I have purchased an Upgrade Copy of Win 8 through the MS Store and have had a couple of challenges in getting the system up. Currently, my challenge is registration, as my system is reading my Upgrade install key as an upgrade and not letting me activate/register as I have utilized it as a full install.
The primary problem is that my destination software is Win 8 x64, but the existing install is Win Vista x86. x86 being the major issue, as you cannot upgrade x86 to x64. Also, I am doing a Clean Install, as I just bought a new SSD to pair with Win8.
So, I feel like I have 2 options that are morally acceptable and legal, and one option that I do not find morally acceptable (which I will not discuss, but involves registry edit and does not require much search to find)
Option 1.) I have a Windows 7 x64 disk and key being used on another PC, I don't want to change anything with that PC- ie. key has to stay attached to that other machine. Question: Could I install Win 7 x64 to my new SSD using the disk, then use my Win 8 Upgrade x64 copy to properly "upgrade" (and most importantly, activate/register) this keyless version? I've read that Win 7 will allow a keyless 30 day install.
Option 2.) Due to the draconic nature of the MS Upgrade Tool- I found that my first Win 8 install, which was x86, and therefore highly disappointing- did not require an activation key. I believe this may have been because I had another HDD connected via SATA2 during that install. My other HDD has Vista x86 installed. During that install, was my Upgrade Install (to SSD1) aware that I had a valid Windows activation on HDD2, thus it went ahead and activated as a proper upgrade copy? FYI- I disconnected my HDD2 during my most recent x64 Win8 install that is giving me problems- I felt like the presence of another Drive was doing odd things with my partition volumes in Windows install- I didn't like how it was showing my SSD as having a nonaccessible partition that was larger than the SSD in it's entirity, so unplugged it.
Keep in mind, either option is just where *my* moral compass lies, I doubt that either is a truly preferred upgrade path by MS- but I've paid for the software, and that probably places me in fairly high company amongst PC users.
Thanks!
The primary problem is that my destination software is Win 8 x64, but the existing install is Win Vista x86. x86 being the major issue, as you cannot upgrade x86 to x64. Also, I am doing a Clean Install, as I just bought a new SSD to pair with Win8.
So, I feel like I have 2 options that are morally acceptable and legal, and one option that I do not find morally acceptable (which I will not discuss, but involves registry edit and does not require much search to find)
Option 1.) I have a Windows 7 x64 disk and key being used on another PC, I don't want to change anything with that PC- ie. key has to stay attached to that other machine. Question: Could I install Win 7 x64 to my new SSD using the disk, then use my Win 8 Upgrade x64 copy to properly "upgrade" (and most importantly, activate/register) this keyless version? I've read that Win 7 will allow a keyless 30 day install.
Option 2.) Due to the draconic nature of the MS Upgrade Tool- I found that my first Win 8 install, which was x86, and therefore highly disappointing- did not require an activation key. I believe this may have been because I had another HDD connected via SATA2 during that install. My other HDD has Vista x86 installed. During that install, was my Upgrade Install (to SSD1) aware that I had a valid Windows activation on HDD2, thus it went ahead and activated as a proper upgrade copy? FYI- I disconnected my HDD2 during my most recent x64 Win8 install that is giving me problems- I felt like the presence of another Drive was doing odd things with my partition volumes in Windows install- I didn't like how it was showing my SSD as having a nonaccessible partition that was larger than the SSD in it's entirity, so unplugged it.
Keep in mind, either option is just where *my* moral compass lies, I doubt that either is a truly preferred upgrade path by MS- but I've paid for the software, and that probably places me in fairly high company amongst PC users.
Thanks!
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