So I decided to upgrade my desktop and have completely replaced all of the hardware, however that's irrelevant. I currently have Windows Vista Home Basic on the system but was offered a copy of Windows 7 Professional for $30 from my university and wanted to know if I could install a clean copy of Windows 7 Pro on a system that has Windows Vista Home Basic since I know I cannot upgrade.
Welcome to Seven Forums JamesKPNC...
u can check here..similar question..!
can I upgrade from Vista Home Premium to Seven Profesional - CNET Windows 7 Forums
Even if you can upgrade, you should do a clean install. It gets all of the junk off your HD and lets you start out with the correct files. Just backup all of your files, boot from the Win 7 DVD and follow instructions. The install takes about 45 minutes. Let us know if you have questions on it. == One other thing, when it asks for your Win 7 Key, do not put it in immediately. See if things are OK first and put the Key in within 30 days.
James,
Here is the reference to the official MS list of valid/invalid paths.
Download details: Windows 7 Upgrade Paths
The tables therein are used in many articles on the web.
Hello JamesKPNC, welcome to Seven Forums!
If you are using the old Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and you have made backups of the data you want to keep have a look at the info below, that would be the way to go.
Information
After you have made backups of everything you care to save and you want to do a real wipe "secure erase" to the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) have a look at this tutorial at the link below, it over-writes everything, all the old Windows code including the old Windows drivers, everything all data, giving you the best possible space to install Windows 7 to; it goes hand-in-hand with a clean install.
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation
Do a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version
Student deals are retail copies, which can be put on any machine of your choice, moved whenever you want, as long as they are only on one machine at a time.
If you can Anytime Upgrade from Basic to Pro then you can input the retail Product Key into Anytime Upgrade which will work. Type "Anytime Upgrade" into start search box to start the process to see.
There is also an in-place Upgrade workaround between versions of Win7 which has good reviews if Anytime is not supported for that path. It tricks the installer into thinking it's doing a same-version Repair Install which is always allowed.
Otherwise do the Clean Install from booted Win7 DVD.
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