There are still doubts about what the possible and legal upgrade paths are for Windows 7.
Definitions:
1) Upgrade: to move from Windows XP or Windows Vista to Windows 7.
2) Custom or Clean Install: wipes the previous installation and install Windows 7 anew. Does not preserve user files.
3) In-Place Upgrade: upgrades from specific versions of Vista to specific versions of Windows 7, preserving user files and programs.
4) Upgrade version: Windows 7 license for those who own a valid license of XP or Vista
5) Full retail version: Windows 7 license to install on any PC, independent of previous installations or ownership. Can be reinstalled on other computers (when activated the previous installation is no longer valid)
6) Full OEM version :Windows 7 license to install on one PC, independent of previous installations. Can only be re-installed on same computer and hardware setup
Upgrade paths:-
The chart below shows in what situations one can perform an in-place upgrade (e.g. from Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional) without the need to migrate files or programs, and the situations when one needs to do a Custom (Clean) Install and replace the data in the target disc. This is the case for all Windows XP owners or Windows Vista Starter. In this case you will need to migrate your personal files and reinstall your programs in a separate process.
I recommend to use Windows Easy Transfer for this, this program will organize your files per user making the migration easier.
Q.: I have a Home Premium version of Vista and want to migrate to the Professional version of Windows 7. Do I have to buy a full version?
A.: No. If you own a valid Vista license you are eligible to using an Upgrade Version of Windows 7. In this scenario you will need to do a Custom (Clean) install
Q.: I have Windows Vista Business but I don’t need all those features. I intend to migrate to Windows 7 Home Premium. I don’t want to buy the expensive Full Version to perform a version downgrade. Do I have to?
A.: No. If you own a valid Vista license you are eligible to using an Upgrade Version of Windows 7, independent of what versions you are coming from or migrating to. In this scenario you will need to perform a Custom (Clean) install
Q.: I built a computer and want to install Windows 7. I read that you can use an Upgrade disc to install on a blank hard drive. Am I allowed to do that?
A.: If you own a previous version of Vista or XP, even if it is installed in that machine or not, you are entitled to use the Upgrade version. You will need to stop using that license after installing Windows 7.
If you do not own a previous license, it is technically possible to install Windows 7 in a blank drive from the Upgrade disc, but is it not legal, it is a violation of Windows 7 EULA.
Reference: Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version
Q.: I have Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bits and want to migrate to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bits. Do I need to do a Clean install or can I perform an in-place upgrade?
A.: A Clean Install is required when migrating from 32 to 64 bits or vice-versa, independent of the initial and target versions,.
Q.: Is there a way to perform an In-Place upgrade for situations where the upgrade path does not allow it? For example, from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional.
A.: Yes, you can do that by changing installation files on the Windows 7 package. Only recommended for experienced users and you will be on your own, Microsoft does not support this (although it is not illegal)
Q.: The Windows XP I am running was an upgrade from Windows 2000. Am I allowed to upgrade to Windows 7?
A.: Yes. Your upgraded XP is a valid Windows License.
Q.: I am running the RC, can I upgrade that to the commercial version with an upgrade disc?
A.: Technically yes, the RC will be recognized as a previous OS and the install process will proceed. On the other hand, the RC is a free evaluation version and does not qualify as a valid license for upgrade. You need to have a valid license not to violate the EULA, even if not installed (e.g. the valid Vista or XP you had before installing the RC).
More information can be found on this tutorial: Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version
Q.: I recently bought a computer that came with Vista installed. Will I get a free upgrade to Windows 7?
A.: Please contact the manufacturer. It depends on what they were offering when you bought the computer. Here is the list of participating manufacturers, according to Microsoft: Windows:
Q.: I bought a retail version of Vista on or after June 26, 2009, I heard I can upgrade it for free, is that correct?
A.: If you acquire a qualifying Windows Vista retail packaged product between June 26, 2009 and January 31, 2010 you are eligible to receive the corresponding Microsoft Windows 7 product upgrade for the cost of shipping and handling ($9.99). Please allow 6-8 weeks (pending inventory availability).
Q.: I installed and activated the 32-bit version of Windows 7 which came in the retail box. I don’t want to use that, I want the 64-bit version. Can I remove that and install the 64-bit version and legally activate it?
A.: The key allows you to install one instance of either x86 or x64. Since you wiped the x86 you will have one other instance (tks to Garysgold for the info)
Additional References:
Please make sure to read these excellent tutorials regarding installation and setup:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/?filter[3]=Installation%20and%20Setup
This blog gives a good pictorial explanation of the allowed upgrade paths:
Microsoft SMB Community Blog : Regardless of what any hack says, a Windows 7 Upgrade is an Upgrade. What you need to know.
