Final evaluation stage of Win 7x64 migration. HELP!

[jrdegaetano]

I want to thank this forum for bringing me as much help as it has on my troubles. I have done just about as much research as one person could do on the subject, and I am (fortunately for my nerves) coming to a fairly firm understanding of what I can/cannot should/should not do in regards to my situation. Here's what I am left with:

I am currently running Win Vista x32 on my Dell XPS 410. Here are the specs:

-Dell Dimension DXP061
-Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz 2.39 GHz (Number of processer cores: 4)
-4 GB Ram (PC2-5300 4X1GB Sticks with 2 dual channel slots)
-300 GB Internal Hard Drive
-NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS (Stock GFX Card died, and I replaced it with this less than a year ago)
-Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit (64-bit capable/compatible)
-Intel P965 Chipset

As you can tell, I have not been running this rig to it's full potential...and to be honest, I didn't even realize what it was capable of until about 1 week ago. Here's what I know I can do from here:

1) Install Win 7 x64 (Clean)
2) Install SDD Hard Drive and install W7 (Retail Copy) to new drive.
3) Install up to 8gb ram (with 99.9% certainty, regardless of what dell documentation and crucial says. I know the chipset I mentioned can support 8gb, I have seen countless posts of users with the same system running 8gb, and I can physically put 8gb ram in the system)

Bear in mind that as the amount of money it takes to effectively do what I have listed above goes up, the worth goes down. I purchased the machine in 2007 and the goal here is to optimize for less than it would cost to build a better system.

Now these are the only things that I am still struggling with:

1) Upgrade, Retail, or OEM - The popular suggestion to avoid any potential license related issues would be for me to buy the retail copy of Win7, as the independent liscense would prove valuable (and only then would Microsoft offer tech support from 32-bit to 64-bit install, per microsoft).

-Upgrade @ $100 - Now this really only becomes important when it comes down to looking ahead. If I buy the upgrade, it is my understanding that the $100 I spend on that software, will be eaten up by this machine and this machine alone...and that if anything were to happen where I needed to reboot from disc, I would have to start with Vista every time, then upgrade to Win7. This does not seem appealing.

-Retail @ $200 - This proves to be the best in regards to planning ahead, but the worst for cost effectiveness in the NOW, in relation to how much I am putting into an old machine.

-OEM @ $100 - Independent license, but I am again bound to this machine. (Is that correct?)

Now here is how I end up looking at this. If I spend the $100 to upgrade and it works, I just saved $100. If I spend $100 to upgrade and it doesn't work, I will spend another $100 on the OEM for my new build ($200, but potentially over time). If I plop down the $200 now, I won't have any problems until they release Windows 8 (seems like it could happen fairly soon).

Which option would you go with?

2) New HD: SSD or bigger, faster HDD - I will make this easy right now. In regards to budget, I am ONLY potentially interested in purchasing an SSD for the OS due to how expensive they are right now.

I have already spent $100 on an 1-TB on an external hard drive in preparation for this switch, and data storage in the future. Including this new external hard drive, I have a total of 1.5+ TB of space.

Would there be any point to having only an SSD big enough for OS and using old HDD for all applications and files?

At the end of the day, I am just looking for the best approach as far as spending goes. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[shadowdr]

You could try the OEM version that you have now in 64 bit. The key on your machine may or may not work, just can't really say for sure. You can go here and download the version you have and try it first. The key is not specific to 32 or 64 bit versions.

The OEM version will be tied to that machine if that is what you get but it is possible to upgrade the mobo ram video card and CPU and still activate the same key after a few weeks. I did that and it let me activate online after about two or three weeks, just kept trying till it worked.

As far as an SSD, yes worth every penny even if it is only big enough for the OS. I started with one for my OS and used a regular hard drive for program installs untill I could get another SSD to replace it and cloned it over, no problems.

Sorry about the first paragraph< I thought you had 7 already. I would defenitly get the OEM and install clean.

 

[jrdegaetano]

You could try the OEM version that you have now in 64 bit. The key on your machine may or may not work, just can't really say for sure. You can go here and download the version you have and try it first. The key is not specific to 32 or 64 bit versions.

The OEM version will be tied to that machine if that is what you get but it is possible to upgrade the mobo ram video card and CPU and still activate the same key after a few weeks. I did that and it let me activate online after about two or three weeks, just kept trying till it worked.

As far as an SSD, yes worth every penny even if it is only big enough for the OS. I started with one for my OS and used a regular hard drive for program installs untill I could get another SSD to replace it and cloned it over, no problems.

Sorry about the first paragraph< I thought you had 7 already.

I have seen that link floating around...it seems super shady. I get that what they've done is shared the ISO file for free...but when you do it through windows...don't you get an actual upgrade key?

I dunno...just seems kinda risky.

 

[shadowdr]

I have seen that link floating around...it seems super shady. I get that what they've done is shared the ISO file for free...but when you do it through windows...don't you get an actual upgrade key?

I dunno...just seems kinda risky.

Yes it is just the ISO. You must already have a key to use the disk so there is no mal intent. You can however change from 32 to 64 bit if you only got the 32 bit disk with your key, but it is the original build pre SP's so your original disk would have to be the same build #. You probably posted before I reread and added the edit, my bad.