Cheapest place to buy??

[hatrabbit]

I need the full retail Windows 7 Ultimate but want to get a legit copy. I see everything from full price at the retailers to ~$175 on ebay to obviously pirated copies on Craigslist... anyone here have the lowdown on a discount non-sketchy source?

 

[Maguscreed]

Retailers are the only reliable source. Many of the ebay copies are pirated as well. I can locate upgrade ultimate's as low as 80 and even that is outlet level deal.

 

[gregrocker]

Do you have any retail copy of XP or Vista to qualify you for Update version? It doesn't have to even be installed to qualify you.

If so, the best deal right now is Home Premium Upgrade Family 3-pack for $129 at NewEgg and Amazon.

 

[Maguscreed]

He's apparently specifically after ultimate.

 

[hatrabbit]

No, I need the full install, I'm going from XP to 7. I'll keep searching for a deal.

 

[gregrocker]

Then having XP qualifies you to use Upgrade version. You don't have to do an in-place Upgrade to qualify for Upgrade version, just have a qualifying retail copy of XP or Vista on hand (it doesn't have to be installed) or use the upgrade on a machine which came pre-installed with XP or Vista (also doesn't have to be on the machine at the time).

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

What extra features do you need on Ultimate that are not on Home Premium?

 

[Wishmaster]

I always just buy from the MS store, and burn my own disc.

But purchasing from a retailer already mentioned is good too.
Depending how you prefer to do it.

 

[RDougShelton]

GreRocker: is that Home Premium Upgrade pack a "Bootable" Windows ver

I got a "free" Vista to Win 7 Upgrade set of CDs a few months ago; went ahead and upgraded Vista to WEin 7 (and to SP1 a month ago or so), BUT recently (to my deep chagrin) discovered they were not bootable.

I Do have a recovery disk, but that doesn't have all the components of windows I need to rebuild my corrupted system.

I want to get a fully bootable version of Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit - as I understand that contains a "vanilla" version of the Win 7 registry. I need it to restore my corrupt registry back to a viable vanilla version so I can bring Windows back up (and yes: I've already been thru multiple posts and replies in every MS Windows forum in creation trying to figure out how to restore my Startup Repair-indicated corrupt registry / "unable to recover", and also with a System Restore point that doesn't actually exist despite showing up as an option to restore, and a System Image Recovery that's failing).

Anyone know if the $129 3-pack upgrade from NewEgg or Amazon is
(a) SP1; and
(b) fully-bootable?

 

[Imperfect1]

And, keep an eye out for COUPONS. They are so helpful when trying to keep the price down. Here are a few coupon sites: www.Fatwallet.com, www.deals2buy.com, and Bing Shopping, and you can Google the word coupons coupled with whatever it is you're looking to purchase.

 

[patio]

If you are a Student currently at University there are substantial discounts from Microsoft...

 

[gregrocker]

I got a "free" Vista to Win 7 Upgrade set of CDs a few months ago; went ahead and upgraded Vista to WEin 7 (and to SP1 a month ago or so), BUT recently (to my deep chagrin) discovered they were not bootable.

I Do have a recovery disk, but that doesn't have all the components of windows I need to rebuild my corrupted system.

I want to get a fully bootable version of Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit - as I understand that contains a "vanilla" version of the Win 7 registry. I need it to restore my corrupt registry back to a viable vanilla version so I can bring Windows back up (and yes: I've already been thru multiple posts and replies in every MS Windows forum in creation trying to figure out how to restore my Startup Repair-indicated corrupt registry / "unable to recover", and also with a System Restore point that doesn't actually exist despite showing up as an option to restore, and a System Image Recovery that's failing).

Anyone know if the $129 3-pack upgrade from NewEgg or Amazon is
(a) SP1; and
(b) fully-bootable?

Any Win retail installer is fully bootable.

Where did you get the free Win7 upgrade from Vista? If it is manufacturer's Upgrade Kit those contain a bootable DVD so you should try again to get it to boot. Use the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key to trigger your DVD drive.

If it fails to boot, open it in Computer to post back a screenshot of the file contents, using SNipping Tool in Start Menu.

If you can start Win7 you can also run a Repair Install from the DVD which should repair your registry.

Otherwise you can find an installer for your exact licensed version and follow these steps to get a perfect install: Reinstalling Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html?ltr=R