I have Win7 Ultimate and in the windows explorer or what ever you call the program where you view the files and folders, it shows the address paths of "Hidden" folders that I want to keep hidden.How can I delete these address paths? It also shows up in the IE8 addresses which is a pain but easily deleted there. However in the Windows explorer address bar that option is not available.
I have installed RocketDock on my computer and I want use animated icons to launch just about everything I need to do. They require a direct path. I can't create a "sound" shortcut and then change it to an animated icon, as far as I know.The path for control panel is: C:Windowssystem32control.exeI'm looking for the path for the "sound" menu (playback tab, specifically).
Love 7 so far! But today I needed to access a share (\servernameshare) but when I went to type it, it came up cannot connect. We're on a domain with AD, and noticed in eventvwr that GP not processing:
The processing of Group Policy failed. Windows attempted to read the file \internal.domainSysVolinternal.domainPolicies{5682A7A2-6BAE-4655-8DB6-7CAF8ECC6042}gpt.ini from a domain controller and was not successful. Group Policy settings may not be applied until this event is resolved. This issue may be transient and could be caused by one or more of the following: a) Name Resolution/Network Connectivity to the current domain controller.
b) File Replication Service Latency (a file created on another domain controller has not replicated to the current domain controller).
c) The Distributed File System (DFS) client has been disabled.
Also would not map network drives. Anyways, ended up doing a system restore to a known working point in time, and that seemed to work, until I rejoined the computer to domain (since it had lost the trust relationship because of the system restore), but after a few group policies processed, and a couple critical updates were installed, it broke again. So now I unplug from the network at bootup, login, then plug network back in, and it seems to be a workaround for now, but hopefully it's only a temporary one. Anyone have any ideas?
i got a new hp pavilion laptop; os is windows 7 home premium 64-bit. when i booted it up the first time, there was already an administrator account on it, bearing the name of the company who had sent me the laptop. i renamed the user account and the computer to my name; but the paths connected to the user profile and the user profile itself (under "users" on the c drive) still have the old name. i did some reading and it seems that one has to rename the account back to the old name, then create a new administrator account with the name one wants and transfer the profile from the old account to the new one, then delete the old account if everything is working well; however, i believe that these instructions are rather for windows xp than for windows 7, and i have no idea how to copy a profile. i am not a computer geek and cannot fiddle around with the registry, and how can i rename the profile paths and my profile folder to MY name - or is it impossible to change, and will i just have to live with it? i also hope that if the situation cannot be changed, then this is simply a cosmetic 'bug' and won't cause any problems.
Under Windows XP I used a program called Piky Basket which had a right-click feature that allowed me to copy the full paths of selected files to the clipboard. This feature worked on multiple files, even in search results from e.g. Windows' own search utility and e.g. Voidtools' Everything. I want to be able to do the same in Windows 7.Sadly, Piky Basket does not work on my system (Windows 7, 64), and the version of Piky Basket that does work on my system doesn't have this feature anymore.The built-in "Copy as path" in Windows does work on multiple files, but only if those files are all in the same folder (which is not the case in search results). The same applies to SendTo Toys -- can only copy multiple paths if they're all in the same folder.
Dengdun's OpenXX works fine on search results, but copies a maximum of 15 paths (why???). Jarle Aase's CopyPath copies only one path at a time... and this applies to many of the nameless similar utilities floating about the web.Ninotech Path Copy insists on installing the 32 bit version of it (even if I remove the previous version), and does not add anything to the context menu that I can see.
I bought a Windows 8 laptop, ASUS Q500A, and reformatted it with Windows 7. I went into the BIOS and used "Restore Defaults" and now all Boot Option Priorities are deleted. Each time I boot the laptop, it automatically goes to BIOS (or UEFI). I tried inserting the Windows 7 disc so I can access Startup Repair or Command Prompt but it freezes before it could get anywhere even when I tried it with an external CD/DVD drive. I cannot get the laptop to boot to the hard drive or CD drive at all, how I can reset the boot option priorities so it will be boot to the hard drive again.
I ordered the 50$ Windows 7 upgrade disk. I realize that Windows 7 will need vista or XP already installed for the upgrade version of Windows 7. But if I want to upgrade my Vista 32-bit to Windows 7 64-bit, Will I be able to do it with this upgrade disk? after all I will need a fresh install (because 32 to 64) and this is the upgrade version...
