OEM Windows 7 32bit to 64bit

[jmullaney]

Hey,

I wonder if anyone can help me. I've searched exhaustively on this subject and haven't found a definate answer.

I have recently purchased a Samsung R720 (PS02UK) laptop with Windows 7 32bit Home Premium (OEM of course). The processor is a Core 2 Duo (P7450 - 64bit compliant). The computer came supplied with 4GB of RAM and has a 1GB dedicated video card.

Now my problem is obviously Windows can't address all this RAM (about 0.8-1.2GB is sitting hardware reserved for video memory, giving me over 2GB for the graphics card to use - which is pointless, it doesn't need that much!!)

OK, so my question is how can I move to 64bit Windows 7 without buying a full retail version. The OEM key is only suitable for 32bit versions (I called Samsung and asked). Will using an upgrade package work in this case? I am aware that it will be a custom install and as such will be a fresh install - this doesn't bother me as it is a new computer.

I have a copy of Windows 7 Professional 64bit upgrade to hand that I can use if it is possible. I obviously don't want to shell out for a full version just for 64bit, I don't think that would be worth it.

If anyone has any clue on this I would be very grateful to hear from you as I really don't know how to proceed!

Thanks!

James

 

[derekimo]

Welcome James, You might want to look at this tutorial,
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html
Hope that helps you out.

 

[Orpheous]

Hi jmullaney, welcome to sevenforums

As long as your laptop will suport Vista 64 or Windows 7 64 bit, you'll have no problems doing a clean install with an upgrade pack. The advantage to this approach is that you'll also be able to delete the repair partition and any other partitions that Samsung have used up on your hard drive during installation.

 

[jmullaney]

OK, that sounds great. I assume it will ask me for a code when I 'upgrade'. Is this the case? And if so will my 32bit OEM code work? Also can I expect Windows to find most drivers for the key hardware (enough to get me up and running... Samsung provide drivers for most of my internal peripherals such as Wireless so I can install them once I'm in)

Very appreciative of the quick response, I've been raking google searches all day and have got nowhere!

 

[Orpheous]

You can't legally upgrade using another oem copy of Windows 7, and the oem key most likely (99.9% sure) won't work with an Upgrade disc. You'll need to bit the bullet and buy an upgrade license, which are considerably cheaper than full retail.
The good news is that your Samsung support page has W7 64 bit drivers, so it will run a 64 bit installation.

 

[jmullaney]

Brilliant, so supposing I had a copy of this arriving on my doorstep this week, that would work.

Again, thank you!

 

[Orpheous]

Brilliant, so supposing I had a copy of this arriving on my doorstep this week, that would work.

Again, thank you!

You're most welcome
That will definitely work! and it's definitely a considerable saving too!
Don't forget to hang onto that support page in case 7 misses any drivers during installation (commonly webcam, card reader and occasionally audio)

 

[mark39]

What I did with my laptop was use this program to backup the key and licence, do a clean install without entering a key and then restoring the licence and key back again. Be warned it is only beta for Win 7 though, certainly saves the cost of a new version of windows!!
ABR (Activation Backup and Restore) | directedge.us

 

[mark39]

Forgot to add my laptop came with x86, I backed it up, clean installed x64 and restored the licence, it worked like a charm!

 

[jmullaney]

Brilliant, so supposing I had a copy of this arriving on my doorstep this week, that would work.

Again, thank you!

You're most welcome
That will definitely work! and it's definitely a considerable saving too!
Don't forget to hang onto that support page in case 7 misses any drivers during installation (commonly webcam, card reader and occasionally audio)

Yea, hell of a saving. Have already got that link saved from prior investigation but once again thanks so much for help.

Also thanks mark39, I've taken a backup in case all goes tits up. Hopefully it won't and I'll be able to report back whether it worked or not .I'm sure someone out there will be wondering the same and could use all this info! Just got to wait for the disc to come though and I'll make the leap!

 

[Orpheous]

Forgot to add my laptop came with x86, I backed it up, clean installed x64 and restored the licence, it worked like a charm!

That's interesting. What x64 installation discs did you use?

 

[bobkn]

I wonder whether Samsung was correct in claiming that your OEM key couldn't be used to activate an X64 installation. Perhaps it could, but they wouldn't support you on that.

I think that what I might have tried in your situation was acquiring a Win7 X64 installation disk without a key. I would have copied it to a bootable USB flash drive, and removed ei.cfg to eliminate the version specification. An OEM key may not permit an upgrade-in-place, but you couldn't do that in going from X86 to X64 anyway.

As you're already getting a cheap X64 Pro, you could try it as an experiment. It could preserve the new license key for use on another PC.

I encourage you to try it, and report back. Doing a clean install off of a USB key drive is significantly faster than doing it from a DVD, anyway.

Use a USB Key to Install Windows 7?Even on a Netbook

 

[jmullaney]

I wonder whether Samsung was correct in claiming that your OEM key couldn't be used to activate an X64 installation. Perhaps it could, but they wouldn't support you on that.

I think that what I might have tried in your situation was acquiring a Win7 X64 installation disk without a key. I would have copied it to a bootable USB flash drive, and removed ei.cfg to eliminate the version specification. An OEM key may not permit an upgrade-in-place, but you couldn't do that in going from X86 to X64 anyway.

As you're already getting a cheap X64 Pro, you could try it as an experiment. It could preserve the new license key for use on another PC.

