Q regarding VB32/64 you get with business machines (8510w to be exact)

i was just wondering... hp gives you vb 32bit/64bit dvd(s) when you buy the rig, am i right? now, my question is this - suppose i decide to use 32bit ver for the moment being, as i won't have the 4gb of ram from the start... i might get second 2gb stick somewhere in the future if i decide that 2gb are not enough. plus, i'll need to use some really old software that's a tad uncooperative with 64bit systems (checked on my desktop). however in a few months i won't be needing that software and i might get the 2nd stick of ram thus prefering to switch to a 64bit system. is it legal/possible to (of course after reformat and fresh install) use the key i get with the rig on 64bit version once i register it earlier with 32bit one? of course i won't be using both versions at the same time - it's either 32bit or 64bit...

i asked the q through mail, but neither M$ nor HP customer service responded... when i called hp customer service i got redirected to nearly 5 "technicians" but the answer was all the same -> "dunno" ;/

 

I believe Vista Business OEM has separate keys for 32-bit and 64-bit.

The only platform that has unified keys is Vista Ultimate Retail.
(Ultimate OEM has separate keys for 32-bit and 64-bit).

Summary: 'Legally' you have to pick 32 or 64, and stick w/ it. Limitation of OEM license agreements.
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I can confirm you cannot change the 'bitness' once you choose it.

 

yep , you might wanna consider buying that second ram stick.

what i´m wondering about is the software you need to run. if it is 32 bit it actually should run. the 32 bit emulation of xp64 is very good, and so should be the emulation under vista 64. i think 16 bit is not supported anymore, so if you are trying to run some old 16 bit software that will most likely not work.

 

Does this mean I cannot reformat and install Vista 64 after I've installed Vista 32? That seems stupid since my 8510p came installed with Vista 32 in which I tried for a couple hours and then decided to format and install XP and now I'm dual booting Vista 32 and XP. But I wanna give Vista 64 a try.

 

If the 8510w comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions on the hard drive you can always image the hard drive before you start the 8510w for the first time. Then if you change your mind and want to swap to 64-bit you only have to put the image back.

 

actually u can do a clean install of 32 bit or 64 bit. my friend got a 8510w back in november and got both oem install dvds. it doesnt require you to enter any keys at all, as they are oem and the keys are on the disk, so that it automatically selects the business version of vista. and according to my knowledge, ALL versions of vista have cdkeys that work for both 64 bit and 32 bit (but only for that version ie. home, business, ultimate) and i have checked this. after 'browsing' the oems disk, i found the file which contains the oem info and the cdkeys, and for both the 32bit install disk and 64bit install disk, the files are exactly the same.

this is all assuming hp didnt change what they include with their 8510w in the past 5 months.

 

these are my plans... unfortunately i got my money wrongly invested on the stock-exchange (damn bessa ;( ) so it won't happen anytime soon after buying the rig.

well as i said - i have the vista 32 and 64 installed on my desktop (i need to as i'm developping software for all kinds of windows OS - i'm the "tester") and i know that most 32bit software works fine, but we're using some 16bit soft as well - mostly some installers and low-level applications - but my contract ends this september...

 

I can confirm that you can do a clean install of either version, as people have said.