Comments on: How to clean install from Windows 7 Upgrade media

By: eBook Library

eBook Library — Mon, 30 May 2011 07:37:25 +0000

eBook Library…

[...]an entire digital library of ebooks[...]…

By: Dark Under Eyes

Dark Under Eyes — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:37:03 +0000

Dark Under Eye…

[...]Hydrolyze has been know to cure even the most stubborn[...]…

By: Dark Circles Under Eye Cream

Dark Circles Under Eye Cream — Wed, 18 May 2011 02:59:25 +0000

Dark Under Eye…

[...]Hydrolyze has been know to cure even the most stubborn[...]…

By: Glucose Monitors

Glucose Monitors — Thu, 12 May 2011 06:15:59 +0000

Free Glucose Monitors…

[...]Diabetes is at an all-time high in America[...]…

By: A Clean Install to Windows 7 » Carrie Lowe

A Clean Install to Windows 7 » Carrie Lowe — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:04:11 +0000

[...] How to clean install One of the biggest unanswered questions about Windows 7 is whether you can perform a clean install using the upgrade edition of the operating system. With [...]

By: Buy Blank DVD

Buy Blank DVD — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:33:00 +0000

It also worked for me.

By: Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media: The Answer « Conficient Blog

Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media: The Answer « Conficient Blog — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:26:21 +0000

[...] test all of this thoroughly when I get home. But for now I wanted to cut through the baloney and cut and paste jobs out there and give you something that really does [...]

By: Best Registry Cleaner

Best Registry Cleaner — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 06:28:00 +0000

Microsoft isn’t going to let you do an upgrade if it doesn’t have some indication that you have a previous version of windows.

By: Windows 7 family pack returns for windows 7 1-year anniversary

Windows 7 family pack returns for windows 7 1-year anniversary — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 02:08:10 +0000

[...] And while it is a legal requirement to have a Vista or XP license on every computer in the household to upgrade it, it is not a technical one. [...]

By: Port4u

Port4u — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 10:49:00 +0000

That is why I called Microsoft and they sorted it out without my having to reinstall Windows 7 again on my clean HD. They have it rigged!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 04:38:00 +0000

I must say, you have this down to a science my friend.

By: Windows 7 Family Pack Returns for Windows 7, 1-Year Anniversary « WTI NewsBlog

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:18:08 +0000

[...] And while it is a legal requirement to have a Vista or XP license on every computer in the household to upgrade it, it is not a technical one. [...]

By: Windows 7 Family Pack Returns For Windows 7 1-Year Anniversary Web Burning Blog

Windows 7 Family Pack Returns For Windows 7 1-Year Anniversary Web Burning Blog — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:39:37 +0000

[...] And while it is a legal requirement to have a Vista or XP license on every computer in the household to upgrade it, it is not a technical one. [...]

By: travis13th

travis13th — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:37:02 +0000

Working Installation: Turn-off your net connection and enter product key
Nightmare: Install online

By: travis13th

travis13th — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:37:02 +0000

Working Installation: Turn-off your net connection and enter product key
Nightmare: Install online

By: Jane Maritz

Jane Maritz — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:48:18 +0000

What's the deal with 64-bit upgrades? I did a clean install on a PC already running 64-bit, with no problem. Now I'm trying to do a clean install of Win7 64-bit on a PC running a 32-bit OS. If I try to run the install from Windows, it says it's incompatible with the current system. If I try to boot from the CD, it doesn't recognize it and goes on to boot from the hard drive.

Tried this on 2 different computers with 32-bit OS, and tried it with a downloaded upgrade CD and an upgrade CD straight from Microsoft.

By: franning01

franning01 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:24:09 +0000

Did this work? I'm also getting same message.

By: franning01

franning01 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:24:09 +0000

Did this work? I'm also getting same message.

By: Sherry

Sherry — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:17:17 +0000

I did – no go at first on wiped HD. Disk read error after first boot during install. I had to call Microsoft. The problem resolved itsef, They said good thing I called. They had to do a work around so that they could get my upgrade version registered. they did somthing in the registry to bypass the registration then reactivated it ater the installation was complete. I would say it is probably best to call Microsoft if you plan to use an upgrade Windows 7 on a clean hard drive.

