Upgrade from Home to Ultimate

[Joe Ciaravino]

My current installation needs repairs and I don't have a install disk nor do I have a valid key.

If I buy an Ultimate install disk or key online can I upgrade using anytime upgrade, and will this repair any problems with my current installation?

 

[AddRAM]

You will never find a legitimate W7 Ultimate key online, and Anytime Upgrade has been dead for years.

Just upgrade what you have to Windows 10, once you do that, and if it still has problems, you can then clean install W10.

Either that or buy W7 Pro from a place like Newegg.

Windows 7, 8 and 10 Home and Professional - Newegg.com

 

[mrjimphelps]

You can still get the full retail version of Windows 8.1:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832397788

Not sure if you can get the full retail version of Windows 7.

If you go with Windows 8.1, you can install Classic Shell, and you can then configure it to look and feel exactly like Windows 7. Best of all, you will have security updates till January of 2023 (as opposed to January of 2020 for Windows 7).

 

[Joe Ciaravino]

From what I have been hearing, I was sold a "questionable" Windows OEM installation. The price that I paid was not far enough below the prices at the time for a mailed installation disk. The fact that it came as an inst6ant download was more than worth it's weight in gold. I am regretful for ever having bought this, and was not familiar with the normal process for purchasing Microsoft products. I did not consider a 20% discount at the time, in the realm of anything nebulous. I regret this mistake.

For the future, are you saying that any online download should be considered suspect? How can I purchase a legal product in the future? What do you recommend I do now to "reset".

 

[Joe Ciaravino]

The goal is to start with a solid foundation, and apparently mine is not.

I have years of refinement in this system which works very well for me.

If there are underlying problems, then I would like to know how to eliminate them now.

A fresh install is out of the question, and I hope to live for many more years, by the grace of god.

Please advise me as to how to get back on track, without a clean install.

REMEMBER that there are problems with Windows boot sector.

 

[SIW2]

You could try a repair install, which requires

1) Installation media, which is easy to get

2) A valid product key for your edition (Home Premium)

Do you have a product key sticker somewhere on the machine? Usually on the case, or for laptops, under the battery.

 

[Megahertz07]

If the computer is still running, use a key finder to retrieve the key used on it.
http://www.klinzmann.name/licensecrawler.htm

You can use any Win 7 installation disk to install Home edition.
How do I repair corrupt Win 7 - Page 2 - Windows 7 Help Forums

 

[Joe Ciaravino]

You could try a repair install, which requires

1) Installation media, which is easy to get

2) A valid product key for your edition (Home Premium)

Do you have a product key sticker somewhere on the machine? Usually on the case, or for laptops, under the battery.

I do not. Please read post #4. Regretful mistake. I built the machine.

 

[Joe Ciaravino]

If the computer is still running, use a key finder to retrieve the key used on it.
http://www.klinzmann.name/licensecrawler.htm

You can use any Win 7 installation disk to install Home edition.
How do I repair corrupt Win 7 - Page 2 - Windows 7 Help Forums

The key that I have is NOT recognized by Microsoft when I try a repair install.
Please don't flame me. I realize now after 3 years that I made a mistake. I would never have bought a bogus copy had I known.
What can I do now to fix this.
Can I buy a legitimate Windows 7 Ultimate?
Will an upgrade also repair my Windows boot sector and registry issues?

 

[Bat 1]

Upgrading from HP to Ultimate using Anytime Upgrade only unlocks Features, it won't repair anything.

Sorry to hear that it was done by mistake, but I can't tell you what I would do because of the rules.

 

[mrjimphelps]

You can get a legitimate retail copy of Windows 8.1 from Newegg. See my above post:
Upgrade from Home to Ultimate

"Retail" means that you can move it from computer to computer as much as you want to, using it on only one computer at a time.

You can install Classic Shell in Windows 8.1 to make it look and feel exactly like Windows 7. This is literally your last chance to have something that is just like Windows 7, and receive five more years of support from Microsoft.

 

[Joe Ciaravino]

You can get a legitimate retail copy of Windows 8.1 from Newegg. See my above post:
Upgrade from Home to Ultimate

"Retail" means that you can move it from computer to computer as much as you want to, using it on only one computer at a time.

You can install Classic Shell in Windows 8.1 to make it look and feel exactly like Windows 7. This is literally your last chance to have something that is just like Windows 7, and receive five more years of support from Microsoft.

Thanks for that link.

First let me say that this 3 - 4 year old home made computer works excellently, fast and no quirks. Other than the fact that lately F8 no longer works, sfc /scannow finds some files that it cannot repair, and that LATELY when I use Eusing Registry Cleaner it "stalls" (never finishes) during scan for "empty keys", so I uncheck "empty keys" and it works fine. These three things bother me. They have no effect on operation, but they tell me that there are underlying problems somewhere and that they will have to be addressed some day otherwise they will be carried over to any future upgrades that I make to this computer. Am I correct in assuming that? I use this mainly for internet with occasional print jobs and document writing, and photo editing. It is a dual boot with UBUNTU as well as Win 7, accessible via F12 into a separate boot menu.

