Downgrade From Win7 RC to Vista

Nope, you should be able to upgrade with the Windows 7 Retail very easily.

I was running the RC on my computer and purchased an upgrade copy of Win7, which had no problem allowing me to install Windows 7 in place of the RC that was there. Just boot to the Win7 install disc and away you go (do you know how to set your computer to boot using the DVD drive?)

BeechV35Pilot said:

Nope, you should be able to upgrade with the Windows 7 Retail very easily.

I was running the RC on my computer and purchased an upgrade copy of Win7, which had no problem allowing me to install Windows 7 in place of the RC that was there. Just boot to the Win7 install disc and away you go (do you know how to set your computer to boot using the DVD drive?)

Yep! I've had experience with the boot config in the past

SURF said:

No i dont believe that you have to do that, i would put the disk in and then click the upgrade button thats all you have to do. i dont think it would hurt to try.

Ahh, I see.. I guess I didn't think it would be that easy. I'll have a go at this when I get home.

Thanks for your help guys!

You should read this:

Tutorial quick reference list for Installing Windows 7

And then this:

Doing a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

I believe MS specifically made upgrade to retail from activated RC a supported upgrade path from upgrade media as a way of saying thank you to the masses of public beta and RC testers who really did help them develop W7 so successfully with all the telemetry and error reporting that was collected from these users while W7 was being developed.

So yes you can install over the RC with upgrade media. What is not officially supported is an upgrade install, however, this also can be done and is worth a try if you have a lot of apps and settings already installed. If it doesn't work out, the clean install option is still available. Otherwise, if this is a new machine to you and you don't have much already installed, you are better off doing a clean install with your upgrade media.

sixpackcuda said:

I've searched around, but really haven't found a straight answer to this question. I bought a laptop on ebay that came with 64-Bit Windows 7 RC, now I've got the retail Win7 upgrade. So I'm assuming I have to go back to Vista, and then upgrade to Win7 Retail.

My question is: If possible, how can I downgrade from the RC back to Vista, so that I can then upgrade with the retail version? Do I just have to pop my laptop manufacturer's Vista disc in & do an entire HD format?

Any help would be great. Thanks!

sixpackcuda,

Welcome to SevenForums,

Four of us Gurus were discussing this yesterday in trying to help a user upgrade from the RC7100 win7. You might read this thread & do some searching before you downgrade.

Unable to follow install tutorial

" Doc "

harpua said:

So yes you can install over the RC with upgrade media. What is not officially supported is an upgrade install, however, this also can be done and is worth a try if you have a lot of apps and settings already installed. If it doesn't work out, the clean install option is still available. Otherwise, if this is a new machine to you and you don't have much already installed, you are better off doing a clean install with your upgrade media.

For the OP I should have included in my post that I moved from 32 to 64 bit when I installed Win7 retail over Win7 RC, so the install routine moved all my programs and user data that was on the Win7 RC system drive to the Windows.old folder and then in essence did a clean, fresh install.

In other words, I did not experience an upgrade in place and had to install all my apps again. Not a big deal, but worth pointing out.