vista 64 upgrade

I think microsoft is ripping me off. I bought a computer with Vista home premium 32 already installed, and I want to go 64. So buy the home premium upgrade, order the 64bit DVDs and install, right? No. I have to uninstall home premium 32, install XP then go home premium 64!? I already have two licenses for only the use of one, and now I have to buy a third? Does anyone know of a trial version of XP or something like that? I don't need to activate it, just use it as the leap off point.

 

Hehe, no, there's no XP x64 trial. You may want to try this. The article is a year old so I don't know if the 'feature' is still available.

 

Thanks. I am aware of this workaround, but based on this article, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932795/en-us#, I have to be running XP (or earlier), not vista, and it doesn't specify 32 or 64 XP. Either way, we are talking about three licenses I have to own in order to run ONE. Is this a scam or what???
Could I just wipe my HDD clean and use the Vista64 upgrade DVD w/this workaround anyway? I mean I do own the 32 bit license, so that is legal in my eyes.

BTW, I have XP32 on another comp, but that doesn't really help me, does it?