I encourage you to try it, and report back. Doing a clean install off of a USB key drive is significantly faster than doing it from a DVD, anyway.

Use a USB Key to Install Windows 7?Even on a Netbook

The guy I spoke to said that because the key was registered on Microsoft servers as a x86 key, it would not activate the x64 version. He also had a look and said that they had being testing putting 64bit Windows 7 on my particular model and it seemed to work with all the hardware, but he strongly hinted that it wouldn't be supported by them.

What's also annoying is the driver website that they provide seems to be broken (all the links on the Samsung download center are timing out). I have scoured the net for the drivers based on their version numbers. Can you see any of these drivers being 'Samsung specific'? Or do you think as long as the version number is the same that drivers aquired from other sites would work. Think I've managed to get them all apart from the HDMI driver (5.0.7000.9) if anyone fancies a hunt!!

Either way I will try it out. I still have the resoration partition as a backup and I've only had the laptop for a week, so worst comes to worst I've got Firefox and some key apps to reinstall. No Biggy. It just baffles me that Samsung would equip a x64 based processor with 4GB of RAM with 32bit Windows?! Worst off, it wasn't advertised as such, so I only found out when it arrived. To be fair this laptop is awesome and I'd strongly recommend it (especially if it came with x64 W7!! Are you listening Samsung!!!)

 

[gregrocker]

Under the Win7 EULA you are entitled to use either 32 or 64 bit with each license, and can switch to either at any time of your choosing. Your manufacturer is not allowed to supercede the EULA as activation is controlled only by MS.

If you are in need of a 64 bit installer, you might want to take a look at this about how MS is trying to make good on its student deal where only 32 bit installers were shipped: Microsoft Fixes Windows 7 Student Edition Upgrade Problems - Windows 7 student edition - Gizmodo

 

[bobkn]

The guy I spoke to said that because the key was registered on Microsoft servers as a x86 key, it would not activate the x64 version. He also had a look and said that they had being testing putting 64bit Windows 7 on my particular model and it seemed to work with all the hardware, but he strongly hinted that it wouldn't be supported by them.

What's also annoying is the driver website that they provide seems to be broken (all the links on the Samsung download center are timing out). I have scoured the net for the drivers based on their version numbers. Can you see any of these drivers being 'Samsung specific'? Or do you think as long as the version number is the same that drivers aquired from other sites would work. Think I've managed to get them all apart from the HDMI driver (5.0.7000.9) if anyone fancies a hunt!!

Either way I will try it out. I still have the resoration partition as a backup and I've only had the laptop for a week, so worst comes to worst I've got Firefox and some key apps to reinstall. No Biggy. It just baffles me that Samsung would equip a x64 based processor with 4GB of RAM with 32bit Windows?! Worst off, it wasn't advertised as such, so I only found out when it arrived. To be fair this laptop is awesome and I'd strongly recommend it (especially if it came with x64 W7!! Are you listening Samsung!!!)

I think that the first bit is bogus. The key would be in use, as with any activated Win7 installation, but I doubt that there'd be any issue about using it again on the same hardware. I have no personal experience with it, though.

I just tried the driver website (above). Works fine for me at the moment. (It may help that it's about 0300 GMT right now.)

I wonder why Samsung didn't make X64 the default, or at least an option. I've seen a number of 4GB notebooks advertised with X64 as the default OS.

 

[gregrocker]

May I suggest you try the 64 bit install on a second partition you shrink from your current install in Disk mgmt?

This way, you can see how many of the drivers are already in the Win7 installer and come in on Windows Updates. Unlike Vista and XP, the Win7 installer is mostly driver-complete with new arriving in Updates.

Hopefully the Support Downloads webpage for your model computer will be working soon so you can access drivers there. If any are missing in Device manager, you can also Google their exact name to track them down, or post back here in Drivers forum for help.

If you are happy with the 64 bit install, we can help you remove the 32 bit partition and recover the MBR into 64 bit partition, as well as Resize it into the lower address space.

 

[Orpheous]

Under the Win7 EULA you are entitled to use either 32 or 64 bit with each license, and can switch to either at any time of your choosing. Your manufacturer is not allowed to supercede the EULA as activation is controlled only by MS.

If you are in need of a 64 bit installer, you might want to take a look at this about how MS is trying to make good on its student deal where only 32 bit installers were shipped: Microsoft Fixes Windows 7 Student Edition Upgrade Problems - Windows 7 student edition - Gizmodo

Greg, do you know if the original OEM license key for 32 bit will work with a 64 bit retail upgrade?

 

[gregrocker]

Greg, do you know if the original OEM license key for 32 bit will work with a 64 bit retail upgrade?

Yes, once all versions are unlocked the 32 or 64 bit installers are the same whether OEM or Retail, Full or Upgrade.

Only the key determines which version will activate, and the same key will activate either 32 or 64 bit in every version.

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-...l-versions-your-windows-7-build-7000-iso.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/32055-bootable-iso-create-installation-files.html

 

[Orpheous]

That's great news! It eliminates the folder full of operating system disks that had to be on hand everytime an end user "loses" their's.

 

[mark39]

Forgot to add my laptop came with x86, I backed it up, clean installed x64 and restored the licence, it worked like a charm!

That's interesting. What x64 installation discs did you use?

The signature edition I got for being a launch party host.