arrowhead Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 I have a genuine disc with serial number for Vista Home Premium 64 bit which I bought by mistake and it will not work with some of my hardware.I recently built my mum a PC and bought a genuine version of Vista Home Basic 32 bit (which she requested).Could I use my mum's disc and my serial number to install Vista on my PC? I wouldn't mind if I only ended up with Home Basic as long as it was legal because I'm sick of looking at XP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamehead200 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Short answer: No.Longer answer: Serial numbers and different versions of Vista are not interchangeable, so it wouldn't work anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrowhead Posted May 22, 2009 Author Share Posted May 22, 2009 I didn't think so, oh well.Thank you gamehead200 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrf2027 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 I have a genuine disc with serial number for Vista Home Premium 64 bit which I bought by mistake and it will not work with some of my hardware.I recently built my mum a PC and bought a genuine version of Vista Home Basic 32 bit (which she requested).Could I use my mum's disc and my serial number to install Vista on my PC? I wouldn't mind if I only ended up with Home Basic as long as it was legal because I'm sick of looking at XP Let's break this down a little bit more. If you purchased Vista Home Premium 64-bit, and have a valid product key for Vista Home Premium, you should be able to use that valid product key to install Vista Home Premium 32-bit on your computer. Vista product keys are architecture-neutral - that is, you can install either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of whatever edition you purchased using that product key. MS makes it easy when you buy a retail copy of Vista Ultimate - you get both a 32-bit and a 64-bit disc in the box.Product keys are NOT edition-neutral, however - you cannot buy a copy of Vista Home Premium and use that product key to install Home Basic, for instance, even though it's technically a downgrade of Home Premium.Another thing to keep in mind - if you buy a copy of Vista either through retail or system builder OEM, in the box you get (1) a product key for the edition of Vista you purchased, and (2) a Vista intallation disc. The Vista installation disc should contain all editions of Vista on the disc for whatever system architecture is specified on the label - it's the product key you enter during installation that determines the edition of Vista you are entitled to install. For instance, when I got a retail copy of Vista Business 64-bit with SP1, the disc actually contains 64-bit Home Basic, 64-bit Home Premium, 64-bit Business, and 64-bit Ultimate. A 32-bit purchase gets you the Vista editions in 32-bit. (One caveat - if you purchase Vista with a new computer from a large manufacturer like Dell or Toshiba, you most likely won't get the full disk, you'll get the manufacturer's reinstallation disk which will only have the version of Vista you purchased on it.)You should be able to install Vista Home Premium 32-bit on your computer by using (1) the 32-bit Vista installation disc you got when you bought Home Basic 32-bit for your mom, assuming that the disc was either a retail or system builder OEM disc, and (2) using your Vista Home Premium 64-bit product key. If you have a valid 64-bit product key, you do not need to buy a 32-bit product key to install the same edition of Vista in 32-bit system architecture. You just need the 32-bit installation media. The reverse also applies - if you have a valid 32-bit product key, you do not need to buy a 64-bit product key to install the same edition of Vista in 64-bit architecture. You only need the 64-bit installation media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamehead200 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Let's break this down a little bit more. If you purchased Vista Home Premium 64-bit, and have a valid product key for Vista Home Premium, you should be able to use that valid product key to install Vista Home Premium 32-bit on your computer. Vista product keys are architecture-neutral - that is, you can install either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of whatever edition you purchased using that product key. MS makes it easy when you buy a retail copy of Vista Ultimate - you get both a 32-bit and a 64-bit disc in the box.Product keys are NOT edition-neutral, however - you cannot buy a copy of Vista Home Premium and use that product key to install Home Basic, for instance, even though it's technically a downgrade of Home Premium.Another thing to keep in mind - if you buy a copy of Vista either through retail or system builder OEM, in the box you get (1) a product key for the edition of Vista you purchased, and (2) a Vista intallation disc. The Vista installation disc should contain all editions of Vista on the disc for whatever system architecture is specified on the label - it's the product key you enter during installation that determines the edition of Vista you are entitled to install. For instance, when I got a retail copy of Vista Business 64-bit with SP1, the disc actually contains 64-bit Home Basic, 64-bit Home Premium, 64-bit Business, and 64-bit Ultimate. A 32-bit purchase gets you the Vista editions in 32-bit. (One caveat - if you purchase Vista with a