Win7 x64 install error: stating "wrong version" on Vista laptop... ?

[Note: I apologize in advance for the second-hand information... I will be seeing this in person in the morning, but thought I might go armed with some insight from you all. TIA!]

A daughter of a friend just bought Win7 Pro x64 from her university bookstore, and when she put the DVD into her laptop drive, she is greeted with a "wrong version" or "incorrect version" error message. She tells me she is running Vista (I am assuming x86) and that she has ~4GB of memory. Has anybody ever heard of something similar happening?

She told me that she has almost all of her info on an EHD, so I told her to backup whatever else she wanted to keep off of the HDD and when I visit tomorrow we will attempt to do the install, most likely a custom install for a fresh start (laptop ~2 years old).

Since I have read in several places here on the forums that the key included with the disc is good for both x64 and x86 versions of Win7, if it turns out that she has <4GB of RAM, is it possible to install the x86 from the disc? If so, is it easy to locate? If not, is there someplace we can dl it from? She tells me that she uses it mostly for Office (reports, presentations, etc) and used to run games on it (not sure what type), so I don't know if she would "need" x64 unless she has 4GB+ of RAM, right?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. If there are any specific questions I should be asking of her or things to look for when I am in front of the laptop, please let me know. I will check in here before I take off in the morning, and also follow-up with findings in the evening. Hopefully this is an easy fix and a custom install will do the trick, but I like to be prepared.

Thanks!

VSP

OK, so here is the error message she is getting (it occurs when either autorunning the disc or clicking on the setup file from the root dir of the disc):


And here is her system info:


DeepUnknown, from your post, it seems that this computer would not be able to run Win7 "smoothly" (since from what I can tell it is only a single core processor, and has less than 2GB of RAM), but I am thinking it should at least be able to attempt to install it. Does anyone have any ideas why this error message is popping up? And again, if we need the x86 version of Win7 to be able to get it to install, where would we go about finding it? I browsed the disc, but could not find anything. Also, the version that she got from the univ is just the disc and it states "October 2009 Systems Student Media" on the label.

Let me know what you all think, or what other info is necessary, or if this is a lost cause. Don't know if this is returnable or not, but hopefully wewon't have to find out!

VSP

OK, so here is a Performance Info & Tools screenie for the laptop (not sure why I didn't think of posting this earlier...):


As you can see, Windows Vista does report the comp is 64-bit capable (according to MS here), so I am still unsure as to why we are getting the error message in the first place. In understand that the specs are low, but we are just trying to weigh out options here.

Keep the posts coming. Will check back later in the day. Thanks!

VSP

DeepUnknown said:

if it's a single core processor it's not recommended to install win 7, cuz my friend has: Pentium 4 3GH frequency and 3 MB L2 Cach along with 4GB RAM and it freezes sometimes.

Just because your friend has an issue, doesn't mean it isn't recommended. I have a friend who claims he was abducted by aliens and was experimented on. That doesn't make it factual information. Single core processors can be well above the minimum required specs.

DeepUnknown said:

Also since it's a single core processor it doesn't support x64 OS.

Many single core processors support x64 OSes, even down to the Celeron levels.

To the OP, now that we've gotten the correct info out, what version and platform of Windows 7 is the upgrade from? My guess is, the install is failing because to upgrade a 32 bit OS to a 64 bit OS, you'd need to do a clean install. It sounds like she needs to use the x86 upgrade disc, or go back to the point of sale and try to obtain on if she didn't get it.

The message is likely because she tried to run the 64 bit disk instead of booting it as must be done.

Run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to check if there are any hardware incompatibilities. Your processor shows it is 64 bit, so no problem there. She should add at least another 3gb of RAM if she wants to run 64 bit, another gig if she wants to run 32 bit although 32 bit will run ok on a gig.

You are correct that each license is allowed to use either 32 or 64 bit. If she bought the student special under the University's program, they should have a 32 bit installer for her. Otherwise MS made good on the failure by their Student download supplier to provide 32 bit ISO's here: Microsoft Fixes Windows 7 Student Edition Upgrade Problems Unlock all versions to install her licensed version using this: Ei.cfg Removal Utility Lets You Use Any Product Key With Your Windows 7 Disc

Thank you guys for the detailed info. I appreciate it.

DeaconFrost said:

To the OP, now that we've gotten the correct info out, what version and platform of Windows 7 is the upgrade from? My guess is, the install is failing because to upgrade a 32 bit OS to a 64 bit OS, you'd need to do a clean install. It sounds like she needs to use the x86 upgrade disc, or go back to the point of sale and try to obtain on if she didn't get it.

The laptop currently has Vista x86 installed. That is the environment where we are receiving the error.

gregrocker said:

The message is likely because she tried to run the 64 bit disk instead of booting it as must be done.

Makes sense. I hadn't tried booting the computer with the disc since I didn't want to mess up the install without knowing what I was doing and inadvertently brick her computer in the middle of the term.

gregrocker said:

Run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to check if there are any hardware incompatibilities. Your processor shows it is 64 bit, so no problem there. She should add at least another 3gb of RAM if she wants to run 64 bit, another gig if she wants to run 32 bit although 32 bit will run ok on a gig.

You are correct that each license is allowed to use either 32 or 64 bit. If she bought the student special under the University's program, they should have a 32 bit installer for her. Otherwise MS made good on the failure by their Student download supplier to provide 32 bit ISO's here: Microsoft Fixes Windows 7 Student Edition Upgrade Problems Unlock all versions to install her licensed version using this: Ei.cfg Removal Utility Lets You Use Any Product Key With Your Windows 7 Disc

OK, will run the upgrade advisor. Thanks for the link. Already recommended the mem upgrade.

She has the student disc. I bummed around the disc looking for something that would specify an x86 installer, but did not find anything. Any ideas where it could be?

As to the Ei.cfg util, exactly when and how do you use it... the article did not specify.

Thanks again! Few steps closer!

VSP

P.S.: BTW, found out what type of gaming she does... BIG time Warcraft fiend!

I actually know the answer to this. My computer did the same thing when I got my new hard drive. Because I only have the professional upgrade disc, I has to install Windows XP Pro before installing 7. I stuck the disc in while XP was running and got the same error message (not that I cared since I can't do a direct upgrade from XP anyways). All you have to do is boot from the Windows 7 disc. It will boot from it fine. Then you can do a custom install with no problem. You might even be able to do a direct upgrade.

Edit: One other thing. By student copy I assume you mean the ~$30 copy only students can get. IIRC those disc only have the x86 or the x64, not both. This might have changed but I know when they first started the program you could on get on or the other for low price. If you want both you have to buy the $200 copy from a local retailer. Also, the ones you get from a regular store have 2 disc inside the package. One for 32-bit and one for 64-bit. So basically both versions cannot fit on one DVD-rom disc.