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No, but you can’t use both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions on different systems.

Does this mean the original 32 bit license will allow the original 32 bit Win 7 system to be again upgraded to 64 bit Win 7 and that there will be no hiccoughs when it attempts to validate at Microsoft?

I do understand that a clean install will be required and I do understand that it must be the same system.

I upgraded from Vista to Win 7 32 bit but am now considering doing an upgrade to 64 bit Win 7 on that same system. In my case, I have a three license “Family Pack” copy but I need all three licenses and want to be certain this upgrade to 64 bit will not consume an additional license.

All earlier versions of Windows are eligible for the “Upgrade” version (and price). It is my understanding anyway that all copies are identical and that whether you do an in-place upgrade or a clean install is determined by the version you are coming from. The only in-place upgrade possible is from Vista to Win 7 and then only 32 bit to 32 bit or 64 bit to 64 bit. All other upgrades must be from a genuine copy of Windows and must be a clean install. The only time you need buy a full version is when installing on a system such as a home build.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1521, which is very similar to the 1520, along with a desktop so I bought the three license family pack and I can assure you it contains two disks – one for a 64 bit upgrade and one for 32 bit upgrades. There is only a single license number and your system automatically goes online shortly after the upgrade to register the license. I have upgraded both my desktop and my laptop. Both registered automatically without problems.

I elected to upgrade the desktop first, a Acer M5620 with a Core 2 Quad 6600 processor, and I elected to upgrade to 32 bits and did an upgrade in place. The upgrade went without a hitch and only one problem showed up after the upgrade. It was significant. I was unable to exercise any admin functions that required Admin. capabilities, like add accounts etc., even though I was signed on to the Admin account and everything appeared normal otherwise. A call to the free Microsoft support found the problem quickly even though I was the first to report iy. It turns out a file that is part of Norton 360 was the problem. It was called (I think) NortonUAC and was a portion of the suite that worked with the Vista UAC. Anyway, the solution was as simple as deleting the file. I would be very surprised if you had any hardware incompatibilities coming from Vista and you must be coming from Vista in order to be eligible for an in-place upgrade.

As I said, I upgraded a 32 bit Vista to 32 bit Win 7, although I now wish I had gone to 64 bit. While that would have required a clean install, the Photoshop PS4 that I recently purchased would benefit from 64 bit. I may still be able to upgrade to 64 bit but I am unsure if it will consume another license or not.

The Dell 1521 went equally smoothly and I already knew the solution to the Admin. problem.

In both cases, I made complete system disk clones to my NAS drives using Acronis along with a bootable CD so I would have been able to do a complete restore had I run unto problems.

I still have one license and am considering buying a netbook that still has XP on it so I can upgrade it to the full Win 7.

In terms of reliability, I have found it to be nearly as stable as Vista which was rock solid from day one. I now believe the occasional crash on Win 7 have been due to a faulty SD chip that I have been using as Readyboost. At least, I have had zero problems since removing it.

In terms of speed, both my systems were bought with Vista on them so I can only compare Win 7 to Vista. Win 7 is very noticeably faster at shutdown and startup, particularly starting from Hibernate. Other than that, they are so close that a human cannot detect any difference but I understand benchmarks give Win 7 an edge.

As was pointed out, any manufacturer supplied software will disappear. Most will not be missed but the recovery partitions, common on production systems, will become useless, although it doesn’t disappear.