Windows Vista Editions - Upgrading

Upgrading

Users can sometimes upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, or upgrade from one version of Windows Vista to another. However, not all potential upgrade combinations exist. The accompanying chart indicates the possible upgrade paths:

Note: If a user is running a 32-bit version of Windows, a user can only upgrade to another 32-bit version: to upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit requires a clean install.

	Vista Starter Edition	Vista Home Basic	Vista Home Premium	Vista Business	Vista Ultimate	Vista Enterprise
XP Starter Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XP Home	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XP Professional	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
XP Media Center 2005	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
XP Media Center 2004	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
XP Media Center 2002	No	No	No	No	No
XP Tablet PC	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
XP Professional x64	No	No	No	No	No
XP Embedded	No	No	No	No	No
Vista Starter Edition	Re-install repair installation or clean install				Yes
Vista Home Basic		Repair installation or clean install	Yes		Yes
Vista Home Premium			Repair installation or clean install		Yes
Vista Business				Repair installation or clean install	Yes	Yes
Vista Ultimate					Repair installation or clean install
Vista Enterprise					Yes	Repair installation or clean install

Key:

In-place installation option available. Requires clean install.

Notes

• As a comparison, neither Windows 2000 nor XP can upgrade to any edition of Windows 7.
• No version of Windows older than Windows XP can be upgraded to Vista. A clean install is always required on a PC currently running Windows 2000 or lower (NT family), or Windows Me or lower (DOS-originated family).
• While it is possible to upgrade from Windows XP Media Center Edition to Windows Vista Home Premium if the computer was joined to an Active Directory Domain at the time of upgrade, the computer will remained joined to the domain but no users will be able to log into the computer through the domain controller. Windows Vista Home Premium does not support joining an Active Directory Domain.