A few questions if you don't mind:

1. Is my above assumption correct?
2. If I upgrade to Win 8.1, will these problems be fixed?
3. Will I have to do a clean install in order to fix any underlying problems?

Thanks for staying with me. If the answer to question 1 is "yes" then I will have to bite the bullet sooner or later. If that is the case, then I might be better off doing it sooner rather than later. If the answer is "no" then I like Win 7 and the way this computer runs. I have no problem holding out as long as I can before I finally install Win 10.

I hope that I gave you a fairly clear understanding of my goals.

 

[LMiller7]

Depending on the precise details of the problem, which you probably can't know, an in place upgrade may or may not solve the problem. The only sure way to solve any preexisting issues is to do a clean install.

 

[Joe Ciaravino]

If I buy a new OEM (?) / retail (?) 64 bit Windows 7 Professional installation disk (Newegg shows that they still sell them) will I be able to use it for a successful repair installation which will fix everything including registry errors, missing/damaged files, and Windows boot sector issues?

Remember that I have a 64 bit Windows 7 Home of questionable origin (bad key) installed. Again, I am sorry but was scammed when I inadvertently bought it 3-4 years ago. I am willing to pay now to get back on track.

 

[SIW2]

If I buy a new OEM (?) / retail (?) 64 bit Windows 7 Professional installation disk (Newegg shows that they still sell them) will I be able to use it for a successful repair installation which will fix everything including registry errors, missing/damaged files, and Windows boot sector issues?

A repair install replaces all windows files and copies your settings & programs. It has to be done from within your running windows.

Not sure what you mean by bootsector issues. Probably a good idea to fix those first.

 

[mrjimphelps]

Joe:

Since you aren't setting up your computer to sell to someone, you need to buy the retail version of Windows 8.1, not the OEM version.

A clean install, which includes deleting all partitions on the drive then creating one new partition, then formatting that partition, should eliminate all problems on your drive, unless you have a failing drive, in which case you would need to replace the drive. You always get a cleaner install when you wipe the drive first, although it isn't usually required that you wipe the drive first.

 

[Joe Ciaravino]

A repair install replaces all windows files and copies your settings & programs. It has to be done from within your running windows.

Not sure what you mean by bootsector issues. Probably a good idea to fix those first.

I mean Windows boot sector. Maybe I'm using the wrong terminology.

The "main" (?) boot sector seems OK.............it will boot into Windows, Ubuntu, CDROM, USB device. It is the "Windows Boot Sector" (? terminology) where I think the problem lies because I don't get an advanced Windows boot menu.

 

[Joe Ciaravino]

Joe:

Since you aren't setting up your computer to sell to someone, you need to buy the retail version of Windows 8.1, not the OEM version.

A clean install, which includes deleting all partitions on the drive then creating one new partition, then formatting that partition, should eliminate all problems on your drive, unless you have a failing drive, in which case you would need to replace the drive. You always get a cleaner install when you wipe the drive first, although it isn't usually required that you wipe the drive first.

Thank you.

If I buy a retail 64 bit W7 Ultimate, then I can do a repair install, which will also upgrade from Home to Ultimate........RIGHT?

If I buy a retail 64 bit W8.1 Pro, then can I do a repair install which will upgrade from 7 Home to 8.1?

In either case, if a repair install doesn't solve the issues, then I can always do a clean install later on. Rather than go directly to a clean install, I'd like to try a repair install first.

 

[Joe Ciaravino]

Installing Win 8.1 would be the better choice. If I do so, then I understand that I can install "Classic Shell" to make it feel like Windows 7. I have a very old version of Windows Word and Windows Excel installed. Would I need to buy a late version for Win 8? Also, I read somewhere that I can eliminate certain updates to Win 8 which will alleviate the data mining situation. Is there anything that I can do to totally eliminate it as in Windows 7? I also killed the "auto update feature" in Win 7........can I do the same with Win 8.1?

 

[mrjimphelps]

It is a good idea to first try the repair install. As you say, you can always do a clean install later.

It is getting hard to find a retail version of Windows 7 from a legitimate dealer. However, you can get a retail version of Windows 8.1. The three types of Windows 8.1 that are available are: "8.1"; "8.1 Pro"; and "8.1 Enterprise". "Pro" will have everything you need. The version I linked to at Newegg is "Pro".

What version of Word and Excel do you have? You can probably get them to work; but keep in mind that anything older than 2010 is no longer receiving security patches from Microsoft. Another option is to use Microsoft Office Online, which is free, and which is a stripped down version of the latest Microsoft Office. (Does not include Outlook.) You can find it here:
https://products.office.com/en-us/office-online/documents-spreadsheets-presentations-office-online

You can turn off automatic updates both in 7 and in 8.1. Then do your research; and when the experts say it is safe to update, update your computer. As long as you do that, you don't need to have automatic updates turned on.