installing Vista over Vista

[lupi]

If I want to installk a higher version of vista over the one currently on my comp, will I need to save all my HD data as if it's going to be a fresh install or will vista be able to just upgrade itself?

 

[Blazer]

its allways a good idea to have a backup, but a vista upgrade will/should leave a folder call windows old where all your data will be stored and can be deleted after you have moved everything back.

 

[lupi]

I plan on saving what I care about (mainly the family picture data and such) but wanted to know if this will be a weekday (simple install over that doesn't modify existing non windows stuff) or to save it for the weekend (ala fresh install) event.

 

[Blazer]

if the orig OS isnt hacked/scrambled and has vista compatable drivers and programs and no OS errors it will go over very easy.

 

[lupi]

Excellent. I was going to just pick up a copy of home for the second comp but when the egg put ultimate on sale for 110AR I splurged and picked that up instead and will use my current business version on the secondary one. It's only been running for about 4 months so it should be a pretty clean load still.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: blazer
its allways a good idea to have a backup, but a vista upgrade will/should leave a folder call windows old where all your data will be stored and can be deleted after you have moved everything back.

The old folder should only come into play installing ontop of XP or other legacy versions. The Vista install with simply 'upgrade' itself in place in the OP scenarios, no loss of data, user accounts, etc.

 

[corkyg]

Right - the question should be "Can Vista Be Upgraded?" Of course! I upgraded three machines from Business to Ultimate. Piece of cake.

 

[uclaLabrat]

does it matter if it goes from 32 bit to 64? I have 32 business, going to install that on my new build and then upgrade it to 64 ultimate.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: uclaLabrat
does it matter if it goes from 32 bit to 64? I have 32 business, going to install that on my new build and then upgrade it to 64 ultimate.

You can't do an in-place upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit. The boot partition will end up being reformatted and all the data on that partition will be erased.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Cool, thanks. I was going to just install all my programs and stuff in business and then upgrade over it. Guess I'll wait til the upgrade disk gets here.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: uclaLabrat
does it matter if it goes from 32 bit to 64? I have 32 business, going to install that on my new build and then upgrade it to 64 ultimate.

You can't do an in-place upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit. The boot partition will end up being reformatted and all the data on that partition will be erased.

yep, didn't realize my business ed I got free was 32 bit till I installed it, then had to do the $10 for a 64 bit copy and a reinstall.




Just did the ultimate upgrade last night, took about 35 minutes to gather all my data to save to one folder and transfer it to another Hd, then the actual vista upgrade install took just under 90 minutes. Not too bad since I never had to hit any buttons or take action other than typing in the key and selecting an upgrade install just after putting the new disc in; all other installed programs/hw worked fine when done as they did before.

 

[tcsenter]

Make sure the install media contains SP1 if your existing Vista install has SP1. You can't upgrade Vista SP1 to a different edition using SP1-less media.

 

[uclaLabrat]

got an ultimate upgrade off amazon, was hoping it would be the 64-bit version. It was the 32. I'm kinda bummed. My buddy said my key would work for the 64-bit ultimate anyway, so I'm just using a torrent to get the 64 bit. Think it'll work?

 

[bwatson283]

http://www.microsoft.com/windo...e-your-pc-options.aspx

 

[uclaLabrat]

doesn't really answer the question, but thanks anyway.

 

[lupi]

for $10 MS will send you a disc with the 64bit version and the same key will be used.

 

[biggdogg17]

to install vista over vista you have to boot up then put in the vista dvd and choose upgrade option



i have reinstalled vista so many times on my comp its not even funny