Microsoft confirms Windows 7 install trick is legal

Dragonfly · 29 Oct 2009

ineedsomehelpy · 29 Oct 2009

'tis cool

bobtran · 30 Oct 2009

In my opinion this clean drive upgrade issue could have been blocked by Microsoft at any time and the fact that they have continued this from Vista to Windows7 says a lot about the attitude inside Microsoft.

While they would prefer you to not use this method they would even more prefer you to use a purchased copy of Windows and cheat if that's what it takes to keep people on Windows. This is nothing more than a business decision and the bottom line dictates leaving this upgrade path active.

Actually they have made this process even easier in Windows 7 wherein you no longer need to do the double install to activate it. Just install and then activate it later. I believe this change actually supports my contention that permitting it was a deliberate act on the part of Microsoft.

blackroseMD1 · 30 Oct 2009

I have to agree with Paul Thurrott on this. Microsoft should have laid out months ago how the upgrade process works.

Night Hawk · 30 Oct 2009

I think that was laid out years back for 95 upgrades! That was the first version besides any for NT 3.1 to see optical media available since everything had been floppy disk prior to that.

It's actually upto the user to look at what the license agreement states when clicking on the "I agree" box! It's just like anything else "you sign" your name to in that sense.

gregrocker · 30 Oct 2009

Microsoft confirms Windows 7 install trick is legal

October 29, 2009

Computerworld -

Microsoft today confirmed that users can apply a workaround trick to do a clean install of Windows 7 on a blank hard drive as long as they toe the licensing line.

In a blog post earlier this week, Eric Ligman, who works in Microsoft's worldwide partner group, took exception to stories that showed people how to use the less-expensive Windows 7 upgrade editions to install the new operating system on blank drives. Computerworld covered the upgrade install trick -- first reported by noted Windows blogger Paul Thurrott -- last Friday.

"Over the past several days there have been various posts, etc. across a variety of social media engines stating that some 'hack' (be it a person or a procedure) shows that a Windows 7 Upgrade disc can perform a 'clean' installation of Windows 7 on a blank drive from a technical perspective," said Ligman.

"They often forgot to mention a very basic, yet very important piece of information," said Ligman about Thurrott's blog post and the resulting reports by others. "'Technically possible' does not always mean legal," Ligman said.

In order to use upgrade media to install Windows 7 on a blank hard drive, users must abide by the operating system's EULA, or end-user licensing agreement (download PDF). "To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible for the upgrade. After you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from," the EULA states.

That, said Ligman, means users must either have a "full" retail license of Windows XP or Vista, or assuming the Windows 7 upgrade is applied to an existing PC, that the upgrade is done on that same machine, which has a so-called "OEM" license attached to it.

"There are many, many, many, many of you out there that already own Windows licenses that qualify for the Windows 7 Upgrade, so this is a non-issue for you," said Ligman. "For you, since you have the previous version FULL Windows license and qualify for the Windows 7 Upgrade, you have the rights to do a 'clean' install."

On PCs purchased with Windows XP or Vista preinstalled by the computer maker -- which slap an "OEM" license of Windows on the machine -- users can install a Windows 7 upgrade edition on that system's blank hard drive, but on no other, Ligman added.

"An OEM license is a full license," Ligman wrote in a comment to this blog post, answering a user's question. "So an OEM + an upgrade gets you the upgraded version."

A Microsoft spokeswoman today confirmed Ligman's account of when it's permissible to use upgrade media -- which costs up to $100 less than the same version's "full" edition -- to install Windows 7 on a blank drive. "You can always do a clean install if you're upgrading, so long as you're upgrading a machine that's already running genuine Windows XP or Windows Vista," she said in an instant today.
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aem · 30 Oct 2009

"On PCs purchased with Windows XP or Vista preinstalled by the computer maker -- which slap an "OEM" license of Windows on the machine -- users can install a Windows 7 upgrade edition on that system's blank hard drive, but on no other, Ligman added.
"
This is not good enough, if you are not the original purchaser of the machine, you can still get W7 for alot cheaper than the full version in this case. Say i have 3 laptops bought new with Xp or Vista OEM, two years later i decided give them to my friends or siblings for free, cos it's 'old'. So now these people can buy the upgrade version of w7 and upgrade these machines, which costs alot less than the full version.

There should not be no upgrade standalone versions of any OSs. What's more, upgrading Windows from lower version to higher version should only be done through direct linkage to MS. No CD/DVD etc, just a secure logon to MS site.

Night Hawk · 30 Oct 2009

Not if you end up needing to reinstall Windows for some reason like a drive failure or an upgrade there. MS provides the choice of download, download with backup disk, or buying it on media already. For downloading to upgrade editions the problems is already solved by selecting the higher edition to download when purchasing it.

gregrocker · 30 Oct 2009

Actually I think MS is being cool in a corporate kinda way.

Just keep your readable license key for prior XP/Vista with the Upgrade key/media for the life of the Upgrade. Then if there is any future question at reinstall which could (possibly) elevate the reactivation to a MS person (rare as rabies) you have the prior key to back it up.

But better yet, reinstalls are never again necessary if you make and preserve a backup image now that Win7 has brought Backup Imaging to the masses.

It is all good.