Did I just make a mistake regarding future Win 7 upgrade ???

[schmidtj]

My original plan was to wait until Lenovo pre installs Windows 7 on the W700.
It doesn't appear this will happen in the timeframe I require.
I ordered a W700 with Vista Business 32 due to existing driver limitations and availability.
This machine is eligible for the "Free" Windows 7 upgrade to Windows 7 Professional.
Now the "rub".
It appears the W700 only supports Windows 7 Professional 64bit.
So what am I to do?
When the machine arrives and I order the "Free" Windows 7 upgrade will I even be able to order the 64 bit version upgrade seeing as the machine came with the 32bit version of Vista Business?
It seems this could become a "Catch 22".
So I guess my basic question is "Does the Free Windows 7 upgrade allow you to upgrade to 64bit Win 7 from 32bit Vista"?
I've searched the Lenovo and MS site but no mention is given to this scenario.
Tnx.

[dr_st]

1) You should have ordered Vista64. 32bit is a waste of time, and "existing driver limitations" were sorted out a while ago for virtually everything worth talking about.
2) As far as I understand, you can only upgrade 32bit to 32bit. At least for Business.
3) W700 should work fine with Win7 32bit.

[proaudioguy]

1) You should have ordered Vista64. 32bit is a waste of time, and "existing driver limitations" were sorted out a while ago for virtually everything worth talking about.
2) As far as I understand, you can only upgrade 32bit to 32bit. At least for Business.
3) W700 should work fine with Win7 32bit.

1) WRONG. There is a great deal of PROFESSIONAL gear out there that continues to work flawlessly but the manufacturer has moved on to new products. They offer support for repairs but they aren't going to put another dime into software dev to keep up with whatever flavor of the week OS comes out. It makes no fiscal sense to throw away gear that costs from $2000. to $200,000. (or more) just because the computer and OS makers want to make more money from consumers. Backward compatibility is a must but computer technology moves along SO fast it's difficult even if they intended on it.

Windows users are not alone here. Apple just broke an $800. software with the release of Snow Leopard and this has nothing to do with the driver issue we are discussing.

All is not lost. It is entirely possible that MS has implemented the XP compatibility to support XP32 on Windows 7 64. Also I don't think you have to upgrade to 32 Bit, but you may or may not have to do a clean fresh install to get to 64 bit.

Casual computer users may not understand the situation. What it comes down to is most of the users out there are casual users or business users that need OFFICE and EMAIL and that's pretty much it. The rest of us are at their mercy or we have to pay an enormous amount of money for something custom built with an embedded OS. The solution is to continue to use XP until your gear is updated or the software for the gear is updated. This can mean for some carrying an older computer. I still carry a computer with Serial (RS232) ports for this reason. I know many have mixed results with USB adapters, but I can't afford "mixed" results. I need a native serial port for a while longer, but it's getting better. Many of my clients have moved on to gear that now has ethernet communication. This opens up a world of possibilities for people in my field. In the last few years, you may have noticed someone mixing a band on a Tablet PC as they walk around the venue!

[gburnore]

1) You should have ordered Vista64. 32bit is a waste of time, and "existing driver limitations" were sorted out a while ago for virtually everything worth talking about.
2) As far as I understand, you can only upgrade 32bit to 32bit. At least for Business.
3) W700 should work fine with Win7 32bit.

Sure, if you never plan on having more than 3g ram. If I didn't care about wasting 5 of the 8g available, I'd have stayed with XP until 7 arrives.

Remember, 64 bit Win still runs most 32 bit apps in 32 bit mode. Sure, some extremely old things don't work but they usually fail in XP too. (Keyword usually, I know some die with Vista)

[QFoam]

From the horse's (Microsoft's) mouth:


32-bit and 64-bit Windows: Frequently asked questions (for Windows 7)

Can I upgrade from a 32-bit version of Windows to a 64-bit version of Windows?

No. If you are currently running a 32-bit version of Windows, you can only perform an upgrade to another 32-bit version of Windows. Similarly, if you are running a 64-bit version of Windows, you can only perform an upgrade to another 64-bit version of Windows.

If you want to move from a 32-bit version of Windows to a 64-bit version of Windows, you'll need to back up your files and then perform a Custom installation of the 64-bit version of Windows. For more information, see Installing and reinstalling Windows (for Windows 7).

