Windows 7 Upgrading from Home Premium 32-Bit to 64-Bit

[ATMarsden]

I am going to be buying a new laptop in the next few weeks, but would like to query about upgrading from the shipped 32-Bit OS to a 64-Bit version.

The laptop I am considering is the HP Pavilion DM1-4020sa (4GB, 500GB, 1.65GHz), which comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 32.

My questions are thus:
1 - Is it possible to upgrade easily to 64-bit Home Premium from the 32-bit version supplied, or does it require purchasing discs?
2 - If I upgrade to Home Premium 64-bit, can I use the same product key as provided with the laptop, or is a new key required?

If I cannot upgrade to Home Premium 64, I will consider using my student status to get a good deal on Professional or Ultimate (via software4students):
3 - Is it possible to use the retail "Upgrade" disks to upgrade from one Windows 7 version to another (In this case HP32 to Pro64), or is that strictly for upgrades from previous versions of Windows?

If anyone can shed any light on the situation, or provide a solution that may be preferable to those I've considered, please let me know.

(PS - the logistics of the fact that the laptop doesn't have an optical drive are already taken care of, so that is of no concern)

 

[Drew]

Hi there,

To come straight to the point... if the hardware supports x64, GO x64. As you do it all the steps, key stuff,etc, is super obvious, easy & simple. However, must be done as a clean "Custom" install. One cannot 'upgrade' cross-bit platform. Ergo, no, would use the key peculiar to that OS.

Don't talk about it, just do it (well based on the machine, of course). I'm just keen on x64. Smart way to go.

Cheers,
Drew

 

[ATMarsden]

Thanks for the reply.

I suppose that the logistics of it will be infinitely clearer when I actually have the computer in front of me. I just realised this morning that the "Upgrade" disk page has a specific instruction that it can't be used to upgrade from a Windows 7 edition.

 

[Saltgrass]

Disregarding the Bit type, you cannot upgrade from one version of Windows 7 to a higher version with a retail disk. You have to go the Windows Anytime Update route.

As Drew mentions, to go from 32 bit to 64 bit requires a clean install. Whether you will need a different key will depend on how you got the original software. My daughter got a educational version, and the 32 and 64 bit versions were in separate packages with different keys. Retail versions of the software come with both 32 and 64 bit and the same key can be used for either.

I would assume if you wanted to keep the OEM install on your system, you would have to get a different bit version from the manufacturer.

 

[Drew]

Windows 7 Upgrade Paths:
Windows 7 Upgrade Paths

 

[thirtysenses]

[h=1]Right-click on Computer, and click on Properties. Click on "Get more features with a new edition of Windows 7" near the top of the page. Click on "Enter an Upgrade Key" on the new dialogue box, and enter the key you have for Ultimate. If it refuses to run, just shut down and restart the computer (and I don't mean restore factory image!) and it should perform the upgrade.[/h]As with anything like this, make sure you have a full backup before you start -- a full disc image preferably.