By: Joel

Joel — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:30:16 +0000

A clean install mean you wipe out the previous software and start over, losing all installed software in the process. It does not mean start from a clean hard drive. Microsoft isn't going to let you do an upgrade if it doesn't have some indication that you have a previous version of windows.

By: Eric Ligman

Eric Ligman — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Thank you for the update to the original article, Martin. That is an important component to call out about needing a full license of Windows XP or Windows Vista to legally qualify for the Upgrade.

By: Frank B

Frank B — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:42:00 +0000

Thanks microsoft for saving me money…

I used to love to expirement with computers. Try new hardware, new software. I used to spend $1000.00s on software and hardware but no more. Now it is not possible to do with windows. The amount of time it takes to install the OS all of the upgrades. What used to take a few hours now takes days. Although i understand why they have to do it the activation is also another obstacle.

I dred having to upgrade the OS. I wish i would have had the forsite to change to linux long ago. Now all of my apps are windows and i am stuck. But hey, at least my net worth is greater.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:44:00 +0000

Did you purge the RC partition before the install process, or “during” the process? If you booted off the DVD, deleted the old partition with the installer itself, and installed W7 to a new partition in its place, you may have given W7 the time to detect your RC installation.

By: dras

dras — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:38:00 +0000

That sounds no more realistic than the crap spouted by Stephen.

By: kabel

kabel — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:51:00 +0000

Correct.
I activated my Windows 7 Pro with help from Microsoft Rep. I didn’t know about Paul Thurrot’s Trick until late night yesterday.
The difference between Win7 and Vista is that when you do slmgr.vbs -dlv, Windows 7 tells you how many times you can rearm (slmgr.vbc -rearm) your license manager; Vista does not display that information. Be careful with this rearm command.

By: Erik

Erik — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:32:00 +0000

So when promted to enter the key you can go around it and get into windows 7 simply to do Paul Thurrot’s Trick then validate it through utility manager?

By: kabel

kabel — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:13:00 +0000

Clean install should work since they advertise it:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-considerations.aspx

I bought brand spanking new ssd and got the same crap with the key not being valid. I called Microsoft and after two hours talking, they finally connected me with some rep. that knows something and he told me the same trick Paul Thurrott posted. I finally got my smile back after that crap with the key not being valid.

By: Erik

Erik — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Here is a way to install on a new PC/HD using the upgrade media.
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp
Mine’s on its way and I’ll be using this method over installing 7 twice.

By: Erik

Erik — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:54:00 +0000

By: Murphy Mac

Murphy Mac — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:22:00 +0000

I was thinking in terms of them asking – down the road – for you to provide a product key of the qualifying product you owned when you did the upgrade to 7. I can’t imagine they would do that – but you never know.

Likewise I can’t see them excluding this type of “unproven” upgrade install from some fusture genuine advantage type program, but who knows what they might do. If I can get installed and activated this way I suppose it’s good enough for me. I have qualifying products, I just don’t want to install any way other than on a clean drive.

Thanks.

By: Murphy Mac

Murphy Mac — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:22:00 +0000

Thanks.

By: Name

Name — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:39:00 +0000

clean install worked fine for me. Converted student Win7 Pro to a bootable iso and booted with it. I selected custom, wiped the previous rtm 7 ultimate that was never activated and selected activate when I’m on line. After first boot activation said it would take place in three days. I pressed activate now and it activated with now problem.

By: Name

Name — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:39:00 +0000

By: W7 clean install via upgrade disk? - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net

W7 clean install via upgrade disk? - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:06:23 +0000

[...] clean install via upgrade disk? http://windows7news.com/2009/10/22/h…upgrade-media/ Ran across that earlier. Can anyone confirm that? It seems kind of suspicious that MS would allow [...]

By: jkvato

jkvato — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:19:00 +0000

It’s not to Microsoft’s advantage to advertise these workarounds, so I’m not surprised that they told you they can’t do it. For months, MS has been saying that you have to have an activated OS on your hard drive in order to use an Upgrade version of Win 7.

