Solved Upgrading Vista

gallicbear

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Hi there. Still own a Win 8 Pro upgrade disk, which is not being used. I've got a good running Vista PC, and would like to upgrade it with Win 8 Pro (maybe also with the idea of eventually running Win 10). Let's say I activate Win 8 Pro and weeks later, I find out that it isn't performing. Can I go back to Vista and still have the Win 8 Pro available for another PC?
 

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Yes of course. The Vista licence is unchanged which means if it is a full retail copy you are free to reinstall it again on your present PC or as a fresh install on another (not on two at the same time though). If the Vista license is an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) then it is tied to the PC its on now. That doesn't stop you reinstalling it at any future time no matter what you do on that PC in the meantime.

If your Vista install is good then I would recommend that you make a disk image of the whole PC (using something like the free AOMEI backupper software. The image would be stored on a separate USB HDD

http://www.aomeitech.com/

Once you have a disk image of Vista then you can return to it at any time as if nothing had happened.


Windows 8 (well 8.1) is a terrific OS but you might need to do some detective work for drivers and so on. With a disk image of Vista there is no problem. Pop the 8 disk in and see where it gets you.
 

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Thanks, Mooly. I thought it would be the case, but I wanted to be sure.
 

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You are welcome :)

(and remember once you have a system image... you can do whatever you want trying 8/8.1/10 etc knowing that you can restore the Vista installation exactly as it was when you left it)
 

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System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Thanks again, Mooly. Making a system image was my first priority. I even backed up my Recovery partition. Although my first hurdle is that I need to add RAM. Windows 8 needs 2 GB. I only have 1.5 GB. Strange... I had tested Windows 10 at one point; it ran with no problem. But I enjoy those challenges...
 

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Understand that you can't do an "upgrade" from Vista to Win8 and retain any of your apps in the process. MS supports in-place upgrades like that only between adjacent Windows versions. If you went from Vista to Win7, you could choose to retain your apps.

You will have to reinstall all your apps from scratch after you do the upgrade.
 

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Thank you, Mark Phelps, for the reminder. I was aware of that.
 

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1.5gb is very small by todays numbers and yet I'm pretty sure my old Vista laptop (which I still use) originally had 1Gb with XP that was preinstalled. And that ran Vista OK although I increased the RAM to 2Gb after a while. Both were 32 bit installs though.

I'd try it (W8.1) and see what happens.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
I did try it, Mooly. And that's when it refused with that error. But I am getting the additional RAM. It'll work ok, I am sure. It's not my first install or upgrade.
 

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All things are do-able and possible (mostly). I'm sure it will be OK.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Just wanted to report that the upgrade went well. I was able to install 4GB RAM, and Windows 8 was up and running within 1 hour.
Thank you all for your input. Was appreciated.
 

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Excellent news. Thanks for the update.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
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