Hello everyone.

I'm tearing what little hair I have out at the moment.

Here's the deal.

I bought the Windows 7 Family upgrade (for 3 PCs). I've upgraded both laptops so far.

So today I went to upgrade the desktop (XP to 7).
Currently I've got xp 32-bit and, as I have memory over the 32-bit capabilities I wanted to upgrade it to 64-bit to take full advantage of my machine.

Current HD is 500GB and I need more space. So I've gone and bought a 1TB and an external casing, thinking that I could install Windows 7 64-bit on my new hard drive, then use the old HD as an external to copy all my files back.

So I installed the new HD, installed Windows and then when I got to the product code, it refused to accept it, saying it was invalid. Granted, this is the same product code I used to upgrade two laptops with the 32-bit disc. There is no separate code for the 64-bit disc. Should there be?

So I called "microsoft", which apparently is a chicken coop-style office somewhere in India or Pakistan by the sound of it. All they could do was robotically ask me for my activation code....which funnily enough I CAN"T GET YET!!!, then tell me that I had to call in the morning when the product activation department was open.

Can anybody tell me if I have done something wrong? Is it not accepting it because it is an upgrade product key and I installed it on a blank hard disc?

Also, now that Windows 7 64-bit is almost fully installed on my new hard disc, I can't even try to use it as an external drive. Windows XP can't recognise it, thus I can't reformat and try another option.

I've installed the 32-bit on the laptops. Does this fiasco mean that if the desktop is 64-bit then they won't be able to network?

I'm so confused....not a brilliant IT person but normally can find a workaround....but the "help" manual included is laughable as apparently a foetus is supposed to be able to install this thing. Nothing, apparently, should go wrong.

CRAP!!!! HELP!!!

on you pc does the new drive show up as a C Drive or as an external HDD?

oldpurple said:

It can't show up at all if I boot using the original XP drive.

It will boot Windows itself under 7 64-bit if I use it at the primary but won't go beyond the product key page.

connorhawke said:

When you installed the new drive was it an internal drive or an external drive?

oldpurple said:

I attempted to install it as the primary internal drive and then install the OS on it. I took out the original HD, installed the new one and booted with the new Windows disc to install from there.

I'm shit at this, I know.

I only asked as i have a external Tb HDD and it shows up as a expasion drive.

so its a clean install on on new drive?


Do you need to reformat the new drive first? with ep you dont need to as you can do this with the disk

Is your pc 32 bit or 64 bit as i dont think you can put a 64 bit on 32 bit? Ill have to ask a few people Im going to copy and paste your question and put it to some friends might be some time with one as they been on the Xmas week Drink!

hmmm not on windows 7 yet but i know a lot of people that are and they have not had any problems

if you put the xp drive back in the pc and boot to windows then connect the 1tb drive connected externally and use RUN from the start menu and type "compmgmt.msc" and hit enter you can use windows disc management to delete the partition and reformat the HD

as you have time on your hands you can try installing the 32bit version to the 1tb drive and see if that works

you could try cloning your current xp install to the 1tb drive, connect the 1tb internally and then run the win7 64bit upgrade and see if that does anything different

did the laptops have vista or xp? does the upgrade allow xp to win7 as an upgrade option?

first of all im going to need your system your are trying to upgrade ie

Cpu, MOBO,GCPU,sound card make and model numbers and memory size how much ram you have and HDD

unique said:

you cant load 64 bit onto a 32 bit system can you?

oldpurple said:

no, but see the link below, in particular the last part

http://www.winsupersite.c...ade_02.asp

don't delete the old partition before installing the upgrade, presumably win7 will read the old xp activation key during this process so it knows it's a valid upgrade, rather than a new clean install on a new pc

so it's a "custom" install you have to make. i'd still recommend backing everything up first by cloning the drive with a free disc cloner like paragon
[Edited 12/28/09 3:22am]

unique said:

It allows xp to win7 but not as an upgrade, only through external backup of files and settings and then a clean install. This was the reason I decided to take the opportunity to get a larger hdisc.

The laptops were both from vista, so it was an upgrade. Unfortunately for some reason it was unable to do an upgrade, so went with a clean install on both.

