Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

How to Do a Clean Install with an Upgrade Windows 7 Version​

   Information

This will show you how to do a Clean Install using a retail Upgrade Windows 7 installation disc.

   Warning

Remember that you need to legally own a valid qualifying previous version of Windows to use a Upgrade Windows 7, and to stop using (or uninstall) the qualifying OS while you have the upgrade installed. Microsoft only made doing a clean install from a upgrade Windows 7 possible to make it more convenient so you do not have to reinstall both the old Windows version (ex: Vista) and upgrade to Windows 7 everytime you needed or wanted to reinstall.

If you do not legally own a valid qualifying previous version of Windows, then you are violating the terms of Microsoft's Windows 7 End User License Agreement and could get your product key number invalidated by Microsoft. Plus, it is considered illegal.

For more about this, please see: Microsoft SMB Community Blog : Regardless of what any hack says, a Windows 7 Upgrade is an Upgrade. What you need to know.

OPTION ONE

A Normal Clean Install

1. Do a clean install at boot without checking the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box during the installation process.

2. When the installation is finished, then manually activate Windows 7 with your product key number.

3. If your Windows should fail to activate, then pick up at step 2 in OPTION THREE below.

OPTION TWO

Through a Custom Install

   Note

This option will let you do a clean install of Windows 7 without formating the current Windows installation to have your current Windows installation backed up to the Windows.old folder during the installation of your retail upgrade Windows 7. This way you can copy any files back that you want from the C:\Windows.old folder (previous installation) back into your new installation afterwards.

1. Do a custom install at boot or from within your current Windows installation without checking the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box during the installation process.

2. When the installation is finished, then manually activate Windows 7 with your product key number.

3. Copy any files that you want back from the C:\Windows.old folder into where you want it in you new installation.

4. You can now delete the Windows.old folder using Disk Cleanup to have a clean install now.

OPTION THREE

Clean Install with a Registry Workaround for Error Code 0xc004f061

   Note

If you get a activation error code 0xc004f061 while doing OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO above, then you will need to use this option instead

1. Do a clean install of your upgrade Windows 7 at boot without checking the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box during the installation process.
NOTE: If you already did this from OPTION ONE above and got a activation error, then skip this step and just proceed to step 2 below instead. There's no need to reinstall again.

2. Click on the Download button below to download the .bat file below, and save it to your desktop.
Activate_Windows_Upgrade_after_Clean_Install.bat


Download


3. Right click on the downloaded .bat file, and click on Run as administrator.

4. If prompted, click/tap on Run and Yes (UAC).
NOTE: If you like, you can stop getting the Run prompt by unblocking the downloaded .bat file.

5. You will now notice a command prompt quickly open and close while applying the changes to your registry.

6. Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

7. Restart the computer.

8. When the computer is finished restarting, then manually activate Windows 7 with your product key number.

OPTION FOUR

Double Installing Windows 7

   Note

This option is the same that was used to do a clean install of an upgrade copy of Windows 7. It's more work, but if the options above did not work for you, then this should since this is the most reliable option.

1. Do a clean install of your upgrade Windows 7 at boot without checking the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box during the installation process, and do not activate Windows 7. When finished with the clean install, do not or install any Windows Updates, drivers, or programs yet.

2. When finished with the clean install, start at step 4 at this link to do an in-place "upgrade" install with your upgrade Windows 7 installation disk from within the just now finished clean install of Windows 7.

3. When the in-place upgrade installation is completely finished, then manually activate Windows 7 with your product key number. You can now also install any Windows Updates drivers, and programs you like.
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Do a Upgrade Installation with Windows 7
• How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7
• How to Do a Custom Installation of Windows 7
• How to Create a Windows 7 Installation USB Key
• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/30470-make-bootable-iso-student-d-l.html
• How to Partition the Hard Drive in a Windows 7 Install
• How to Install Windows 7 on Computer with Less than 512MB RAM
• How to Install Windows 7 Using "Unified Extensible Firmware Interface" (UEFI)

 

[Tarka Dal]

Hi Brink...
Good to know your still taking care of things here...

I used my windows 7 upgrade disc to do a clean install the other day and it said I had to install Vista first. Does this mean I can't do a clean install anymore?

Scrub that I just read the tutorial properly...

Cheers mate...

 

[Brink]

Hello Runckle,

It's good to hear from you.

What type of Windows 7 Upgrade disc is it?

If it's a retail copy, then you should be able to using Option One and/or Option Three.

 

[Tarka Dal]

Hello Runckle,

It's good to hear from you.

