Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

How to Do a Clean Install with an Upgrade Windows 7 Version​


   Information
This will show you how to do a Clean Install using a retail Upgrade Windows 7 installation disc.

   Warning
Remember that you need to legally own a valid qualifying previous version of Windows to use a Upgrade Windows 7, and to stop using (or uninstall) the qualifying OS while you have the upgrade installed. Microsoft only made doing a clean install from a upgrade Windows 7 possible to make it more convenient so you do not have to reinstall both the old Windows version (ex: Vista) and upgrade to Windows 7 everytime you needed or wanted to reinstall.

If you do not legally own a valid qualifying previous version of Windows, then you are violating the terms of Microsoft's Windows 7 End User License Agreement and could get your product key number invalidated by Microsoft. Plus, it is considered illegal.

For more about this, please see: Microsoft SMB Community Blog : Regardless of what any hack says, a Windows 7 Upgrade is an Upgrade. What you need to know.






OPTION ONE

A Normal Clean Install


1. Do a clean install at boot without checking the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box during the installation process.

2. When the installation is finished, then manually activate Windows 7 with your product key number.

3. If your Windows should fail to activate, then pick up at step 2 in OPTION THREE below.






OPTION TWO

Through a Custom Install


   Note
This option will let you do a clean install of Windows 7 without formating the current Windows installation to have your current Windows installation backed up to the Windows.old folder during the installation of your retail upgrade Windows 7. This way you can copy any files back that you want from the C:\Windows.old folder (previous installation) back into your new installation afterwards.

1. Do a custom install at boot or from within your current Windows installation without checking the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box during the installation process.

2. When the installation is finished, then manually activate Windows 7 with your product key number.

3. Copy any files that you want back from the C:\Windows.old folder into where you want it in you new installation.

4. You can now delete the Windows.old folder using Disk Cleanup to have a clean install now.






OPTION THREE

Clean Install with a Registry Workaround for Error Code 0xc004f061


   Note
If you get a activation error code 0xc004f061 while doing OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO above, then you will need to use this option instead

win7_upgrade_media_06.jpg


1. Do a clean install of your upgrade Windows 7 at boot without checking the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box during the installation process.
NOTE: If you already did this from OPTION ONE above and got a activation error, then skip this step and just proceed to step 2 below instead. There's no need to reinstall again.

2. Click on the Download button below to download the .bat file below, and save it to your desktop.
Activate_Windows_Upgrade_after_Clean_Install.bat


Download


3. Right click on the downloaded .bat file, and click on Run as administrator.

4. If prompted, click/tap on Run and Yes (UAC).
NOTE: If you like, you can stop getting the Run prompt by unblocking the downloaded .bat file.

5. You will now notice a command prompt quickly open and close while applying the changes to your registry.

6. Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
OK.jpg
7. Restart the computer.

8. When the computer is finished restarting, then manually activate Windows 7 with your product key number.



OPTION FOUR

Double Installing Windows 7


   Note
This option is the same that was used to do a clean install of an upgrade copy of Windows 7. It's more work, but if the options above did not work for you, then this should since this is the most reliable option.

1. Do a clean install of your upgrade Windows 7 at boot without checking the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box during the installation process, and do not activate Windows 7. When finished with the clean install, do not or install any Windows Updates, drivers, or programs yet.

2. When finished with the clean install, start at step 4 at this link to do an in-place "upgrade" install with your upgrade Windows 7 installation disk from within the just now finished clean install of Windows 7.

3. When the in-place upgrade installation is completely finished, then manually activate Windows 7 with your product key number. You can now also install any Windows Updates drivers, and programs you like.
That's it,
Shawn






Related Tutorials

 

Attachments

Last edited:
Click to expand...
My situation is my old os was 32bit vista home basic, and I orded the 64bit Win7 professional.
But I cann't directly active the system by the clean install with the key.(my notebook can ran both 32bit and 64bit os)
What the problem is that?
 

My Computer

OS
vista home base
Hello Prunas, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Did you try Method Three in the tutorial on the first page to get it activated?
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Thanks for this great tutorial, Brink! I'm slowly learning on here too! :p
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
coolfire
OS
7 Home Premium x64
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz
Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L
Memory
4.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Inno3D® GeForce™ 9800 GT
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Philips 240SW9
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1200 pixels
Hard Drives
Hitachi HDP725050GLA360 500GB
Internet Speed
10Mbps downstream & 1Mbps upstream
You're welcome Coolfire, and welcome to Seven Forums. :)
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hi, thanks for this great tutorial. it came in very handy when I simply tried to upgrade without the clean install and I had some annoying error messges. I then Used "Option 2".

My question: I used option 2. Everything seems to be running stable. Would it have been better to wipe/reformat my hard drive before I installed 7 so I would have installed to a blank drive? Or was option 2 just as good?
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Digital Storm
OS
Windows 7
CPU
i7 920
Motherboard
MSI X58M
Memory
3 gig
Graphics Card(s)
GTX 275
Sound Card
on board 7.1
Monitor(s) Displays
23 in Dell
PSU
700w
Case
Coolermaster 922
Cooling
Asetech H2O CPU, the rest is air cooled
Hello Ashaff, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Either method is just as good. A custom install is basically the same as a clean install except that a custom install places the previous OS files in the Windows.old folder instead of just wiping them out as in a clean install. Once you delete the Windows.old folder, they are completely the same. :)

Hope this helps,
Shawn
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Brink said:
Hello Prunas, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Did you try Method Three in the tutorial on the first page to get it activated?
Click to expand...