I have a pc with Windows XP pro 32bit retail version. First I have made an image, just in case. Then I have upgraded it to windows 8, 64bit by using the retail upgrade DVD and clean install. However, I found out that my motherboard is so old (5 years old) that there are no drivers for win8 and after asking ASUS they said that the motherboard is not supported any more and that there will be no new drivers for it. I tried using win7 drivers but it did not work and without correct drivers a lot of things does not work (in particularly hdmi port).What I want to do now is to revert to my image (windows xp), buy a Windows 7, 64bit upgrade retail DVD and upgrade windows xp to windows 7 for which there are drivers for my motherboard.
1) Can I use windows xp retail (whose product key has already been used to upgrade to win8) image to upgrade to windows 7 retail? will the activation of windows 7 succeed? I want to use clean install again since i upgrade from 32bit to 64bit
2) If the answer to question 1 is a yes, how does microsoft prevent users from using the same windows image file to upgrade different pc's? I mean, theoretically, I can make an image of pc1, copy it to a hard drive of pc2 (even if it will result in erroneous installation due to different specs) and upgrade both systems by using two VUP product keys which are cheaper than one VUP + one retail product keys
3) Can I use windows 8 upgrade DVD which is not used any more to upgrade another PC?
I purchased Windows 7 Professional through the Ultimate Steal.
Downloaded it, put it on a disk also.
It will go through the start of the setup and copy files etc, and then it will give an error and say to install from a current version of windows I need to use the upgrade anytim through windows.
But when I go to upgrade anytime it asks for an upgrade key, but all I have with the purchase was a product key and it says that I can't use the product key.
any help?
edit: also i have windows 7 home premium installed right now
and here is exactly what it says:
"To upgrade from one edition of Windows 7 to another edition of Windows 7, use Windows Anytime Upgrade. Cancel the upgrade, open the Start menu, and search for Windows Anytime Upgrade. "
I installed Win 7 RC on a new build and purchased Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM with upgrade to Win 7 Home premium. The Win 7 upgrade disc has arrived. I understand that Vista must be installed and activated for the upgrade to work. Attempts to install Vista with Win 7 RC running or booting from the Vista disc lead to error code 0x80070103, insufficient free space. My HDD has > 450 Gb free space in 2 partitions. Do I need to reformat the HDD in order to install Vista over Win 7?
Customer dropped off a laptop telling me that his Windows upgrade had failed.
It's a new HP DV6 that had Vista pre-installed on it.
I've taken a look at it, and there's a "Windows.old" folder on the root of C:, which is of course a back up of all his data.
There's also a batch file inside the folder with the following inside of it:
"REM Dummy file for NTVDM"
I'm wondering if there's a way to "continue" the upgrade / merging process? He has asked me to re-install all of his software the way he had it. So i'm hoping there's an easier way to continue where he left off.
I know Windows 7 creates a "Windows.old" folder when upgrading from XP. Not sure why one was created for a Vista to Windows 7 upgrade though.
I'm considering whether to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. IMHO, the new OS seems to be not sufficiently "mature" yet, and it is better to wait for the first service pack to come out before actually upgrading.
I have Windows 7 Home Premium installed on my my machine, but is is not activated yet. I will be getting a Windows 7 Professional key from the student offer, and I would like to use that. Is it possible to use that key in Anytime upgrade?
Bought a new computer 8GB DDR3, 500GB HD, Core i5.Installed XP Pro on active partition 1 (100GB)Restored XP and files/programs from the Windows backup utility. All good, everything works. Insert Win7 Pro upgrade disk (legally purchased from Microsoft)Starts install 'copying temporary files'Error message 'Windows Setup cannot find a location to store temporary installation files. To install Windows, make sure that a partition on your boot disk has at least 686 megabytes of free space - error code 0x80070490 )Boot disk C has over 60GB free space.If I try to boot from the Win7 CD to do a clean install I get an error message that it is an upgrade version and must be started from within Windows.Have reformatted hard drive and gone through it all again but same result.
I upgraded my Acer 5100 x86 from Vista to Win 7. I do have Vista recovery discs, however I was checking to see if I could recover the laptop to Windows 7 by using Alt/F10. Actually I was just trying to see if Alt/F10 worked at all and what I found after the Windows 7 upgrade was that I got a screen with the following:
Edit boot options for: Win 7
PathWidowsSystem 32Winload.exe Partition 2 Hard disk 2522d7dc /No execute=optin/PAE/Numproc=2
Enter=submit Esc=Cancel That is at the very bottom. What does all this mean and what does it mean as far as Alt/F10 goes? Does it mean that there is no way that works anymore because of the upgrade? I still have eRecovery and my Recovery partition is still "Healthy". I don't get why the Alt?F10 quit working though.
my operating systemis windows 7 ultimate x32 bit.Recently i decided to upgrade to windows 7 ultimate x64
i purchased a license key and downloaded from the official site this version of windows-i decided to install it using a bootable usb flash drive. i've followed all the steps to make the flash drive bootable and copied the files into it,however i can't install it.
