vista system which is a candidate for an upgrade to W8 64 bit.

I also have a newer W7 64bit system which I don't want to upgrade :)

I think that if I take the £24.99 upgrade option then I can download W8 to my W7 64 bit system, save to an ISO file, burn a DVD then use the DVD for a clean install to another system (i.e. format the drive so it is empty then run a W8 install from scratch).

If all this is true, then my one unanswered question is "can I use the product key from the original 32 bit Vista install"?

Oh, supplementary:

I can see multiple possible sources of W8 Pro Upgrade, and two
Microsoft Store United Kingdom Online Store - Buy and download Windows 7 Professional, home file sharing, network connectivity, Home Premium
and
Buy Windows - Microsoft Windows
come in at £24.99 but I'm not sure both are direct from Microsoft.

Which is the better site to use or will either do?

Cheers

LGC
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Vista 32 bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS M1530
    CPU
    Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
    Memory
    4Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
    Mouse
    Logitech ball scroll mouse
    Internet Speed
    30 Mb/sec
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
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    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
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    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Welcome to EightForums.

1) Both links are MS pages.


If all this is true, then my one unanswered question is "can I use the product key from the original 32 bit Vista install"?

2) Yes.For the Vista PC.

http://www.eightforums.com/general-discussion/10837-windows-8-eula.html

Microsoft said:
What about upgrading the software? The software covered by this agreement is an upgrade to your existing operating system software, so the upgrade replaces the original software that you are upgrading. You do not retain any rights to the original software after you have upgraded and you may not continue to use it or transfer it in any way. This agreement governs your rights to use the upgrade software and replaces the agreement for the software from which you upgraded. After you complete your upgrade, additional software will be required to playback or record certain types of media, including DVDs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Hello LGC, and welcome to Eight Forums,

Yes, you can replace the 32-bit Vista with a 64-bit Windows 8 upgrade.

If you like, you could also use the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant to purchase and download the £24.99 ($39.99) Windows 8 upgrade ISO file on your 64-bit W7, create a bootable DVD or USB with the ISO, then clean install the 64-bit Windows 8 upgrade on your 32-bit Vista computer. During installation, you would enter the W8 product key.

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn

Shawn,

still a bit confused - thanks for the response.
I assume you are US based and may not know the UK prices for different products :)

If I buy a £24.99 upgrade and download, save and burn this to an ISO DVD on my W7 64bit PC can I then clean install this on another PC (using the Windows licence key appropriate to the original 32 bit OS on that system)? Or is the cheapest download tied to the PC on which it is downloaded?

Does the W8 download come with its' own product key or do you re-use the product key of the older OS?

As with many others I am trying to upgrade a 32 bit Vista to a 64 bit W8.

Edit: hmmm.....presumably the W8 install has to have a unique key otherwise one download would allow you to upgrade an infinite number of old PCs using the original product keys. So how do Microsoft police this?

Edit2: Well, I've gone through the useful post about the Windows Upgrade Assistant. It seems to tell me that if I have one 64 bit system running a valid Windows 64 bit OS then I can purchase up to 5 copies of Windows 8 Upgrade 64 bit complete with product keys (or rather, download the 64 bit ISO, burn to DVD or USB stick, and purchase up to 5 valid licence keys). Which seems very nice and a very good way to upgrade various 32 bit systems to 64 bit. Or install Windows 8 on up to 5 new sets of hardware which didn't have a Windows licence as there seems to be no check on the original licence key. Again, am I missing something?

Cheers

LGC
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Vista 32 bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS M1530
    CPU
    Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
    Memory
    4Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
    Mouse
    Logitech ball scroll mouse
    Internet Speed
    30 Mb/sec
You're welcome.

The Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant only verifies that the computer you run it on qualifies for the upgrade. It doesn't tie that computer to the Windows 8 upgrade since it's only a check. You can download and purchase from any computer your like, but since you want a 64-bit copy of Windows 8 upgrade, you will only be able to do so from a 64-bit Windows.

Yes, you will get a new Windows 8 product key when you purchase the Windows 8 upgrade. This would be the key you enter during installation. The key is good for either 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 8.

You will not be able to upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit. Instead, you must do a clean install with the Windows 8 upgrade copy.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13375-clean-install-windows-8-upgrade.html
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I purchased the cheap online W8PRO to upgrade XP PRO 32 bit and loaded the 32 bit W8. As my pc was 64 bit capable I revisited the Microsoft site and using my original order number I bought the backup disks. About two weeks later they arrived. 32 and 64 bit disks were labeled Win8/8 pro.I just set the bios to boot from the optical drive and loaded the 64 bit dvd exactly the same as any other windows disk. I used the same product key and the microsoft account details and activation was automatic. As this pc is not my primary machine I deleted the windows-old files (about 20 gig) to save space on the ssd. As already noted ,if you download an ISO of 64 bit on a machine running 64 bit windows you can save a bit of money. By the way, when I loaded Win 8 I ended up with PRO automatically without seeing any option to load plain 8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win7 64
    CPU
    athlon2x2 240e
    Motherboard
    asus m4a87td evo
    Memory
    2x4gb ddr3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    ati 5670
Hello Tinmar,

The same installer is used for both Windows 8/8 Pro. It's the product key you enter that determines which one gets installed. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Having finally started down the route of buying the upgrades, every site so far ends up running the Upgrade Assistant.

So I assume that I run upgrade assistant on the 32 bit systems, burn some bandwith downloading an unwanted 32 bit ISO, then use the product key with the 64 bit ISO from my 64 bit system.

Cheers

LGC
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Vista 32 bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS M1530
    CPU
    Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
    Memory
    4Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
    Mouse
    Logitech ball scroll mouse
    Internet Speed
    30 Mb/sec
Hello LGC,

If you just wanted to purchase Windows 8 product key numbers without downloading anything, then you can still use the "Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant" to do so, but just stop at step 14 in the tutorial below to avoid the download.
Afterwards, you could do a clean install with your 64-bit DVD/USB created from the ISO, and the product key.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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