Windows 7/10 upgrade path

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
Not sure which region you're in but this is about the only place I'd buy from seeing it is sold and shipped from the same place and a reputable company at a reasonable price :)
Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit-Newegg.com

*sigh* :) ...for (hopefully) the last time, that is OEM, and OEM does me no good. I do appreciate the sentiment and thought behind the response, though!

-- Nathan

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
What is wrong with oem/ system builders again sorry I missed it :)

Won't allow me to perform an in-place upgrade from Vista. OEM keys only work with a clean install.

...unless (and this is something that just occurred to me) it is possible to perform the MediaBootInstall registry hack (the one commonly used to do a clean install with an upgrade-only key) in reverse? That is, skip key entry during upgrade install, change MediaBootInstall value from 0 to 1 (instead of from 1 to 0) after upgrade, add key to system and try to activate?

Anyone tried that?

-- Nathan

All,

Thanks again! It was news to me that it would be possible to use an OEM key to perform an in-place upgrade, but sure enough, it does sound like this is possible. Furthermore, in a test VM, I tried using an OEM key after doing an in-place upgrade from Vista, both with and without touching the MediaBootInstall registry key (and subsequently rearming), and the system accepted the OEM key in *both* cases, although I did not go on and let it try to actually activate the install with that key, so I'm not 100% sure what would have happened in that case (though the threads that SIW2 linked to would certainly suggest that MS activation servers don't care whether you use an OEM key to activate an in-place upgrade install, which I find strange, but whatever!).

However, in the end, I didn't even have to worry about trying this out in the real-world, because my original plan worked and went off without a hitch:

1. I bought a used but completely valid copy of retail Windows 7 Ultimate off of eBay for $80 from an actual Microsoft employee in the Seattle area (cheapest clearly non-counterfeit Pro or Ultimate license I could find on eBay at the time).

2. I in-place upgraded from XP to Vista without supplying a product key during the install or activating afterward (though it sounds like I would have had no problem doing so with the Vista OEM key printed on the system's attached COA).

3. I in-place upgraded from unactivated Vista to 7 using the key and disc that I bought second-hand. It activated without any issue (wasn't even prompted for phone activation, to my surprise).

4. I in-place upgraded from this activated 7 install to Windows 10 Pro Creators Update, and was issued a digital entitlement and the install activated without a hitch.

I'm happy, the end-user is happy, and all is right with the world.

-- Nathan