Upgrade from 32 bit to 64

Hello, I bought a Lenovo G460 laptop from Malaysia back in 2010, and now I live in the Philippines. The rig came with Intel i3 processor, 2gb of ram and a pre-installed/activated copy of windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit OS with a sticker on the bottom for windows 7 activation key, The package did not include a windows 7 installation disc.

Now I have recently bought and installed another 2gb of RAM and would want to upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit to fully utilize all of my available RAM and for dual-channeling.

I have a friend with a windows 7 Home premium installation disc, It can install both 32 and 64 and I plan on doing a clean reinstall of windows 7 Home premium.

For my question:
1. Can I use the licence key at the back of my laptop to activate my clean-install Win7 Home premium 64 bit installed from my friend's CD?

2. I downloaded "System Information for Windows" (siw), under the licences section, it shows a different "Product Key" from that in the sticker in the back of my laptop, Can I use that instead?

3. If windows reject one of my product key, do I need to re-install windows 7 before I try and activate a new one? (if the need to purchase a fresh copy of Win 7 arises).

4. If and when his installation disc technique does not work, what can I do aside from buying a new copy of windows 7, or downloading anything illegal.

Much Thanks.

Hi tagyawat2003 and welcome to Windows Seven Forums. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but what your describing is actually pirating and Seven Forums doesn't condone that. Besides that, if you buy a registered copy of Windows 7 64 bit you will be able to register and get updates without worry. There may be others here that may suggest a different approach, which will make it a choice for you to make. Good Luck :)

Yes you can use the product code on the COA sticker on the back of your laptop to install the 64 bit version. The windows 7 product code is good for 32 bit or 64 bit, its your choice and you can switch from one to the other if you wish. The only thing your locked into is the version. If the product code is for Home Premium, thats what you will have to install. If you install any other version the product code will be rejected. Its not uncommon for the product code used to install Windows on an OEM PC to be different from the one on the sticker. Its the way the install media (image) is created. I'd use the one on the sticker. Don't panic if it doesn't activate on line, that product code likely was never used before. Just use the activate by phone option, tell them what you did and they should give you a code to type in to activate. Lots of people have done what you are contemplating and there is nothing illegal about it as long as you use your product code.

alphanumeric said:

Yes you can use the product code on the COA sticker on the back of your laptop to install the 64 bit version. The windows 7 product code is good for 32 bit or 64 bit, its your choice and you can switch from one to the other if you wish. The only thing your locked into is the version. If the product code is for Home Premium, thats what you will have to install. If you install any other version the product code will be rejected. Its not uncommon for the product code used to install Windows on an OEM PC to be different from the one on the sticker. Its the way the install media (image) is created. I'd use the one on the sticker. Don't panic if it doesn't activate on line, that product code likely was never used before. Just use the activate by phone option, tell them what you did and they should give you a code to type in to activate. Lots of people have done what you are contemplating and there is nothing illegal about it as long as you use your product code.

Just for my own information, if this person bought a computer with just 32bit and should be able to go up to 64bit, should there not be a way for him to do it without having to borrow someone else's installation disc? Just curious.

alfred01 said:

Just for my own information, if this person bought a computer with just 32bit and should be able to go up to 64bit, should there not be a way for him to do it without having to borrow someone else's installation disc? Just curious.

To go from 32 bit to 64 bit you have to re-install windows. You have to do a clean install. What you actually pay Microsoft for is the license to use windows. You're paying for the product code and the right to use it. If you buy a Retail copy of Windows 7 off of the shelf you get 32 bit and 64 bit install media, but only one product code. It's your choice which one you use and you can switch back and forth if you wish. You just can't use that product code on more than one PC at a time. If you buy an OEM version on line you have to chose if you want the 32 bit or 64 bit DVD, you only get one DVD. The product code is still good for 32 bit or 64 bit but you only get the one DVD. If you want to switch from one to the other you will have to get your hands on the other DVD you didn't get. In OP's case his laptop probably didn't come with any install media. You burn a recovery disk set to use if you need to re-install. The only problem with that is its only good for the original 32 bit version of windows 7 that the laptop came with from the factory. You can't use it to install the 64 bit version. You're back to finding a 64 bit DVD that matches your version or making a universal install disk from another version. The other draw back to the recovery disk set is it installs all the bloatware bundled with the PC. There are countless threads on the subject of doing a clean install with borrowed media to get ride of the bloatware. There is nothing illegal about copying somebody else's windows 7 DVD and using your legal product code from the COA sticker on that PC.

alphanumeric said:

alfred01 said:

Just for my own information, if this person bought a computer with just 32bit and should be able to go up to 64bit, should there not be a way for him to do it without having to borrow someone else's installation disc? Just curious.

To go from 32 bit to 64 bit you have to re-install windows. You have to do a clean install. What you actually pay Microsoft for is the license to use windows. You're paying for the product code and the right to use it. If you buy a Retail copy of Windows 7 off of the shelf you get 32 bit and 64 bit install media, but only one product code. It's your choice which one you use and you can switch back and forth if you wish. You just can't use that product code on more than one PC at a time. If you buy an OEM version on line you have to chose if you want the 32 bit or 64 bit DVD, you only get one DVD. The product code is still good for 32 bit or 64 bit but you only get the one DVD. If you want to switch from one to the other you will have to get your hands on the other DVD you didn't get. In OP's case his laptop probably didn't come with any install media. You burn a recovery disk set to use if you need to re-install. The only problem with that is its only good for the original 32 bit version of windows 7 that the laptop came with from the factory. You can't use it to install the 64 bit version. You're back to finding a 64 bit DVD that matches your version or making a universal install disk from another version. The other draw back to the recovery disk set is it installs all the bloatware bundled with the PC. There are countless threads on the subject of doing a clean install with borrowed media to get ride of the bloatware. There is nothing illegal about copying somebody else's windows 7 DVD and using your legal product code from the COA sticker on that PC.

Oh, I see. Thank You for taking the time to pass along that info to me. :)

Thanks a lot guys, that clears things up. Now for the fun part. I have so many old programs installed, gonna do a check list of what will and will nor work on 64 bit win 7. . So thanks again for the prompt and concise replies.

May I suggest a FAQ about windows licenses and activation here? For dummies like me.

The "can I switch from 32 to 64 or 64 to 32 and use my same product code" gets asked a lot. There might be a sticky for that, haven't looked yet myself. I only just got up and I'm just starting on my first cup of coffee.

64 bit Windows 7 can run 32 bit apps so most if not all of your programs should work OK. Use 64 bit versions where you can but don't sweat it if you can't find a 64 bit version. Drivers for your hardware is a bigger concern. If you have an old printer scanner or all-in-one that doesn't have 64 bit drivers it could be a pain. You can't use the 32 version version for drivers, it has to be 64 bit. Other than that it shouldn't be a big deal other than installing everything all over again. I have everything on thumb drives now, and that really speeds things up.

USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create
Clean Install Windows 7