Bad news guys !

Hi Bill,

The difference between the upgrade license and the full license is this:

To qualify for the upgrade license you are supposed to already have a qualifying version of Windows ( XP or Vista - and originally, 2K counted as well).

That is all.

With both versions you can do an in place upgrade ( following the supported paths)

With both versions you can boot the dvd and do a custom install.

Both versions have the same system recovery and repair options.

Perhaps I should amplify that I was speaking/writing from my own particular perspective, conditions and problems, which were:

I installed the W-7 Home Premium upgrade successfully on a computer with Vista Home Premium.

Immediately there was a problem -"Dealio file cannot be found, do you want to repair" - yes. I had to click the box 3 times before it would boot into Internet Explorer.

Actually I think that if I had made the recovery and system disks then I would have had a corrupted problem on them. So effectively I don't think I ever had a fair chance to make usable disks.

After many days of that nuisance I downloaded Reg Cure which was a mistake.

Subsequently I couldn't boot up past the logo.

I tried EVERYTHING. Re-installed W-7, it didn't work. Tried system restore, didn't work. System repair - no. Command prompt - no.

Nothing on the Windows - 7 32 bit upgrade functioned or did anything to help.

It was like being out on the street, locked out of my own home, with the burglar inside. The local police couldn't deal with it so I needed the SWAT team.

I was of the belief that if I had purchased the complete "clean install" version it would have booted me up. As such I imagine I could have saved my files and other software such as Microsoft Streets and Trips, Microsoft Word word processing and other security software.

The down side of using HP factory recovery is that it wiped the disk and started over installing only what came new. It was like a system restore at day one. All else was removed. Fortunately Dealio went to the trash bin along with everything else. The SWAT team did it's job but the collateral damage was extensive and expensive.

On the matter of XP -The W-7 upgrade version will remove XP. It has to be reinstalled as do other files and programs if it is to be saved.

Quote: *( From Windows 7 package ).

If you have Windows XP on your computer, you will have to replace Windows XP with Windows 7. Before you begin, make sure you have the original installation disks for your program. After you install Windows 7, you will need to manually install your programs and restore your files and settings.

The value judgment of deciding on W-7 upgrade at $127 or the W-7 clean install, complete version at $179 needs to be weighed. If something goes wrong upon installing the upgrade, there can be trouble that the upgrade version won't fix. And lots of extra expense as well as lost time.

If I am making an erroneous judgment, and the clean install version won't correct problems, I would like to know about it. But presently I feel that next time there is a new version introduced I won't buy the upgrade version again. I'll try the full, clean install. Sort of insurance.

That's the rationale for my comments.