Tom's Hardware > Forum > Windows Vista > Vista General Discussion > Here's a head scratcher
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Jedi940   11-14-2008 at 05:47:25 AM

So being a student, I thought I would save some money by taking advantage of the deal at www.theultimatesteal.com where I can get an upgrade to vista x64 for just over $60. After purchasing, I have to download 3 files. One is an exe file, the other two are win files. the exe is supposed to start the extraction and then the installation. I purchased it for my desktop which would be an upgrade from win xp. Here's the problem. . . it doesn't work and I get different error messages all the time.

On my laptop (which already has vista x64 ultimate) - the installation will start
On my freshly reformated desktop with the following options:
-win xp -- the program is not configured correctly. reinstalling the application may help
-win xp SP2 -- same response as above
-win 2000 professional -- says the exe file is not a valid win32 application

On my dad's computer (XP SP2) - the extraction starts but at about 1/3 of the way through the extraction it stops and says I should make sure that the files are in a location that are not write protected.

This is so weird. I have already sent an email to the support department but have not heard back yet.

I have also re-downloaded all 3 files to no avail.

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badge   11-14-2008 at 06:05:01 AM
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Quote :

On my laptop (which already has vista x64 ultimate) - the installation will start



It starts because you already have a 64 bit OS installed. I am not entirely sure about it, but you can not have a 32 bit wndows OS installed and expect to 'upgrade' to a Windows 64 bit OS. Windows Vista 64 would have to be installed 'fresh'. 32 bit will not upgrade to 64 bit.

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Jedi940   11-14-2008 at 06:22:47 AM
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I considered that, but it doesn't make since that it would start extraction on my dad's computer. When I hear back from support, I will ask them about that possibility.

Doing some of my own research, I found similar responses however, I heard that you can start the install by booting even from the upgrade disk. I did order a hard copy of the program. Would I be able to install from that?

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4ryan6   11-14-2008 at 06:31:22 AM
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badge is right, I read in my Vista Manual it was not possible to go from 32bit XP or Vista to Vista 64, the 64 is a stand alone installation.

------------------------------ Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!
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Zoron   11-14-2008 at 06:56:49 AM
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Extraction is one thing, installation is another. Even if you got the files to extract, you wouldn't be able to start the install within 32-bit Win XP... or 32-bit Vista for that matter. There is no ugrade path from 32-bit to 64-bit.


Message edited by Zoron on 11-14-2008 at 07:02:35 AM
------------------------------ Desktop: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit; Intel Q6600 CPU; E-VGA 780i SLI motherboard; E-VGA E-GeForce 8800GT; OCZ Vista 4GB dual-channel kit; Ultra X2 750W power supply; 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB in RAID 0. Laptop: Acer Aspire 8730-6314;
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Jedi940   11-14-2008 at 03:55:26 PM
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That really sucks. I figured it wouldn't be a simple upgrade due to the change from a 32-bit to 64-bit but I thought it would just realize that, restart my computer and go from there. I began to get suspicious when it said that the exe file was not a valid win32 app but when I was able to start the extraction on my my dads xp32 it threw me off. I was still hopeful. Well, I'll see what support tells me. Perhaps I can get a refund. (hopefully)

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Zoron   11-16-2008 at 07:48:20 AM
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Or you can back up your data and do a clean install... which is what I'd recommend anyway...

------------------------------ Desktop: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit; Intel Q6600 CPU; E-VGA 780i SLI motherboard; E-VGA E-GeForce 8800GT; OCZ Vista 4GB dual-channel kit; Ultra X2 750W power supply; 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB in RAID 0. Laptop: Acer Aspire 8730-6314;
 Reply to Zoron
Jedi940   11-16-2008 at 05:28:26 PM
- 0 +

Well, I found out from support that a refund isn't possible so I guess I'm stuck with this for now. I am currently in the process of trying to grab a cracked version of xp 64 and hope i can upgrade from that. I own a legit copy of XP Pro and I see no reason why that shouldn't be good enough for the upgrade.

 

I have also done some searching and I found several articles that stated you can use the upgrade CD for a clean install. It said you need to boot from the cd, not enter the product key and select clean install. Then after the install has been completed, re-run the setup from vista and this time enter the product key and select upgrade. All the articles that suggest this were published in January and February of 2007. Does anyone know if this is still possible since the release of SP1. I did order the backup copy of the cd from the website and my previous experience ordering office ultimate through the same place tells me that the CD will not simply contain the files I downloaded but will be the full upgrade cd as if purchased in the store. The downside is that the cd took about 6 weeks to get to me.

 

to Zoron:
I would love to do a clean install however the only copy I currently have is the one i downloaded. They are not bootable. I will have to wait until my backup cd comes in the mail to do a clean install if that's even possible.


Message edited by Jedi940 on 11-16-2008 at 05:30:43 PM
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Zoron   11-16-2008 at 11:02:59 PM
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You cannot upgrade a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS... there is NO upgrade path. Your ONLY option is a clean install. If you had 64-bit XP, then you could upgrade to 64-bit Vista... but since you have 32-bit a clean install is your only option.

------------------------------ Desktop: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit; Intel Q6600 CPU; E-VGA 780i SLI motherboard; E-VGA E-GeForce 8800GT; OCZ Vista 4GB dual-channel kit; Ultra X2 750W power supply; 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB in RAID 0. Laptop: Acer Aspire 8730-6314;
 Reply to Zoron
Jedi940   11-17-2008 at 02:43:27 AM
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Success at last!!!

I was able to download a copy of xp64 and use that to upgrade. However, the interesting thing is that the original downloaded exe file still wouldn't work. I get the same error I got under xp32 about the application not being configured correctly. It will only work on my laptop which has vista ultimate 64. I ended up having to start the installation on my laptop, then copy the extracted files from my laptop to my desktop running xp64 and then it would run. Vista ultimate 64 is up, running, activated, and much faster than I expected it would be. Thanks for all your info guys. Now I just need to wait for my additional 4 gigs of ram to get here from newegg.

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ohiou_grad_06   11-18-2008 at 05:04:29 AM
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What I would suggest next for you is grab norton ghost or some imaging/ghosting software of some type and create an image of that puppy after all updates so you don't have headaches later.

Reply to ohiou_grad_06
Jedi940   11-18-2008 at 08:17:11 PM
- 0 +

That might not be a bad idea. I do reformat my computer quite often.

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