Upgrading from RC to retail (upgrade version)

Hey guys. I know this has probably been asked a million times before, I'm sorry though I don't have time to look and I want an up-to-date answer.

Anyway, I am currently using Windows 7 RC. A while back, I purchased Windows 7 Professional from the Digital River student offer (for $30, good thing I'm a student).

Then I found out it's an upgrade version, but it doesn't matter since there are workarounds to do a fresh install with it anyway.

However, I wanted to see if there are any options of upgrading from RC to the retail/upgrade version that I bought. The thing is, I HATE the hassle of resetting everything and reinstalling all the programs manually. I also have a ton of games installer besides just that, it'll take bloody forever to get everything done.

I was wondering if there was any way to preserve on that. I've been doing this stuff for a while and I know it's normally not possible but I stopped following the hardware industry a while ago so who knows what's possible now. I just wanted to ask about all the possible installation options and I know for example if you edit a file on the W7 disk you can enable the upgrade option, but it will store all your files in a folder called windows.old and not save all your program installations or something...

Can somebody just clear this up for me? I'll really appreciate it, thanks.

-Ed :)

Many have reported good results doing an in-place Upgrade from the RC using this popular workaround: Upgrade the Windows 7 RC to any retail version Icrontic Tech

Thanks guys! Those tutorials are going to be extremely useful.

However, there is one more issue:
When I go to the files I've downloaded from Digital River, I only have 3 files:

setup1.box
setup2.box
Win7-P-Retail-en-us-x64.exe.

So... there isn't exactly a way I can change the version file so I can change the build number. As of now.
Can anyone tell me what's up with that? Perhaps some way to extract them or...?

Use this first to create a bootable ISO to burn to DVD using ImgBurn at 4x with Verify. You'll need it for reinstalls and repair, too.

Make bootable iso from student d/l

After Step Two, edit the version number as given in the workaround, then continue with the Steps to create an ISO to burn.

Here is an alternate method to recompiling an ISO after editing files: Bootable ISO - Create from Installation Files

gregrocker said:

Use this first to create a bootable ISO to burn to DVD using ImgBurn at 4x with Verify. You'll need it for reinstalls and repair, too.

Make bootable iso from student d/l

After Step Two, edit the version number as given in the workaround, then continue with the Steps to create an ISO to burn.

Here is an alternate method to recompiling an ISO after editing files: Bootable ISO - Create from Installation Files

Wait, don't I just need to do the unpack, edit the version number (and the registry editing) and simply start installing from my computer? As far as I know in the previous tutorials I don't actually need to boot from the CD, but just launch the setup file from the computer.

LiTos456 said:

Hey guys. I know this has probably been asked a million times before, I'm sorry though I don't have time to look and I want an up-to-date answer.

Anyway, I am currently using Windows 7 RC. A while back, I purchased Windows 7 Professional from the Digital River student offer (for $30, good thing I'm a student).

Then I found out it's an upgrade version, but it doesn't matter since there are workarounds to do a fresh install with it anyway.

However, I wanted to see if there are any options of upgrading from RC to the retail/upgrade version that I bought. The thing is, I HATE the hassle of resetting everything and reinstalling all the programs manually. I also have a ton of games installer besides just that, it'll take bloody forever to get everything done.

I was wondering if there was any way to preserve on that. I've been doing this stuff for a while and I know it's normally not possible but I stopped following the hardware industry a while ago so who knows what's possible now. I just wanted to ask about all the possible installation options and I know for example if you edit a file on the W7 disk you can enable the upgrade option, but it will store all your files in a folder called windows.old and not save all your program installations or something...

Can somebody just clear this up for me? I'll really appreciate it, thanks.

-Ed :)

Hi ed

Probably not. RC is ultimate. Did you get Ultimate from digital river? if not you are going to have to do the clean install.

Thanks mate. I will follow the instructions and upgrade in a few days when I have time.