There are other, similar workarounds that have been reported on the Internet. Take a peek at Paul Thurrott’s site at http://www.winsupersite.com. He has a post or two that explain how to do this.

All I know is that I did install an Upgrade Win 7 on a clean hard drive without older CD’s or product keys. I did have to install it twice, however — which was lengthy. Thurrott has apparently found an even quicker way to do it.

By: jkvato

jkvato — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:19:00 +0000

There are other, similar workarounds that have been reported on the Internet. Take a peek at Paul Thurrott’s site at http://www.winsupersite.com. He has a post or two that explain how to do this.

By: Dom

Dom — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:25:00 +0000

Someone needs to QA this article. I just called Microsoft after NOT being able to clean install using my Upgrade media, and they stated the ONLY way you can perform a clean install is using a full retail copy. Some are having issues, while others are not. Someone is not telling the whole story here.

By: Dom

Dom — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:25:00 +0000

By: Windows 7 Upgrade

Windows 7 Upgrade — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:07:24 +0000

[...] before but can you Install a fresh copy after format or does previous windows need to be on http://windows7news.com/2009/10/22/h…upgrade-media/ __________________ Desktop x2 7750 2gb 1066 Gskill ram 250gb hdd x1650 pro pcie gpu 2x memorex [...]

By: George

George — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:10:00 +0000

Along with the Vista double install trick Paul Thurrot figured out another workaround that might take less time…

http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2009/10/23/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-the-answer.aspx

By: George

George — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:10:00 +0000

Along with the Vista double install trick Paul Thurrot figured out another workaround that might take less time…

http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2009/10/23/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-the-answer.aspx

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:06:00 +0000

Then why does the full version even exist? This sounds too good to be true.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:06:00 +0000

Then why does the full version even exist? This sounds too good to be true.

By: jkvato

jkvato — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:52:00 +0000

Yes, I activated without a hitch.

I suppose that MS will not automatically detect any other OS on your system and invalidate it, but that is just a guess. In my scenario, I have an old XP Home edition laying around that has not been installed on any machine for years. But I do need to dual boot Win 7 with XP Pro (which I also legally have). I installed Win 7 and activated it on a clean hard drive yesterday, then I installed XP pro and activated it, too. (It took some dirty work to set up the dual boot this way, but I wanted to make sure that Win7 would activate without XP present).

Should MS ever want to invalidate an old OS of mine, I am prepared to sacrifice my XP Home version, since it’s not in use. But just because I have XP Pro on the same hard drive of my Win 7 Upgrade doesn’t mean that it’s the OS that I’m upgrading from. My guess is that Microsoft understands that.

But it’s just a guess.

By: Murphy Mac

Murphy Mac — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:36:00 +0000

jkvato -

Thanks for posting. You activated too, right?

My only concern is MS coming up with some “genuine” type program down the line that will invalidate these installs to an extent. While they appear to work technically NOW, they don’t prove the terms of an upgrade license and MS could wack them later.

I haven’t installed consumer versions of Windows very often, so I don’t know if this is a legit concern or not.

By: Murphy Mac

Murphy Mac — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:36:00 +0000

jkvato -

Thanks for posting. You activated too, right?

I haven’t installed consumer versions of Windows very often, so I don’t know if this is a legit concern or not.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:27:00 +0000

Fantastic post – Have been waiting to hear on this subject for a long long time. I will have to test it though (Might receive my upgrade media any day now)…. Update 0ct 24: I just followed instructions per Paul thurott’s post (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_…) — It workslike charm.

By: gehx

gehx — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:26:00 +0000

ah, Stephen, where’s the proof?!

By: Tim from Kent

Tim from Kent — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:16:00 +0000

Did not work for me

By: David

David — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:53:00 +0000

That’s great news! My Win 7 Upgrade edition arrived yesterday but I wanted to see if it was possible to install without giving up my XP serial key. I wanted to dual boot and didn’t want my XP deactivated.

Now is there any chance MS will adversely WGA the Win 7 installation some time down the line?