Can I run 32-bit programs on a 64-bit computer?

Most programs designed for a computer running a 32-bit version of Windows will work on a computer running 64-bit versions of Windows. Notable exceptions are many antivirus programs, and some hardware drivers.

Drivers designed for 32-bit versions of Windows don't work on computers running a 64-bit version of Windows. If you're trying to install a printer or other device that only has 32-bit drivers available, it won't work correctly on a 64-bit version of Windows.

[barrywohl]

First of all, I have the utmost respect for the previous responders in this thread. QFoam is one of my heroes.

Second of all, I am sure you can get to where you want to go without too much trouble. Check out this website:

http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_ ... _media.asp

Third of all, read your licenses.

Fourth of all, I've been using Vista x64 and now Windows 7 x64 on my two less mission critical and more fun oriented laptops for about two years. All of the fun 32 bit software I try to run, runs fine. Having the extra ram above 3 gb is enough of a reason to want 64 bit operating systems.

That being said, all of my health care work applications run on ten and fifteen year old operating systems (AIX from 1995 and Windows 2000 Server from 1999).

[schmidtj]

Maybe I didn't phrase my original question correctly.
Conclusions on my part and please correct me if I am wrong.
1) The W700 is orderable today with Windows XP (Vista downgrade), Vista (2 flavors) in 32bit or 64bit.
2) The W700 ordered with Vista (any flavor) is eligible for the Free Windows 7 Upgrade.
3) The only version of Windows 7 supported on the W700 is 64bit (Win 7 Pro). <<< is this right?
4)So if the machine is ordered with Vista (Business) 32bit there really is no supported Free Upgrade to windows 7 since 32bit Windows 7 is not supported.

??

[loyukfai]

3) The only version of Windows 7 supported on the W700 is 64bit (Win 7 Pro). <<< is this right?

Don't think so. Who told you that?

[schmidtj]

Don't think so. Who told you that?

Just about every 64Bit Windows 7 driver here:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... idate=true
Says:
Notes:
*1: ThinkPad W700, W700ds support the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional edition only.

[loyukfai]

I see. Some of the drivers and utilities for Windows 7 are, at least currently, available for the 64-bit version only.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-70498

Could it be that the 32-bit drivers are just not yet released? Anyway, I think you may also check out the Lenovo forums or contact Lenovo support directly for more information.

Cheers.

[proaudioguy]

Maybe I didn't phrase my original question correctly.
Conclusions on my part and please correct me if I am wrong.
1) The W700 is orderable today with Windows XP (Vista downgrade), Vista (2 flavors) in 32bit or 64bit.
2) The W700 ordered with Vista (any flavor) is eligible for the Free Windows 7 Upgrade.
3) The only version of Windows 7 supported on the W700 is 64bit (Win 7 Pro). <<< is this right?
4)So if the machine is ordered with Vista (Business) 32bit there really is no supported Free Upgrade to windows 7 since 32bit Windows 7 is not supported.

??

3) Is this an issue?
4) You may not be able to UPGRADE the software directly from 32bit to 64bit but you can certainly save your data and perform a clean install of 64bit with the same license. SO if 64bit Win7 will work, you can certainly get there from here. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. The point is, the upgrade license is good, how you get the upgrade installed is another issue.

[schmidtj]

Actually the issue is since Lenovo will sell you a W700 with Vista 32bit installed I would think there would be a way to install the 32bit upgrade on the same machine but (the way I interpret it) the W700 isn't supported with Win 7 32bit so you can't use the Free upgrade.

FWIW, I changed my order (cancelled and reordered) to a W700 with Vista Business 64 bit.

[proaudioguy]

Actually the issue is since Lenovo will sell you a W700 with Vista 32bit installed I would think there would be a way to install the 32bit upgrade on the same machine but (the way I interpret it) the W700 isn't supported with Win 7 32bit so you can't use the Free upgrade.

FWIW, I changed my order (cancelled and reordered) to a W700 with Vista Business 64 bit.

You can upgrade to Win 7 64, you just can't stick the CD in and click INSTALL. You have to work a little tiny bit harder. Most people would much rather do a clean install anyway so I don't see it as that big a deal. It's a bit of a hassle but most people are used to this sort of thing from MS. Had Lenovo made 32 bit drivers for 7, would you be happy to use the 32bit version? You would be limited to less ram on this monster machine you just ordered. Maybe I'm missing your point.