Thank you!
I reinstalled again with the new iso dvd, it worked.
Thanks a lot!
 

My Computer

OS
vista home base
You're welcome Prunus. I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted. :)
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Brink said:
Hello Ashaff, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Either method is just as good. A custom install is basically the same as a clean install except that a custom install places the previous OS files in the Windows.old folder instead of just wiping them out as in a clean install. Once you delete the Windows.old folder, they are completely the same. :)

Hope this helps,
Shawn
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reasurance. Thanks for helping, I'm glad people like you will help noobs like me.

So am I correct in thinking that with option 2 windows is simply wiping that hard drive instead the same as I would manually be doing it (exept for retaining the OS files in .old folder)? In other words windows is just doing this step for me?
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Digital Storm
OS
Windows 7
CPU
i7 920
Motherboard
MSI X58M
Memory
3 gig
Graphics Card(s)
GTX 275
Sound Card
on board 7.1
Monitor(s) Displays
23 in Dell
PSU
700w
Case
Coolermaster 922
Cooling
Asetech H2O CPU, the rest is air cooled
That would be correct. :)
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
HI,

I have already installed Win 7 Pro Upgrade (Digital River) and did a clean install and remove the extra partition. I did not activate as yet and installed several apps to make sure everything would run nicely. SO now I am happy with the setup and have updated everything to the lastest Windows update. I tried to enter the key to activate and it would not let me:cry:. Can I use the rearm option to activate it? or do I have to reinstall Win XP?:confused:

Also, can I reinstall with the same Key multiple time on the same PC? ( I like to reinstall at least once a year the OS and all apps to get a smooth PC). Is this possible?:geek:

Thanks for you help in advance!!

PS. Is the Digital River D/L .EXE or .ISO of the student special of Win 7 Professional UPG considered a Retail Version or an OEM?

PLPL
 

My Computer

OS
WINDOWS XP
According to what Ive read, if your version from Digital River is an upgrade, you must perform an upgrade for the Digital River key to be able to activate Windows 7... Hope this helps...

Source
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
LENOVO K450 @3.0GHZ
OS
64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro
CPU
Core(TM) i5 CPU 4330 Haswell @ 3.20GHz
Motherboard
LENOVO
Memory
12.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel(R) HD Graphics
Sound Card
Intel HD integtrated
Monitor(s) Displays
HP 25' ISP Monitor
Screen Resolution
1900/1020
Hard Drives
(1) ST1000DM003-1CH162 (2) Generic STORAGE DEVICE USB Device (3) Generic STORAGE DEVICE USB Device
Internet Speed
100mb down/10mb up
I have another question. My PC is overclocked. Should I have removed the overclock before doing the clean install? Or does it not matter because the overclock is on the bios?

My PC seems stable.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Digital Storm
OS
Windows 7
CPU
i7 920
Motherboard
MSI X58M
Memory
3 gig
Graphics Card(s)
GTX 275
Sound Card
on board 7.1
Monitor(s) Displays
23 in Dell
PSU
700w
Case
Coolermaster 922
Cooling
Asetech H2O CPU, the rest is air cooled
Hello Andy,

As long as your computer runs stable with the overclock is not necessary since this is just through the BIOS. :)
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Thanks again man. It really seems to still be stable but I had heard that some people prefer to loose their overclocks before installing windows.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Digital Storm
OS
Windows 7
CPU
i7 920
Motherboard
MSI X58M
Memory
3 gig
Graphics Card(s)
GTX 275
Sound Card
on board 7.1
Monitor(s) Displays
23 in Dell
PSU
700w
Case
Coolermaster 922
Cooling
Asetech H2O CPU, the rest is air cooled
Firstly, THANK YOU for a fine tutorial. And THANK YOU for the others as well. I joined primarily to say THANKS.

My situation was a crashed hard drive (Vista) and we decided to put on Win 7 since we hated Vista anyway. The box for Win 7 says upgrade from previous version (which we legally and completely had). It does not say a thing about "it must be running"!

This tutorial with the "-rearm" step did the trick. I was legal and still am. :)

Spuddie
 

My Computer

OS
win 7 pro
You're most welcome Andy and Spuddie. :)
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
This is really helpful, thanks.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Microsoft
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x32
CPU
AMD Athlon
Motherboard
Gigabyte
Memory
Kingston
Graphics Card(s)
Ati Radeon 9950
Monitor(s) Displays
Philips
Hard Drives
1-160GB and 1-80GB
Keyboard
A4Tech X7
Mouse
A4Tech X7
Internet Speed
~25MB/s D and ~15MB/s U
You're welcome SouLord, and welcome to Seven Forums. :)
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
hello, i'm new here.
thank you for such a useful post.
will i have to do this every time i want to reinstall my os?
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell 1525
OS
Windows Vista
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