Dual Boot Win 7 32bit & 64bit with One Key?

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ChadVader

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Alright, so I'm going to upgrade from XP Pro to Win 7 Premium. From what I understand you can do a clean install and choose 32 bit or 64 bit.

My question is, are you allowed to dual boot both 32 and 64 bit versions at the same time?

If you're not allowed to, can I uninstall 64 bit then install 32 bit? Or am I stuck with 64 bit forever?

Thanks
 
Nope. Well, technically you can do it, for a limited period of time because you won't be able to activate the same key twice in that manner. You'll figure it out...
 
Ditch the 32-bit. I went from XP Pro to Ultimate 64-bit and it was smooth. If an app won't run, it's the app's fault, not Windows. Typically the installer thinks, "Hey, this is 64-bit. I can't work with it," even though Windows 7 runs 32-bit apps just fine.
 
Why would you ever want to dual boot the same OS?

You also don't get to choose which platform...that's dictated by the disc you have, although your key will work with either (just one at a time).

That being said, this is the second half of 2009. Install the x64 version and be done with it.
 
Any particular need for the 32-bit version? Almost everything works in 64-bit and of the small percentage that won't, XP mode will cover most of that.
 
GotNoRice said:
Any particular need for the 32-bit version? Almost everything works in 64-bit and of the small percentage that won't, XP mode will cover most of that.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing DOS apps or old 32-bit apps that use 16-bit installers, both which will refuse to run on x64 versions of Windows. XP mode will take care of that hitch so no need to have a 32-bit version and 64-bit version of Windows 7 installed side by side.
 
XP Mode only applies if the OP's machine has VT-x support, which is not always the case. If that's the situation, there's always VirtualBox (or VMWare but I don't recommend it). VirtualBox is far lighter on resources and simpler to manage/set up for most than VMWare could ever be.
 
I gotta say Joe, I played around with XP mode after you suggested it a while back and I have been increasingly impressed each time I need to use it. It ended up saving my ass when I needed to run a really old app and its amazing how seamless it is once once the app is installed.
 
Joe Average said:
XP Mode only applies if the OP's machine has VT-x support, which is not always the case. If that's the situation, there's always VirtualBox (or VMWare but I don't recommend it). VirtualBox is far lighter on resources and simpler to manage/set up for most than VMWare could ever be.
Click to expand...

Microsoft Virtual PC is free and it works very well. In this day and age there is really very few reasons I can think of to use the 32bit version of the OS. I can't think of any reasons for a home user to use it.
 
DeaconFrost said:
You also don't get to choose which platform...that's dictated by the disc you have, although your key will work with either (just one at a time).
Click to expand...

Not true. The retail version of Vista came with both 32bit and x64 Editions.
 
32bit is no longer necessary. vista has already been shipping in x64bit flavor for awhile now on new laptops. all win7 systems will come preinstalled with 64bit. if you actually have hardware that doesnt support 64bit by now, its a bad manufacturer and you should never buy from them again.
 
Dan_D said:
Microsoft Virtual PC is free and it works very well. In this day and age there is really very few reasons I can think of to use the 32bit version of the OS. I can't think of any reasons for a home user to use it.
Click to expand...

Not sure what the point of that post was, Dan... :confused:

At first I thought you were pointing out the OP should use VirtualPC meaning VirtualPC 2007 which could have issues and is totally unsupported on Windows 7. Vista? Yes. Windows 7? Forget it.

I just grabbed VirtualPC 2007 (x64 version since I'm running Windows 7 x64) from the download page at:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...02-3199-48A3-AFA2-2DC0B40A73B6&displaylang=en

and so far it seems to be working ok. But Windows Virtual PC (note the difference in the naming) is for Windows 7, and won't even install unless the CPU has VT-x support and it's enabled in the BIOS.

I think we're tripping over each other's words at this point so I'll shut up. The basic gist is:

- if the OP doesn't have VT-x support, then his options are VirtualPC 2007 (old, unsupported, lacking a lot of features, not worth messing around with if Windows 7 is the host OS), VirtualBox (much better support, especially if VT-x actually is available, USB, and tons of other things that are far far better than VirtualPC 2007 ever was), or VMWare (the beast of all the VMs, resource hungry, leaves stuff running even when it's not, but does most anything)

- if the OP does have VT-x support, then Windows Virtual PC is the requirement for XP Mode and the recommended VM to use for such purposes. VirtualBox and VMWare are still potentials, but if all the OP needs is XP, XP Mode truly is the best solution on Windows 7.

BLEH. I'll shut up now... ;)
 
Right, so then I stand by my comments earlier, that the platform is governed by the disc you use.
 
Dan_D said:
Not true. The retail version of Vista came with both 32bit and x64 Editions.
Click to expand...

FoxhoundOp said:
That's only Vista Ultimate retail. The versions below it come in one or the other, though the key works in either.
Click to expand...


ALL retail versions of Vista come/came with both 32-bit and 64-bit install entitlement. Vista Ultimate comes/came with both install disks in the pack. For the other versions the 32-bit disk was included in the pack, along with details of how to obtain the alternate install media (free disk, but postage/handling costs apply).



To the OP. Yes, it's possible to have both installs operating as dual-boot. It's not legally valid to do so using just the one license/install key however, so it'd be an abuse/breach of license. Install one after the other and both will install.accept the install key, and a dual-boot configuration/menu will be created. If the secondary install is put in place soon after the first, then automatic activation will almost certainly fail for it, and you'd have to activate that secondary install manually, over the telephone.


The legality/legitimacy issue is, arguably, a rather petty point of legal detail. It's quite difficult to imagine that Microsoft would ever prosecute because of such a breach. The intent of the legal condition is to prohibit people from using the license twice or more concurrently, and if two installs are configured as dual-boot then both can't really be used concurrently. Funny point? If you ring in to manually activate that secondary install, the relevent question asked will be "Is this copy of Windows only on the one machine?" The truthful answer, of course, will be "Yes".


Oh! And the license agreement doesn't actually explicitly refer to dual-booting configurations. It explicitly prohibits virtualisation, where the secondary install could quite obviously be used concurrently with the first. But there's no direct mention of dual-boot or multi-boot scenarios.
 
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