Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

Actually, what you said would be in violation of the EULA (and thus illegal) if you were installing on a computer that did not have Windows installed on it previously and you did not own a retail copy of any other version of Windows. The fact that you can get away with it does not make it right. That is, unless you are trying to say that it is okay to use an upgrade version to go from one edition of Windows 7 to another. In which case I would still like to get a confirmation from Brink.

Hey VK and Petey,

As per the red warning box at the top of the tutorial, Microsoft allows you to do be able to only do a clean install with an upgrade Windows 7 instead of having to install the qualifying OS (ex: Vista) first and upgrade to Windows 7. This was done for convenience for their customers.

Doing a clean install with an upgrade Windows 7 is only legal (EULA) if you own a qualifying OS (ex: Vista) and do not use it's product key while the upgrade Windows 7 is installed and activated.

If you do not own a qualifying OS and just purchase an upgrade copy because it's cheaper than a full copy, then it would not be a legal installation and you would be at risk of having it's product key permanently deactivated by Microsoft.

Did you see my earlier post? I was trying to be sure my specific set up was legal and was hoping for a specific yes or no answer. As I stated before, I do own a couple retail copies of XP, but XP was never installed on this my current PC.

Wouldn't this tutorial be illegal to do then ? If you are installing Windows on a clean hard drive using an upgrade DVD version and not input the key that came within the DVD box . To be able to use the key you would have to reinstall windows with the key this time for it work ? The tutorial is listed in winsupersite.com

I don't know anyone that does an " upgrade " on top of an older OS Install . Everyone I know does clean installs on old and new pcs .

Note : Not trying to start an argument here just trying to get some clarification

Petey7 said:

Did you see my earlier post? I was trying to be sure my specific set up was legal and was hoping for a specific yes or no answer. As I stated before, I do own a couple retail copies of XP, but XP was never installed on this my current PC.

Yes, you will be able to legally use the tutorial with your upgrade Windows 7 since you own a qualifying retail XP that you basically are replacing with Windows 7 by no longer using the XP key while the upgrade Windows 7 is installed and activated. :)

He stated XP has never been installed on that computer . So as long as you own a physical copy of previous windows versions you may legally install windows 7 with an upgrade disk to do a clean install ?

VistaKing said:

Wouldn't this tutorial be illegal to do then ....

What I said was if you did not own a copy of another version of windows and the PC you were installing on had never had Windows on it. This tutorial is mostly for cases like my old computer. I had done an upgrade from XP to 7, but then my original hard drive failed. It doesn't make sense to install XP and then 7. It would just waste time, so instead I just installed 7 and used option 3. I still owned the XP license, and XP had been installed on the computer in the past, I just skipped an hour or more of wasted effort.

My new computer is a different story through.

VistaKing said:

Wouldn't this tutorial be illegal to do then ? If you are installing Windows on a clean hard drive using an upgrade DVD version and not input the key that came within the DVD box . To be able to use the key you would have to reinstall windows with the key this time for it work ? The tutorial is listed in winsupersite.com

I don't know anyone that does an " upgrade " on top of an older OS Install . Everyone I know does clean installs on old and new pcs .

Note : Not trying to start an argument here just trying to get some clarification

Just like with anything, it depends on how it's used by the individual.

If you follow the red warning and what I posted above to comply with the EULA, then it's perfectly legal.

Otherwise, the individual would be performing an illegal action, and would thus be subject to any penalty of law, and/or having the key permanently deactivated by Microsoft.

VistaKing said:

He stated XP has never been installed on that computer . So as long as you own a physical copy of previous windows versions you may legally install windows 7 with an upgrade disk to do a clean install ?

If it's a retail copy of a qualifying OS, then yes.

The upgrade is to replace a qualifying OS by either clean install (if own a retail qualifying OS) or upgrade install (if own a retail or OEM qualifying OS).

To each their own . Doubt Microsoft would call up their lawyers I'd they found out . They have more fish to fry .

Note : don't worry i buy my windows copies from retail stores .