Windows 7: Anyone tried student upgrade from within RC1?

As the title says really, has anyone got Windows 7 RC1, downloaded the files from DigitalRiver and then just run the .exe?

If so, did it work? Did it keep all your files? Did it activate?

Many thanks,

Sam.

Even if it recognizes the RC as a prior genuine OS (as MS has said it's supposed to), it's *not* supposed to allow an in-place upgrade that carries over your files. It's supposed to mandate a fresh install just like if you're coming from XP.

Yes, I accidentally kicked off the Digital River student discounted Upgrade version on my Win 7 RC desktop in the wee hours of this morning while testing to see if the bootable disc I created worked. Since I was planning on doing this soon anyhow I didn't worry about it kicking off other than I lost an hour more of sleep.

In my case I was moving from x86 Windows 7 RC to x64 Windows 7 Pro. The installer recognized an upgrade-in-place couldn't be performed (which I believe was discussed here since the RC version is technically a beta version) so the installer backed up my Program Files, User, and Windows folders to the "Windows.old" folder. I do have to reinstall all my programs but any program settings in the USER folder are retrievable.

Oh, and it activated smoothly.

edit: I imaged the drive after activating and updating Windows so I can restore from the complete image rather than have to reinstall, validate using a prior Windows version (if need be), and activate again.

That's really encouraging, thanks. Will save me having to jump through the hoops of converting the 3 DR files to an iso.

Ah, darn - I read your post too fast and misled you with my reply. Sorry about that. Blame it on the fact that I only got a few hours of sleep last night thanks to installing Windows 7 x64.

The EXE in the three files you downloaded from DR simply builds a folder using the other two files as the source. This new folder is called "expandedSetup" and it contains an OS install DVD folder and file hierarchy. After that folder was built, I did NOT run the SETUP.exe therein.

Instead, I used IMGburn to turn that folder into an ISO file and indicating in IMGBurn that the ISO would be bootable. The “expandedSetup\boot\etfsboot.com” was the bootable image filename source that ImgBurn needs.

Once the ISO was created, I burned it to DVD and booted from that, then stepped through the install. From there my previous post's chronology picks up the story.

You should be able to start the install from the files without a bootable DVD. Since you have a working OS installed, I would put the files on another partition or burn them to a DVD, just in case.

Whatever, if you are using an Upgrade version of the install, do not clean the OS off the drive prior to installing.

I don't understand.

So, i just have the windows 7RC, 32 bit. I don't know where my xp is, and I have a new hard drive installed with the windows 7 rc on it.

Can I upgrade with the student offer for windows 764 bit with just the genuine windows 7Rc?

Yes, you can. That is what I did, although in my case I did have my XP key nearby. But in the end the Win 7 x64 upgrade didn't need the XP key; the Win 7 RC version already installed on my system drive satisfied the upgrade requirement.

Take note that the installer will move your Win 7 RC folder, your installed programs, and any data that may have been under the user folder to a new folder called "Windows.old."

Once your new version of Windows is up and running you will then need to reinstall all your programs and move your user data back, if you need it.