What type of Windows 7 Upgrade disc is it?

If it's a retail copy, then you should be able to using Option One and/or Option Three.

It's actually a retail. But, I just red the article on the update probs and wonder if it's really worth it. Once you have upgraded from Vista and then use a backup the problem is solved. Is it not?
What's 'wrong' with just upgrading from Vista? Is there to much 'fallout' left on the OS?

 

[Brink]

Runckle,

There's nothing wrong with doing a normal upgrade install from Vista to Windows 7 if you wanted to keep most of everything from your Vista installation in the Windows 7 installation.

It's just usually less problematic doing a clean install if you have something from the Vista installation causing some sort of issue. That's all.

 

[Tarka Dal]

Runckle,

There's nothing wrong with doing a normal upgrade install from Vista to Windows 7 if you wanted to keep most of everything from your Vista installation in the Windows 7 installation.

It's just usually less problematic doing a clean install if you have something from the Vista installation causing some sort of issue. That's all.

It might seem I was 'being funny' Brink But, I wasn't...Sorry if I caused offence..
I really am not like that!

It's the way I write because I'm not that literate...

 

[Brink]

Oh, I didn't think you were being funny or offensive at all. No worries mate.

Sorry, if my reply made you think that.

 

[TKNorris]

Brink, Thank you very much for your quick response and good information - sounds like the way to go! (I don't know where I got the name Shawn? Excuse my ignorance)

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Tom.

You had it right though. It's Shawn Brink.

 

[Crazypete96]

Looking at buying the Family Pack 3 license upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium. I have a newly built desktop that has not had an OS. Are the Family Pack DVDs bootable discs? Or do I need a boot disk?

 

[Brink]

Hello Pete,

Yes, you will be able to do a clean install as in the tutorial with your upgrade Family Pack Windows 7 installation disc. It's the same as a retail copy of Windows 7, except that you can install and activate the Family Pack on 3 separate computers.

 

[Crazypete96]

How do I activate the windows 7 without having a previous windows version on my pc? I got an error saying not valid since there wasn't a previous version on the pc?
Will reinstalling windows 7 now that it is on the machine and checking upgrade work to allow the activation to work?
pat

 

[DocBrown]

Crazypete96

Have you looked at option Three in the first post of this thread ?

 

[Crazypete96]

Option 3 worked........I was getting a little nervous about the activation..... Thank you everyone for your help

 

[DocBrown]

Glad it worked for you

There is a lot of win7 info here at SevenForums, you just have to search or ask

 

[Crazypete96]

Very Knowledgeable help on here too. Very good place to get help. Glad I found this site...

 

[cfherd]

Sorry folks, I've read through the various Windows 7 install tutorials (which look excellent BTW) but I am a little confused as to what option I want to take in my circumstances.

I currently run Vista HP 32bit and to try and solve slow running issues I thought I would do a clean install but upgrade to 7 HP 32bit. I’ve already backed up all the files I want and would like to entirely format my HDD.

Do I do a normal upgrade and then do a clean (custom) install to make sure I am compliant with the End User Agreement or can I go straight to doing the custom install?

Hope this makes sense?!

Thanks

Chris

 

[Brink]

Hello Chris, and welcome to Seven Forums.

For what you want, I would recommend doing the steps in OPTION ONE to do a clean install with your upgrade copy of Windows 7 HP. Clicking on the links in the steps will give you full details on how to do that item.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[cfherd]

Hello Chris, and welcome to Seven Forums.

For what you want, I would recommend doing the steps in OPTION ONE to do a clean install with your upgrade copy of Windows 7 HP. Clicking on the links in the steps will give you full details on how to do that item.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks Shawn, I presume I can just use the install process to format the HDD? I did this recently when I did a clean install for XP and it seemed to work fine.

Thanks again,
Chris

 

[Brink]

Yes, that's the way I've always done it as well.

 

[jsm555]

You are a lifesaver! I lost my hard drive this week (I had upgraded the pre-loaded Vista to Win 7) and re-installed using the Win7 disk, expecting to be asked to provide a CD for proof of upgrade. As you know, this doesn't happen with Win7, the software was just installed and I got most of my software re-installed, etc (a two-day effort) only to find that I was running an un-activated copy of Win7, and my key wouldn't work since it was considered a "new" installation.

I was getting ready to spend $129 for a new key until I realized that I'd need a new NON-UPGRADE key ($200!!!) and did a little more searching. Fortunately, I found your post, and it worked flawlessly! Thank you, thank you, thank you!