Windows RC About to Expire - Upgrade or Full?

[Nuke1096]

Heya, little bit confused on what to do. I've been running the Windows RC since last summer, and as alot of you know its due to stop working on March 1, so naturally its time for me to bite the bullet and buy the normal release version.

However, I am a bit confused as to whether or not I can buy the upgrade version or not? From what I understand, you can just get the upgrade version if you are currently running XP or Vista. However, right now I have the RC installed.

Anyway, my plan is to do a format, and wipe the RC clean, then install a fresh version of retail Win7. Will I be able to do that if I purchase the upgrade version? I do have a legit copy of WinXP, however its not currently installed on my hdd, since I reformatted over the summer and put the 7 RC on instead. Will I need to reinstall XP first before upgrading?

I guess what I am asking is, what will happen if I reformat and just install the upgrade version fresh on a freshly reformatted partition?

 

[treefrog07]

I cannot find the licenses info on MS (yeah, even bing cannot find any official results - just the MS social forums), but your question is not new, for single licenses, not volume licenses:

-- OEM license is for use on one computer system, license expires when the computer dies. You buy another computer, you have to buy another license (copy).

-- Upgrade license allows you upgrade one computer from Vista or lesser-capable Win7 version, except the RC version. Your computer dies, you can re-use the upgrade on a replacement computer, as long as you have the original OS license you "upgraded from," but not on a second system.

-- Full license allows installation on one computer, and can be re-used on a replacement computer, but not a second system.

A little confusing, and there are comments on the MS forums (from MS people) that you can "upgrade" from XP by doing a clean install as long as you have the original XP upgrade or retail (not OEM) license. And you may not physically upgrade any 32-bit OS to Win7 64-bit version, you must do a clean install of the 64-bit version(s).

I'm sure you now know which license you should buy, right?

 

[treefrog07]

MS Technet has the upgrade paths here.

 

[number13]

I don't think you are allowed a upgrade, actually, it is always better and faster to do a fresh install

 

[Nuke1096]

What happens if I install the updrade disc on a fresh formatted hard drive?

 

[saran008]

If you boot your PC with the Windows 7 Setup DVD, as described below, and there is an existing install of Windows on the first partition, Windows 7 will always activate. If the existing install of Windows is on some other partition, Windows 7 should still activate. There are instances in which this won't work--especially when people really muck around with directory structures and so on, but it should activate.

&

Windows 7 Setup does its compliance checking before the phase of Setup where you format the disc. (Unlike with Windows Vista.) This means that you can format your existing hard drive, and blow away a previous Windows version, and not worry about activation. If it was there, Windows 7 will still activate.

For more details have a look at this guide

http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

 

[thently]

Just so you know you cannot upgrade RC to full off the DVD you have to copy the dvd into a folder and modify 1 file. I have done this and it works great I had a laptop I upgraded from alpha all the way to RTM worked fine for me but here is the quick how to.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/3075/how-to-upgrade-the-windows-7-rc-to-rtm/

Have fun just get the upgrade.

T

 

[hardwaretechy]

+1 thently

I did that too and it worked fine.

Also, you can buy the 'upgrade' version and install it to a clean hard drive, no previous install needed. This was one of the first major things about Win7 that was covered. Just select "Custom Install" during the loader.

 

[Nuke1096]

Also, you can buy the 'upgrade' version and install it to a clean hard drive, no previous install needed. This was one of the first major things about Win7 that was covered. Just select "Custom Install" during the loader.

Ok, so lemme get this straight. If I have a blank formatted hard drive, with WinXP or Vista NOT installed on it, or any other partition, I can just put the 7 Upgrade DVD in and do a full fresh install from the DVD without any problems, or having to put in a Winxp disc or hack any files or anything else?

 

[saran008]

Have you read this article fully or not?
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp
It'll answer all of your questions