Windows 7: reinstall win 7 ultimate upgrade

Hi,

1) I bought a new computer with win 7 home basic and 2) I want to reinstall os of this computer which has been upgraded to win 7 ultimate from home basic. So I have a choice to reinstall the win 7 ultimate upgrade to this computer again or to the new computer which runs faster. But either way, how can I do it? I think (this is awhile ago) when I was doing upgrading to this computer I paid on line and got an email with an activation code and instructions. So my questions are 1) Can I find the code from this computer? 2) Can I use the code on the new computer? 3) should I format this computer first before I activate the upgrade copy on the new computer to avoid conflicts that both computers are using the same upgrade copy? The reason for the last question is I'd want to move every file to the new computer before I format this computer. Thanks.

Softa

You can use Anytime Upgrade to easily unlock the extra features in Ultimate from the Basic desktop.

Just type Anytime in Start Search box, insert the Ultimate key.

You should have your Ultimate Product key backed up like a bank account number. If you cannot find it in your emails, then run Belarc Advisor to audit all of the installed hardware, software and Product Keys before deleting Ulimate from the old machine.

But before activating Ultimate on the new machine I'd delete Ultimate from the old one by booting the Windows 7 Basic installer, choose Custom Install, then use Drive Options to Delete the OS partition. You can then reinstall Basic to the machine using the Product key on COA sticker on machine following these steps to get a perfect reinstall: Reinstalling Windows 7

There is also a workaround to change to a lesser version of Windows 7 doing an in-place Upgrade. Let me know if you need it.

Did you make the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks?

Hi guys,
Thank you for the help. I found the old email and the upgrade key code. It came on 1/23/10.
I am not comfortable to reinstall, which means formatting the hard drive, OS to the old laptop before I am sure the new one runs all my applications. I lost important emails before due to reinstalling OS. But I think I will turn off the wireless of the old laptop during the transition. Hopefully this will avoid conflicts.
I have another question: should I upgrade the new computer to ultimate immediately or let the windows upgrade everything for the current home premium (BTW, not the basic) first and do the ultimate upgrade later? I have not started using the new computer yet because I have an issue with BestBuy. It seems this laptop does not support 3D as their website said.
Happy New Year!
Softa