Vista CD key Question

[imported_jabberjaw]

I have a HP dv6500t Laptop that came with Vista Home premium 32bit installed. I am planning on adding a new 7200rpm drive and 4gigs of ram soon and I figured that rather than just reloading the same OS again, upgrading it to Vista 64bit would make sense with the new hardware.

I wonder, can use its Vista32 key to upgrade it to a 64bit system? I have a 64bit OEM Vista disc handy from my Desktop build, would it work? Any hitches that would come up with activation? Thanks in Advance.

 

[lxskllr]

That should work ok. You'll probably have to call MS for activation, but that's easy enough.

 

[nerp]

Keys are interchangeable between 32 and 64 bit.

I think MS really did the right thing with this, allowing the same key to activate both versions. I also think that their decision to release a Vista DVD with all versions of the OS on it and basing the version you get on the key and not the media was a very smart thing to do. System builders and techs don't need to carry around five different discs depending on their client's OS. It also means that you can keep one DVD handy for all your machines if you ever need to reinstall.

 

[Keitero]

Originally posted by: nerp
Keys are interchangeable between 32 and 64 bit.

I think MS really did the right thing with this, allowing the same key to activate both versions. I also think that their decision to release a Vista DVD with all versions of the OS on it and basing the version you get on the key and not the media was a very smart thing to do. System builders and techs don't need to carry around five different discs depending on their client's OS. It also means that you can keep one DVD handy for all your machines if you ever need to reinstall.

Not quite. Some OEM 32-bit keys will not work with 64-bit installs. I found that out the hard way when I was trying to load 64-bit VHP on my dad's Lenovo (it had a 32bit VHP key). It said that the key was invalid. That being said however, all my Vista Ultimate keys and business key that I've gotten from MS directly work fine. OEMs are a different matter and its YMMV.

 

[nerp]

Thanks for the clarification.

I guess it depends on the OEM.

I upgraded my GF's HP laptop from 32 to 64 bit and the key on the bottom worked fine. So I guess you're right in the sense that YMMV.

 

[F1shF4t]

Originally posted by: Keitero

Originally posted by: nerp
Keys are interchangeable between 32 and 64 bit.

I think MS really did the right thing with this, allowing the same key to activate both versions. I also think that their decision to release a Vista DVD with all versions of the OS on it and basing the version you get on the key and not the media was a very smart thing to do. System builders and techs don't need to carry around five different discs depending on their client's OS. It also means that you can keep one DVD handy for all your machines if you ever need to reinstall.

Not quite. Some OEM 32-bit keys will not work with 64-bit installs. I found that out the hard way when I was trying to load 64-bit VHP on my dad's Lenovo (it had a 32bit VHP key). It said that the key was invalid. That being said however, all my Vista Ultimate keys and business key that I've gotten from MS directly work fine. OEMs are a different matter and its YMMV.

I get the same thing when I use the key that came on my laptop. I did a fresh install of x64 but when activating online it says the key is invalid (Its accepts it during install). Activating via the phone system works though.

 

[tcsenter]

All Royalty OEM keys are blocked for initial online activation. Its nothing to do with 32-bit or 64-bit. Same with XP beginning around the time of SP2.

You should get at least two subsequent online activations after calling Microsoft Activation Support, where the key is blocked again and will require another call.