Upgrading from Windows Vista Pro

Marty999

I have been given an old company laptop and it runs Vista Pro. A year or so back I paid for and downloaded an official W7 to W8 upgrade when it was on special offer; this was for my desktop PC running W7 Home Premium, but I did not get around to installing it as I have been happy with W7. I suspect the W8 upgrade will not be a Professional version, so does anyone know if I will be able to use the W8 upgrade on the Vista Pro laptop, or does the W8 upgrade have to be the Professional version for it to work? Thanks.

Jivesinger

When the Windows 8 upgrade offer started, it was Windows 8 Pro-only for the first few months, so you may have that. The same upgrade works from Vista, XP or 7 to Windows 8.

Best bet is to dig out the email from when you bought it, as you'll need the Windows 8 Product Key to install it in any case.

I think that even if it's the non-Pro version of Windows 8, you could upgrade from Vista Pro, but obviously it wouldn't have the Pro features.

You would have to reinstall your software when coming from Vista though.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj203353.aspx

grumpycrab

As above, dig out the purchase email which will say
"Windows 8 Pro Product key: blah blah blah" and should be fine to upgrade Vista.

Marty999

Thanks for your reply, Jivesinger. I have just managed to locate the original Windows receipt on my email and it does actually say Windows 8 Pro, so I'm in luck. The laptop is running 32-bit Vista Pro, does it matter if I install 64-bit Windows 8? It doesn't make it clear whether it is 32-bit, 64-bit or both. I am happy to re-install all the software I need as with a clean install.

Jivesinger

Marty999 wrote: »

The laptop is running 32-bit Vista Pro, does it matter if I install 64-bit Windows 8? It doesn't make it clear whether it is 32-bit, 64-bit or both. I am happy to re-install all the software I need as with a clean install.

I think from the licensing point of view, it doesn't matter if it's 32 or 64, as long as you only use the Product Key once.

However... if you use the Product Key to download the Windows 8 installer, it uses the same 'bit-ness' as the PC you downloaded it from. So if you download from the 32-bit Vista PC, you'll get a 32-bit installer. If you downloaded it from your Windows 7 PC, and if that's 64-bit, then you'd get a 64-bit installer.

Note that the hardware requirements for 64-bit Windows 8 are slightly more stringent than 32-bit, and there's a further change in Windows 8.1 that means some old PCs will run 64-bit Windows 8 but not 64-bit Windows 8.1

Just_Passing_Bi

Hi

We have 2 laptops, 1 x Vista, 1 x XP, do I need to purchase 2 MS 7 disc's or can I use 1 disc to upgrade on both laptops?

Anyone recommend where to buy from at a reasonable price?

emptybox

Just_Passing_Bi wrote: »

Hi

We have 2 laptops, 1 x Vista, 1 x XP, do I need to purchase 2 MS 7 disc's or can I use 1 disc to upgrade on both laptops?

Anyone recommend where to buy from at a reasonable price?

You need two disks really, because the licence keys will only work on one machine at a time.
(technically you could use one disc, but you'd need 2 keys)

You can buy from Amazon from under £50.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=windows+7&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Awindows+7

Those labelled OEM (or OEI) can only be used on one PC, those labelled Full or Full Retail can be used on a series of PCs, but can only be activated on one at a time (if you see what I mean).
Plus the full retail versions usually come with both 32bit and 64bit in the box, but OEMs are either or.

Upgrade versions are usually more expensive than ones that need a clean install, for some reason, although if you were upgrading from XP to 7, all that would be kept would be your personal files anyway, so a clean install is probably best.

Be a bit wary of ones that describe themselves as "refurbished", if you read the reviews, the supplied product key doesn't work, and you have to activate them by phoning Microsoft.

Just_Passing_Bi

emptybox wrote: »

You can buy from Amazon from under £50.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=windows+7&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Awindows+7

Thanks, on this link http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B008OS5NKW/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1395335012&sr=8-3

It's showing prices as low as £34.00, will that disc do for the 2 laptops?

I'm not computer savvy, if that disc will do for both laptops, where can I purchase 2 licence keys from?

grumpycrab

Just_Passing_Bi wrote: »

We have 2 laptops, 1 x Vista, 1 x XP, do I need to purchase 2 MS 7

Or you could go straight to 8 with Windows8Pro upgrade (about £55) (then update to 8.1 for free).
But ensure you have run the compatibility checker first (that applies to 7 too). Also remember that unless you get the 7upgrade (does it exist?) you will do a clean install.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MICROSOFT-WINDOWS-8-PRO-32-64-BIT-ENG-3UR-00006-UPGRADE-1USER-BNIB-RRP-189-BLUE-/331119762935?pt=UK_Computing_Software_Software_SR&hash=item4d18469df7
(media included!)

Just_Passing_Bi

grumpycrab wrote: »

Or you could go straight to 8 with Windows8Pro upgrade (about £55) (then update to 8.1 for free).
But ensure you have run the compatibility checker first (that applies to 7 too). Also remember that unless you get the 7upgrade (does it exist?) you will do a clean install.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MICROSOFT-WINDOWS-8-PRO-32-64-BIT-ENG-3UR-00006-UPGRADE-1USER-BNIB-RRP-189-BLUE-/331119762935?pt=UK_Computing_Software_Software_SR&hash=item4d18469df7
(media included!)

Oh dear, now I'm more confused

grumpycrab

Just_Passing_Bi wrote: »

Oh dear, now I'm more confused

Sorry. Let the Qs begin. Why upgrade? If both old may not be worth the expense. Or just upgrade one of them? For starters run the compatibility checkers here:-
Windows7
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor
Windows8
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/upgrade-assistant-download-online-faq
(below 8.1!)