Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

Brink · 18 Jun 2011

jsm555 said:

You are a lifesaver! I lost my hard drive this week (I had upgraded the pre-loaded Vista to Win 7) and re-installed using the Win7 disk, expecting to be asked to provide a CD for proof of upgrade. As you know, this doesn't happen with Win7, the software was just installed and I got most of my software re-installed, etc (a two-day effort) only to find that I was running an un-activated copy of Win7, and my key wouldn't work since it was considered a "new" installation.

I was getting ready to spend $129 for a new key until I realized that I'd need a new NON-UPGRADE key ($200!!!) and did a little more searching. Fortunately, I found your post, and it worked flawlessly! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

You're most welcome JSM, and welcome to Seven Forums. :)

tm45 · 12 Jul 2011

I got my laptop right as the crossover was happening between Vista and 7, and got the free upgrade disc sent to me in the mail from Microsoft. Will this clean Install work with that type of disc also, or is the retail one different? Thanks.

Brink · 12 Jul 2011

Hello TM, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Does the installation disc have OEM on it? If it came directly from Microsoft, then it probably will be able to, but only a "retail" type disc will be able to.

tm45 · 12 Jul 2011

I couldn't find "OEM" anywhere on it, but where should I be looking? On the disc label itself? The disc says both Microsoft and HP, since it was part of the Windows 7 Upgrade Program back in 2009. It has the product key label on the package, but not sure where specifically I should look for the OEM.

If that doesn't work, would a 32 bit version of Windows 7 work on a 64 bit computer? (I have another copy - not an upgrade). I realize it would severely limit my RAM, but as it is right now, the computer won't function properly so I need to do something.

Thanks for your help.

Brink · 12 Jul 2011

It's hard to say since it has HP written on the disc. It may or may not be a factory recovery/restore type disc. I would recommend to backup anything that you do not want to lose first, then create a set of HP Vista recovery discs from your laptop.

Afterwards try and see if you may be able to.

Bill2 · 12 Jul 2011

Yes, the HP upgrade disk will be able to do a clean install. See here for instructions.

Upgrading to Windows 7 Using the HP Upgrade Assistant - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

tm45 · 12 Jul 2011

Thank you both for your help. Will try that.

Bill, the HP site doesn't mention a clean install anywhere that I could find, but it does mention a custom install. Is that what you're talking about? I am creating a system image now just in case something goes wrong or something unexpected happens (as it inevitably always does), but then I will get to work on it.

Thanks again, will respond with whether or not it worked.

Dave76 · 12 Jul 2011

Custom and Clean install are basically the same.

Good idea to have a backup.

Let us know how it's going.

tm45 · 13 Jul 2011

The clean/custom install worked. Thanks for the help everyone.

jsm555 · 14 Jul 2011

I was lucky enough to have to re-install Win 7 TWICE in one week. The first time, I had to use the script provided here to get Windows to think that it was ok to activate it, and that worked fine. However, I made the mistake of doing a bunch of catching-up on "upgrades" to both Windows and Office 2007, and Windows crashed again (apparently everyone in the world knew to do the SP1 update 'single-threaded' but me). The second time I did the install, I remembered to NOT enter a product key when I was doing the install. Then afterward, I did a manual activate with the product key and it just worked! I don't understand, but everything worked just perfectly! Thanks again!