Solved 64bit downgrade?

Z

zoinks89

New Member
Hello,
recently bought solidwork student edition which, as i now know, doesnt run on vista 64bit. It would be too expensive to buy the premium version of solidworks as im a student! The only option i can think of to get solidworks to run is to downgrade to 32bit OS, maybe business or ultimate. My CPU is running at 64bit. Will this still all work? Or any better ideas?

Thank you for any replies!

Andy
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP a6541.uk
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GS
    Hard Drives
    500GB
Hello Andy, and welcome to Vista Forums.

You can use the same product key number from your 64-bit Home Premium on the 32-bit Home Premium. The downside it that you will have to do a clean install to the 32-bit, and if you have over 4GB of RAM, then anything over 3.2GB will not be available.

If you have a OEM Vista, then you will need to order or download a 32- bit replacement CD/DVD from the OEM at their website.

If you have a retail Vista, then you can order the 32-bit CD from Microsoft for just S&H. If you have a friend that has a 32-bit DVD, then you can use it to install Vista Home Premium using your product key number instead.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Thank you for your reply.

I contacted HP and this is what i got in return...


"I understand from your email that you wish to receive 32-bit operating system as some of the softwares will not be compatible with 64-bit operating system.
I assure you my complete assistance and provide you all the information at my disposal.
Andrew, I would like to inform you that if you wish to have the 32-bit operating system on the PC you have to purchase the retail version of operating system.
I wish to inform you that the PC hardware compatible is built for 64 bit operating system. HP PCs are bundled with the latest software and hardware features.
Note: after installing a retail version of Vista Home Premium 32, the Recovery Partition will be lost.
The Recovery Partition on the computer contains the Back up of the Applications, Drivers and the Operating System. incase you have any issue with the computer and need to reset the computer back to Factory settings you can use this partition and perform the Recovery. You will not loose this Recovery (D) Partition if you perform recovery on the computer and reset the computer back to factory settings. "
Click to expand...

This backs up what i thought and what Brink said above. Do you reckon this is the best route to take? I suppose its my own choice if i need the software to work without buying the full solidworks software costing £200+.

This is the system requirements for the software i have and need to work!

System Requirements

  • Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional 32 Bit or Windows Vista™ 32 Bit (Windows Vista Ultimate, Business and Enterprise editions only)
  • Intel® Pentium®, Intel Xeon®, Intel Core™, AMD Athlon™, AMD Opteron™, or AMD Turion™ class processor
  • 512 MB RAM or greater required (512 MB to 1 GB or greater recommended)
  • 2.5 GB minimum available hard disk space
  • Pointing device
  • DVD drive
  • Internet Explorer 6.0 or later
  • Microsoft Excel 2000, 2002, or 2003 required for Bills of Material (BOM) or design tables
  • A tested OpenGL workstation graphics card and driver combination
I have everything except the OS. Although i have tried it on someones laptop and it works and they are using Home Premium 32bit, rather than the 32bit OS is suggests.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP a6541.uk
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GS
    Hard Drives
    500GB
Andy,

It is up to you if you wish to purchase a retail copy or not. If you do and want to save money, then you can get a upgrade version instead. I cannot believe that HP will not offer you an exchange with a 32-bit version instead using the same product key number that you have now.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/68767-clean-install-upgrade-vista.html
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
So if i purchased a Business 32bit OS and perform a clean install this should work fine? Also i have read in some places that you can partition your hard drive and install a different OS on each partition. Would this be too much effort? Baring in mind i dont have that much experience with computers.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP a6541.uk
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GS
    Hard Drives
    500GB
Yes, it should work fine then. If you do not delete your OEM 64-bit Vista recovery partition, you should be able to keep and use it later if you decide to reinstall it.

Yes, you can create new partitions (up to 4) on each hard disk to install a different OS on each one. You will just need to install the oldest OS (ex: XP) first, then the newest OS (ex: Vista) first.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/95398-disk-management-shrink-partition.html
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Thank you thank you thank you. Im sorry for being so much trouble!!

I think ive decided, i will buy a new vista, more than likely business 32bit. I will do a clean install and reinstall drivers etc. (HP have provided me a link for all the software for those). Also they have said to create backup cds from my existing vista, will these then be of the vista 64bit meaning i could do a system restore, if needed, and therefore reinstall the vista 64?

My pc has 4GB ram so unfortunately i will lose the .8GB of ram but ah well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP a6541.uk
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GS
    Hard Drives
    500GB
Yep. If you create a set of recovery CDs from your recovery partition, then you can use the CDs to reinstall the 64-bit Vista later if you like. You can then safely delete the recovery partition to regain that space for your hard drive. :)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Ahhhh thank you so much!!
One last question! I mean last! Dont worry hahaha.
I have Vista home premium 64bit, can i therefore buy ...

Software4Students: Microsoft Vista Business - Vista Business Software for Home Use

... that being an upgrade instead of the full version. Im presuming there is a difference, even if only in price, between an upgrade version and a full version? I dont really know! Theres so many different versions! What can vista home premium 64bit upgrade to? Confusing stuff!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP a6541.uk
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GS
    Hard Drives
    500GB

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
SOLVED! :D

Last night i found microsoft where doing the Vista Ultimate 32 bit OS for £40!! So i snapped that up, it was a download from their site and i also requested a backup cd from them for £9. I installed it this morning and have managed to keep my 64bit recovery drive and also put all old documents in a windows.old file, that was a fluke i dont know how i did it! Solidworks is working!!! Installed all my drives which HP gave me. But couldnt have done it without your advice!! Thank you! Ahh im so happy now!

Andy! :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP a6541.uk
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GS
    Hard Drives
    500GB
You're welcome Andy. I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted out with a low cost solution.

Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
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