after booting from the usb drive, it gives me a message"loading windows files" and after that is done,appears the normal "starting windows" image for a couple of seconds but after that the screen goes black with a moving cersor for a while and after that it freezes on something like windows 7 main screen-i can move the mouse but nothing happens
My motherboard is :GA-880GM0UD2H CPU:AMD Athlon 2 x3 (3.2 ghz) ram: 2 gb ddr3 usb device:jetflash trancend 8 gb
needless to say i have tested whether i can upgrade to windows 7 x64
i have also taken a video of the whole process but i can't attach it"error you aren't permitted to upload this kind of file"--the video is in vlc form
I am currently running on a Windows 7 Home Basic 32 bit 1Gig memory. I just upgraded my memory to 2 gig. I want to know if I can upgrade my system to 64bit now that I have a 2Gig memory.
I have a system that recently "died" and just ordered the components to build a new one.I had purchased Windows XP for that system (the one that died) and have the CD.Does owning the XP CD qualify me for a Win 7 "upgrade"? Or do I have to go thru installing XP from that CD onto my new system (which will no doubt force me to call Microsoft since as soon as I go online with it it will not be seen as "Genuine" until I go thru that process) before I can use the Win 7 "upgrade" DVD? I know that, in years past, doing an upgrade would let you simply insert the CD from the old version of Windows and it would accept that - as opposed to finding it already installed on the HD.
finally got the new rig up and running great, and have demoted my old workhorse to the basement, its been a great machine and still works great, but would like to upgrade/new install to windows 7, I know I probably will need a new graphics card to rune
If I buy a family pack it says I can't upgrade to Windows 7 from XP but if I buy a single upgrade (Home Premium) is says I can. Anyone knows anything about this?
Not long purchased a new PC with 7 HP 64-bit pre-installed. Have been given a genuine copy of Ultimate, unused, and am wondering the best way of installing it.
I bought my laptop and it came with vista business, last September I bought windows 7 Ultimate off ebay and just found out last month when I reformatted my laptop that it is fake and the Windows 7 ultimate key is MSDN key and is now banned by Microsoft.Therefore I am currently running Windows 7 ultimate with banned keys, I just bought and downloaded windows 7 professional upgrade from Microsoft student website and it was surprisingly affordable. So what do I need to do to upgrade? Will I need to install vista business first before I can upgrade or can I just put in the new windows 7 professional product key in my current windows 7 ultimate, or burn the windows 7 pro upgrade iso and clean install?
I upgraded from Vista Premium to Windows 7 Pro 32 bit. I am unable to install many of the Windows Updates such as SP 1, Explorer 9 and many of the the intermittent Windows updates.
I have downloaded the SP1 from Microsoft and tried to manually install, but it works acts as though it is installing for about 45 minutes then gives me an error. It tells me that i should be download the Windows Readiness Tool. I did that and it grinds away for a while and then sits at this message - "Installing Hotfix for Windows (KB947821) (update 1 of 1)...".
I try to intsall Office 2010 and that install fails as well. I don't know what the heck is wrong, but all other programs that I install do just fine. It is just Microsoft products that crash.
At even validated my copy of Windows 7 Pro - it is Genuine. Needless to say I am .
so my PC that was running windows vista ultimate 32bit has decided to completely freeze up. Basically getting the black screen of death on startup which is when a black screen appears with a hanging cursor. It's been 2 months now I've brought it in to local PC repair shops, tried a number of different 'fixes' for it after doing a ton of searches but unfortunately nothing has worked so far.So I decided just to do a clean sweep and install windows 7 ultimate...which got me thinking maybe I can just do a 32 bit to 32 bit upgrade and keep all of my files...but after booting from disk all I get is this message "Compatibility Report The computer started using the Windows installation disc. Remove the installation disc and restart your computer so that Windows starts normally. Then, insert the installation disc and restart the upgrade. However as I said my PC won't start up at all and I can't upgrade that way. So is there ANY way to do an upgrade through the boot disk without vista having to start? or do I actually just have to man up and do a clean sweep (in which case I might as well upgrade to 64bit)?
I've been trying to upgrade to Windows 7 SP1 for awhile now. I am using Windows 7 N x64.I have downloaded the install (the windows 7 update) separately and the validator. The validator ran fine but the update keeps failing with the following error;Error: ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND(0x80070002)I tried going to the Windows 7 Update Troubleshooter in the Control Panel, it found something wrong, fixed it, then tried to apply the update again and it failed.I seem to be going around in circles trying to get this update processed.
