I'm just finishing up my hardware build for my pc.
Mobo: Asus Crosshair III
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2G AM3
I've got RAM, GPU, DVD drive, HDD, and PSU all hooked up without any operating system.
I just wanted to make sure that the student UPGRADE from win741.com could be installed on system with 64-bit without any OS through a custom install before I make the purchase.
The version you are buying is an UPGRADE to windows 7. An upgrade requires you to already have a valid version of XP or Vista installed before upgrading.
You should really purchase the full RETAIL version for your new PC to make it legal.
I have no direct experience with the student version. I thought that it was a full version, but you can clean install on a blank drive even if it's an upgarde version:
Clean install with Windows 7 upgrade media? Get the facts! | Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report | ZDNet.com
If it's an upgrade version, you really ought to have a qualifying OS in hand, even though you don't have to install and upgrade it. If you don't have a qualifying OS (XP or Vista), you'd be in violation of the license agreement.
Installing and reinstalling Windows 7
Through that link it had a tip talking about using custom install with no OS previously installed, I just wanted to know if anyone else had done it, i got plenty of old xp disks laying around. I just didn't want to have to go through the trouble.
Yes you never have to reinstall the qualifying OS, just keep the key handy with your Upgrade key as documentation.
THere are two ways to install Upgrade to new HDD:
run a repair (upgrade over itself) install from the new desktop at startup, which will take the key and activate.
or
http://community.winsupersite.com/bl...he-answer.aspx
After you get it installed and set up, use Win7 Backup Imaging to save an image externally (and to a primary partition if you want) so you never have to reinstall again, just boot into installer/repair disk and "Recover Using an Image" to reimage your HDD or a replacement flawlessly in 15 minutes
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