new computer from a large manufacturer like Dell or Toshiba, you most likely won't get the full disk, you'll get the manufacturer's reinstallation disk which will only have the version of Vista you purchased on it.)You should be able to install Vista Home Premium 32-bit on your computer by using (1) the 32-bit Vista installation disc you got when you bought Home Basic 32-bit for your mom, assuming that the disc was either a retail or system builder OEM disc, and (2) using your Vista Home Premium 64-bit product key. If you have a valid 64-bit product key, you do not need to buy a 32-bit product key to install the same edition of Vista in 32-bit system architecture. You just need the 32-bit installation media. The reverse also applies - if you have a valid 32-bit product key, you do not need to buy a 64-bit product key to install the same edition of Vista in 64-bit architecture. You only need the 64-bit installation media.I stand corrected, in a way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrf2027 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 It's only taken me two years to finally figure it out...and I suppose something will change with 7 to make me go back to the drawing board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrowhead Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 Thank you jrf2027 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripredacus Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I never tried to figure it out. I merely track what the current part numbers we are using with what media. Like my XP SP2b CD I wrote "Use X14 COA" on it with a sharpie. But DSP and Retail isn't something I have to work with too much. I remember being really confused about CD Keys (or um serial numbers) when installing Windows 95 was still something that was done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotenks98 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I have a genuine disc with serial number for Vista Home Premium 64 bit which I bought by mistake and it will not work with some of my hardware.I recently built my mum a PC and bought a genuine version of Vista Home Basic 32 bit (which she requested).Could I use my mum's disc and my serial number to install Vista on my PC? I wouldn't mind if I only ended up with Home Basic as long as it was legal because I'm sick of looking at XP Let's break this down a little bit more. If you purchased Vista Home Premium 64-bit, and have a valid product key for Vista Home Premium, you should be able to use that valid product key to install Vista Home Premium 32-bit on your computer. Vista product keys are architecture-neutral - that is, you can install either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of whatever edition you purchased using that product key. MS makes it easy when you buy a retail copy of Vista Ultimate - you get both a 32-bit and a 64-bit disc in the box.Product keys are NOT edition-neutral, however - you cannot buy a copy of Vista Home Premium and use that product key to install Home Basic, for instance, even though it's technically a downgrade of Home Premium.Another thing to keep in mind - if you buy a copy of Vista either through retail or system builder OEM, in the box you get (1) a product key for the edition of Vista you purchased, and (2) a Vista intallation disc. The Vista installation disc should contain all editions of Vista on the disc for whatever system architecture is specified on the label - it's the product key you enter during installation that determines the edition of Vista you are entitled to install. For instance, when I got a retail copy of Vista Business 64-bit with SP1, the disc actually contains 64-bit Home Basic, 64-bit Home Premium, 64-bit Business, and 64-bit Ultimate. A 32-bit purchase gets you the Vista editions in 32-bit. (One caveat - if you purchase Vista with a new computer from a large manufacturer like Dell or Toshiba, you most likely won't get the full disk, you'll get the manufacturer's reinstallation disk which will only have the version of Vista you purchased on it.)You should be able to install Vista Home Premium 32-bit on your computer by using (1) the 32-bit Vista installation disc you got when you bought Home Basic 32-bit for your mom, assuming that the disc was either a retail or system builder OEM disc, and (2) using your Vista Home Premium 64-bit product key. If you have a valid 64-bit product key, you do not need to buy a 32-bit product key to install the same edition of Vista in 32-bit system architecture. You just need the 32-bit installation media. The reverse also applies - if you have a valid 32-bit product key, you do not need to buy a 64-bit product key to install the same edition of Vista in 64-bit architecture. You only need the 64-bit installation media.One minor nitpick if you do get media thats a real pressed dvd, you do get all the versions of vista. There is a file in the sources folder that is pid.txt. That has the serial number for the version thats labeled on the disk. Delete that file and reburn the dvd and you can install whatever edition of vista you have your serial for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrowhead Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 Just thought I'd report back to confirm that it worked, I am now using a "Genuine" 32 bit version of Vista Home Premium Thank you for helping me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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