I'm currently now formatting the new drive through xp with a primary partition. Interestingly, it has WD software on it forcing the computer to recognise part of the disc as a CD-ROM so it can keep and use its own backup software. Hopefully I'll be able to delete all the contents and then remove that partition, but it's odd that it recognises it as a CD :tearsouthair:

Windows doesn't have full support for many drivers in the 64-bit configuration.

Your nic card may not work, and several of your peripherals might not work. Remember, when dealing with drivers, specifically on a Windows system, you're dealing with software that isn't protected by as much abstraction by the OS than if you were dealing with an office product. They take longer to write sometimes depending on the complexity of the driver.

Unless you're absolutely sure your laptop/desktop is ready to go, the 32bit system is what you'll need to stick to. You still get a performance boost from Vista to Windows7, though I'm told it's more modest or even slightly slower with upgrades from XP.

http://www.winsupersite.c..._media.asp

this link explains about clean installs using ugrade discs

connorhawke said:

use windows disc management in xp on your 500gb drive to delete all the partitions on the 1tb drive and then create a new primary partition and quick format it

then download and isntall http://www.easeus.com/dis...wnload.htm

clone your 500gb drive to the 1tb drive, so you have a working backup of everything, then put the 1tb drive in the pc internally and make sure xp boots and runs ok

then put the win7 64 bit disc in and choose custom install and it should work fine

Imago said:

if he clones his old drive first to the new drive and installs on that, if he has a problem with drivers he can reclone the old xp back to the 1tb drive and upgrade again using the 32 bit version

i'd suggest keeping the old drive as a backup until you are sure everything is working fine

Connor
heres the reply from my mate



So I installed the new HD, installed Windows and then when I got to the product code, it refused to accept it, saying it was invalid. Granted, this is the same product code I used to upgrade two laptops with the 32-bit disc. There is no separate code for the 64-bit disc. Should there be?

Windows 7 comes with both 32bit and 64bit, they both use the same code.

So I called "microsoft", which apparently is a chicken coop-style office somewhere in India or Pakistan by the sound of it. All they could do was robotically ask me for my activation code....which funnily enough I CAN"T GET YET!!!, then tell me that I had to call in the morning when the product activation department was open.

The Microsoft Activation line is all automated. What used to happen is, if it didn't activate online it would prompt you to call a number, with the number it gives you is an activation code, this is genterated wwhen you enter or if you entered your product key. Once you've gone through keying this in on a touch-tone phone, it reads one back. Either write it down or key it in as you go.

Can anybody tell me if I have done something wrong? Is it not accepting it because it is an upgrade product key and I installed it on a blank hard disc?

I think there are few methods of installing the upgrade version, what you might be experiencing is because you did and fresh install with a clean drive i.e. no previous windows install. There are ways round it. Read this, it might help your situation.... http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_ ... _media.asp

Also, now that Windows 7 64-bit is almost fully installed on my new hard disc, I can't even try to use it as an external drive. Windows XP can't recognise it, thus I can't reformat and try another option.

I'm totally confused here, aren't you using your old disc as an external harddrive in the new external casing? What has XP got to do with recognising anything when your installing Win7?
Why don't you either, put new disc in pc, install Win7. Once its up and running, plug in the old harddrive, copy off the files you need and format it fresh for storage?

I've installed the 32-bit on the laptops. Does this fiasco mean that if the desktop is 64-bit then they won't be able to network?

Means nothing, they will work together. 64bit is just written differently but works the same.
I'm so confused....not a brilliant IT person but normally can find a workaround....but the "help" manual included is laughable as apparently a foetus is supposed to be able to install this thing. Nothing, apparently, should go wrong.

CRAP!!!! HELP!!!


Hope this helps

Any help Conner?

Thank you so much everybody for th ehelp and suggestions. I've now finished cloning the old disk onto the new one (had no idea it would take 24 hours!!!!) and am about to upgrade the new disk with Windows 7. Fingers crossed.

So far everyone has been a fantastic help and I thank you all so much.

I'll let you know how it goes....hopefully no one else runs into the same problems but you're all obviously more tech-savvy than I!!!

connorhawke said:

it shouldn't take 24 hours to clone a drive. i can only imagine you've connected via USB 1.0 as even USB 2.0 should only take about 3 hours for a full 500gb drive

if you have to clone again, you would be much quicker to temporarily install both drives internally (using two seperate IDE cables if it's an IDE drive), unplugging your dvd drive temporarily if you are short of cables/channels