Windows 7: Can I install a windows 7 professional upgrade from boot?

Hello, my toshiba c650 laptop recently aquired a virus and now it will not boot . I was running windows 7 home premium 64bit at the time with ubuntu 11.10( I think) my computer crashed while I was running a mcafee scan and has not booted since ubuntu also does not boot due to the windows 7 system failure. Any way I was wondering if I bought a windows professional 64bit upgrade, could i Install it from boot? I also need to know if it would wipe all virus's from the hard drive. thanks




update: also think it would be best to mention that i have tried safe mode, safe mode with networking, my recovery discs and a blue screen repair discs all that happens when running these is a black screen with white cursor I left them all for an hour to see if anything happens but sadly nothing does .

Hello edamthegrate,

Yes, you can install it from boot. Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version Are you going to do a clean install?
It would wipe all your viruses, if you format your hard drive prior to installation (clean install). Also, since a format will remove all your files, do a backup of all important files (ie. documents, pictures) if needed, you can do it in any way (ie. USB external drive, Internet Upload, etc).

thank you for your help I shall now go and buy an upgrade thanks once more
p.s how do i format hard drive from boot?

If you are doing a new install, you don't have to do a separate format.

You can delete your existing partitions if you want to.

Windows will automatically format what needs to be formatted as part of the installation process.

If Windows 7 Home Premium came with the laptop then there is no reason to buy another one. You own it for the life of the machine to reinstall as often and in whatever way you want. Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

To try to clean up your current install: Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot - Windows 7 Forums

I would also not use MacAfee which causes more problems for Windows 7 than any other bloatware AV. Use free lightweight MSE linked in the Clean Reinstall tutorial, with the Windows 7 firewall.

Using GRUB on the same HD with Windows 7 can corrupt it beyond repair: Dual boot Ubuntu-Win7

+1 for the above.

As far as I know if you want to upgrade, you need a full-mode Windows and with your crippled non-bootable Windows an upgrade may not be possible.

I shall go with gregrocker that you should only set right your non-bootable Windows Home Premium for reasons mentioned by him. I was just waiting for gregrocker to show you the way.

I do understand your concern and desire to upgrade in the fond hope of retaining your data. However it does not require a Windows upgrade.

You can access your hard drive with a Live Linux CD and copy any critical data you may wish to save. ( There may be other ways too to accomplish the task - may be greg's tutorial deals with it too - I have not seen that.)

In case you encounter any difficulties in executing those procedures you can have a look at my guide Lucid Puppy way to recover files from a non-bootable computer .

Have you not made your Recovery Disks? Once you succeed in making your laptop bootable and run the existing installation, I would strongly recommend that you create the Recovery CDs. This will enable you to restore your system to the factory condition in future. Even if you want to go for a clean install you should have this as a backup (in case you encounter any difficulties.)

Step 9 in Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot shows two other ways to copy out your files from an unbootable System.

I did create the recovery discs but they do not seem to work I only get a blue screen for a fraction of a second then it shuts down!

I do not wish to keep any data I think it would be best to have a completely clean laptop