Installation of W7 upgrade edition on a seperate disk

I have 2 internal disks. On disk 1 (HDD) I have Vista. On disk 2 (SSD) I want to install Windows7. For the W7 installation I would disconnect disk 1 because I do not want a double boot but I use the BIOS boot sequence to switch between the 2 disks. I am wondering whether that is possible with the W7 upgrade edition (the $50 early bird offering). My Vista is an OEM that came with the PC and I only have the Installation/recovery DVDs that I burnt from the recovery partition. What I am wondering is how the W7 upgrade installation would know that I am eligible for the upgrade.

Historically, you are prompted to insert the installation medium for the qualifying OS.

Antman said:

Historically, you are prompted to insert the installation medium for the qualifying OS.

Yes, that is what I assumed. But I only have the DVDs I burnt from the OEM recovery partition. I wonder whether they qualify.

OEM installs qualify for upgrade.

Antman said:

Historically, you are prompted to insert the installation medium for the qualifying OS.

I don't think that will be the case any longer. If that was the only check, anyone could simply insert pirated media to fool the upgrade process and save some cash (they don't have to buy the full version).

You will need to have the qualifying OS already installed and activated in order for upgrade to work.

sup3rsprt said:

Antman said:

Historically, you are prompted to insert the installation medium for the qualifying OS.

I don't think that will be the case any longer. If that was the only check, anyone could simply insert pirated media to fool the upgrade process and save some cash (they don't have to buy the full version).

You will need to have the qualifying OS already installed and activated in order for upgrade to work.

I have this funny feeling that you may be right. I will have to get on the phone with MS when I want to install. My problem is that I want to keep my Vista on the HDD and install Win7 on the SSD - but no double boot or overwriting of Vista. I guess I want the best of both worlds.

It's against the license agreement to keep using Vista unless you buy the full version of Windows 7.

Microsoft Windows EULA said:

UPGRADES. To use a Product identified as an upgrade, you must first be licensed for the product identified by Microsoft as eligible for the upgrade. After upgrading, you may no longer use the product that formed the basis for your upgrade eligibility.

sup3rsprt said:

It's against the license agreement to keep using Vista unless you buy the full version of Windows 7.

Microsoft Windows EULA said:

UPGRADES. To use a Product identified as an upgrade, you must first be licensed for the product identified by Microsoft as eligible for the upgrade. After upgrading, you may no longer use the product that formed the basis for your upgrade eligibility.

Yep, that's pretty clear. I guess I have to bite the bullet and dish out a little more cash. Thanks for digging that out for me.

sup3rsprt said:

You will need to have the qualifying OS already installed and activated in order for upgrade to work.

Yep, as of now, this is how it will be. it could change between now and the public release, but this is what all the forum boards and Microsoft blogs are saying to date.

To the OP, you really have no reason to continue running Vista on the same system once you get Windows 7. Windows 7 will do everything Vista does, and more, without any real compatibility issues. The only time I could see it being an issue, is if you want to move Vista to another computer, and use Windows 7 on the computer you are referring to now. In this case, you'd definitely want to buy a full version of Windows 7.

The upgrade shouldn't be a big deal to mose people, especially on an enthusiasts forum board. All you really need to do is create a good, working drive image once you are happy with your install. If you upgrade your hardware often, you should probably justify the cost of a full retail license, just so you won't have any issues with re-activating down the road, several upgrades later.

DeaconFrost, Thanks for the input. I want to keep Vista until at least Win7 SP1. 50 years in programming have tought me that stability comes over time. At this time I see people having more problems with Win7 than I ever had with my 4 Vistas - but then we are still working with pre-releases. Plus, there are some functions I use in Vista that they have dropped in Win7 - also some OEM programs do not yet work.