Windows 7: Installing Windows 7 on new netbook

Newbie here hoping you can give me some advice.
Last year I bought Windows 7 Pro x32 to install on a Toshiba laptop. My Toshiba has since gone belly up with an irrepairable motherboard fault and has been scrapped. I have now bought a Dell netbook with Win 7 Starter installed and would like to upgrade it using my Win 7 Pro DVD.
I'm aware that you cannot install the same copy of the OS on 2 computers but the first laptop no longer exists so Win 7 Pro would only be installed on the one computer. Am I able to do this or has my Win 7 Pro DVD died with the laptop.
Thanks in advance for any info and advice.

If your copy is and OEM, you cannot
If your copy is an upgrade, yes you can
If your copy is full retail, yes you can

An OEM key has those letters somewhere in the key number.

When you install do not give key number, untick the box that will notfiy automatically.
Install, then give the number. If problems speak to MS, they will allow it.
Activate Windows 7 by Phone

Check needed specs.

..... Starter was developed for netbooks for the fact they are not made to the standard specs Installing Pro can make these computer intolerably slow.

Thanks for both taking the time to reply. The netbook is high end and the spec is slightly higher than my old laptop and above Microsofts minimum requirements for 7 Pro so I will give it a go and activate by phone. I have created the recovery discs on a memory stick and backed up my content and settings to Dells Digital Vault so if I'm not happy with the way 7 Pro runs on the netbook I can return to 7 Starter.

Alright... I will suggest getting 2 gb of ram and turning some features off.

If you have builder's OEM (cheaper) Pro then MS may make an exception and allow you to move it to another mobo, although normally the mobo cannot change once it's installed. There is no "OEM" in Product Key - it appears in the Product ID listed at Computer>Properties.

If you have retail or Upgrade Windows 7, you can migrate it as often as you want for life.

Keep in mind that it might be cheaper to use Anytime Upgrade to change Starter to a higher version, so if you find another place you'd like Pro to go you have the option to reinstall Starter at any time (or save an image of it now) to Anytime Upgrade.

It has now been well established that retail keys work in Anytime Upgrade, so type "Anytime" in your Start Search box and see if Pro is an allowed Upgrade path, then use your retail key to simply unlock the extra features and you're done.

Many Thanks Gregrocker. Followed your instructions and it worked like a dream. Now running with 7 Pro as we speak. No Loss of speed and all the features I had on my old laptop. Cheers

Glad it worked.

Now save a Windows 7 backup image externally so you never have to reinstall Starter>Pro, just reimage from the booted DVD Repair console using the stored image: Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

If you decide you want to migrate retail Pro to another machine, you can reinstall native Starter by running the Recovery partition if you have one, or by unlocking all versions in your Windows 7 DVD to reinstall with Product Key on the COA sticker: Windows 7 Universal Installation Disc - Create

thanks for the links Gregrocker. cheers

And I'm in a quandry. At the time I ordered the netbook, on the upgrade page I ordered the Pro upgrade, not realizing they were only offering it for 2nd PCs, not the netbook. When I opened it to install it, it was for an upgrade from Vista. I called Dell thinking it was a mistake, but they very curtly told me that 7 Pro was not supported on the netbooks, and if I insisted on installing it, the Intel Atom processor was not certified to run it and if there were any hardware issues, Dell would not support it. He then proceeded to try to sell me a laptop, which is not what I want. Obviously Pro can be installed, but I need to know that it does not cause any issues over time before I attempt to install it, and also since the disk I have is for Vista, is there a way to make that work? I saw on another site that someone wasted a whole weekend going round and round with Dell and Microsoft until they finally made the Vista upgrade work, but since they have on record that they told me not to install it on the netbook, I'm afraid I won't get any help, nor would they send me a new disk if I sent the Vista upgrade back for a full install. Any recommendations? If nothing else I will send the whole thing back and start from scratch with another manufacturer. Unfortunately, I get a Dell discount from work, but the time I have wasted has probably cost me the discount. Thanks, Marie