Solved Win7 32bit upgrade to 64bit on a new PC

[busaboyz]

Bought a used HP EliteDesk 800 G1 PC. It's a Quad Core i5 with 4 Gb of RAM. It presently has Win 7 32 bit. I was told it originally came from HP with Win 8. Not sure what version. It did not have a COA sticker and the seller (CS student) gave me one he had lying around since I complained. I have other Win 8/10 machines so I know they don't come with a COA.

Couple of questions since I want to upgrade to Win 7 64 bit. Using a key checker I see a Win 7 key (not the one he gave me) and the UEFI "key". Is the UEFI "key" useful for anything? Should I try to use the Win 7 key that the key checker found or the one on the COA he gave me?

I have loaded Win 7 many times to repair or upgrade a PC and have all the versions. I have not installed Win 7 on a machine with UEFI so I want to be careful before I start. I have no problem wiping the data on the disk if that eases the install.

 

[AddRAM]

The key you found will not work, the factory use that key, but if you have a Windows 7 COA and a readble key, you can reinstall Windows 7 and use that key on the COA to activate windows.

Enable Legacy boot in the bios so you can install windows 7.

A UEFI key is built into the bios, that would be used to activate Windows 8, the original OS.

Do you have a Windows 7 64 bit installer ?

 

[busaboyz]

I have the DVD images saved for most of the Win OS's. I guess I could try the Win 7 key on the machine and if it doesn't work use the spare COA I have. The goal would be Win 7 pro, 64 bit.

I have no clue what version of Win 8 (32 or 64 bit) originally came with the machine. I do wonder how the guy put an OEM HP Win 7 32 bit image with a recovery partition on the PC. Maybe the unit came with the ability to downgrade the OS? Using a 32 bit OS on a "Corporate" machine seems very odd. It was not a cheap machine.

One last question.

If I were to let the PC upgrade to Win 10, will I get a 32 or 64bit version? Is there a way to tell from the UEFI key? Does MS automatically give you 32 bit if the installed OS is 32 bit?

 

[AddRAM]

Yes you will get 32 bit, if I`m wrong someone correct me.

Do you have a Windows 7 Pro 64 bit install dvd ?

You have to install the same version that`s shown on your COA

What version is shown on the COA ? Is it Professional ?

 

[AddRAM]

Does MS automatically give you 32 bit if the installed OS is 32 bit?

Yes

You have to do a clean install if you want 64 bit.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[busaboyz]

The DVD images I use were originally on "Digital River". Never had an issue installing the various versions of Vista or Win 7 on the many machines I own. So if I want a 64 bit version of win 10 I need to update the OS anyway. It seems so odd that an HP i5 quad core machine meant for an office would have come with 32 bit OS. My cheapy Win 10 laptop with a krap processor is 64 bit.

 

[DavidE]

If the Win 7 key is an OEM SLP key you can't use it to clean install Win 7.
If the Win 7 key is an OEM COA key you can use it to clean install Win 7.

The MGADiag Tool will show you what type of key it is, and a download link is in this tutorial:
http://www.sevenforums.com/windows-...ne-activation-issue-posting-instructions.html

 

[busaboyz]

The clean install to Win 7 pro 64 bit went OK. Had to use the COA the guy gave me. The one loaded on the PC did not work. Still no idea how/why he loaded an OEM Win 7 pro 32 bit version with a recovery partition and all the HP tools versus 64 bit.

Debating if I will update to Win 10. I have it on multiple machines and have still not warmed up to it......