[loyukfai]

I think the issue is that, the Windows 7 upgrade discs from the vendors contain only either the 32-bit or 64-bit version, depending on what came with your PC originally.

IIRC, I read that the same serial no. can be used for both 32-bit and 64-bit version. So even in case you got the 32-bit version only, you can get from another mean the 64-bit version and "upgrade" with the serial no. from the vendor. (Anyone has first hand knowledge?)

Whether that is a sound practice in terms of legality, I have no idea. The EULA is so long that I seldom read past the first few characters.

Cheers.

[proaudioguy]

I think the issue is that, the Windows 7 upgrade discs from the vendors contain only either the 32-bit or 64-bit version, depending on what came with your PC originally.

IIRC, I read that the same serial no. can be used for both 32-bit and 64-bit version. So even in case you got the 32-bit version only, you can get from another mean the 64-bit version and "upgrade" with the serial no. from the vendor. (Anyone has first hand knowledge?)

Whether that is a sound practice in terms of legality, I have no idea. The EULA is so long that I seldom read past the first few characters.

Cheers.

Oh I see. My understanding with Vista was that ALL versions were on the DVD and you installed the one that you wanted (or that your license worked for) whether it was 32bit or 64bit, Basic or Ultimate. I figured WIndows 7 was the same way since it makes so much sense.

[loyukfai]

Have the 32-bit and 64-bit versions ever been on the same disc?

[proaudioguy]

Does this help?

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-73783

[Aroc]

Hello -

I don't know if I'd blame the O/S vendors as much regarding esoteric or exotic 3rd party hardware. It's not like these vendors can't get developer previews of these O/S up to a year or more prior to the O/S's general release. It just seems the 3rd party vendors either lack the resources to port the drivers or perhaps they simply don't care?

I have to support a number of systems (often with peripherals that originally cost $20,000-80,000) that need to use the following:

MS-DOS
Windows 95 (vendor won't support Windows 98 for this hardware, let alone Windows XP or 7!!)
PCs with ISA bus cards
Windows NT 4.0 (no later driver available, and the software doesn't run on Windows 2000 or XP)
Windows 2000 via some dependency

It's unbelievable. At least I was able to get rid of two of the Win95 systems as well as the last remaining OS/2 system. Total cost for those three was $44k+$800+$20k. So I feel your pain.

[proaudioguy]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about. My situation is not as bad as yours, but I totally relate. Manufacturer says, it still works as designed. Why would they pay to re-write software for a product they don't even make anymore?

Last night I told my buddy to hold off on Win 7 64 because his industry standard $600 2 channel mic preamp would not work since they have not made any updated drivers for it. They are working on a fix though,...a replacement product that will have compatible drivers!

[Proteus]

What application do you have that won't work on Win 7 x64?
Just curious..because so far, its been flawless on everything from photo and video editing, to gaming, to development and general business.. Win7 simply runs circles XP, especially with an SSD.

[proaudioguy]

I was going to send you links to the discontinued products but the first place I checked has taken them off the website.

Not sure why everyone that uses computers for everyday tasks questions this every time it comes up.

BSS OmniDrive 388
BSS Omni Drive 355
XTA DP2xx (several models)
dbx Drive Rack 480
JBL DSC 260 and 280
EAW MX8750

The list is a mile long. There is NOTHING wrong with any of these products. They do what they were designed to do, but the manufacturers have moved on to bigger and better products using more current technology available. This doesn't mean these products are thrown away. We still need to talk to them via Serial, or MIDI interface. We still need to run the software apps that talk to them.

The Sound Devices USB Pre as well as many other audio I/O devices do not have 64 bit drivers. Smaart Live 5.4 does not run in 64bit.

On a more personal note, Virtual Pool 2 and 3 both fail to install.

Do you need more examples? Have you ever heard of any of these? Probably not. Photoshop is VERY main stream compared to these. Like I said this is a very small partial list just from my industry. I do not have time to be more thorough and even if I did that would not cover other industries.

[loyukfai]

Just wondering... If you run 32-bit Windows in virtual machine under 64-bit Windows, will 32-bit only devices and programs work...?