There are many issues concerning the purchase and installation of Windows 7. The first question that requires an answer is : “Do I purchase an upgrade or a full version of Windows 7?”
Potential buyers need to consider the price factor. The upgrade is the cheaper option which brings me to my second question: “Can I perform a clean install?”
Clean installing Windows 7 has already been discussed in Windows7news website in an article written by Mike Halsey on Oct 22 entitled How to clean install from Windows 7 Upgrade media.
Since Mike wrote this article I have been following up other sources on the web about performing a clean install.
Before digging deeper into this controversial method keep in mind the name of Brian Livingston, the well-known writer numerous books of Windows, perhaps his most well-known one being “Windows Secrets”. His website for these publications is www.brianlivingston.com/
Back in 2007, Brian came up with the technique of performing a clean installation using the upgrade version of Windows Vista. He wrote an article and published it on the Web explaining the process. Paul Thurrot and others have revisited his ideas and recommendations and suggest using a similar technique to install a clean version of Windows 7.
However, Paul Thurrot has gone two steps further and come up with three scenarios, the first two breaking new ground while the last one is the good old “double install” method, originally described by Brian Livingston. Though the “double install” method takes time, I used it successfully for Windows Vista and am confident it will work for Windows 7.
It is worth your while to read Paul Thurrot’s article on his website. Check out this post.
clean install Windows 7 with Upgrade media
On the Web I have come across several other sources suggesting the same procedure.Check out these websites for similar articles.
Paul Thurrot www.winsupersite.com/Default.asp
Ed Bott www.blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/
Onuora Amobi www.windows7update.com/
Though I haven’t purchased a copy of Windows 7 Upgrade yet, I am still using the Windows 7 RC version. As this version does not expire until early 2010, I’m really waiting to see if Microsoft will eventually release the Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack in Australia. (See my post on “So Much for Product Loyalty”.)
It seems that Microsoft is not too keen on users clean installing Windows 7 using the upgrade version. Naturally, the company would prefer you to buy the full version rather than use the cheaper update version.
