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)

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome.

 

[raven2510]

Ok well got the new system up and running. I ran into the upgrade error. So I did what the tutorial said to do in the CMD prompt and its now activated.

Thanks a bunch guys. You saved me a chuck of change.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Raven. Thank you for posting back with your results.

 

[karlsnooks]

Shawn,
The Paul Thurott link now produces a 404 error.

Do you happen know which particular blog of his wherein he documented doing a clean install from upgrade media?

Do you have any references I can use verifying that the upgrade install is legal?

I've got a chap who is as hard-headed as I am which what drove me to looking for the article from Thurott.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

thanks,
karl

 

[Brink]

Hello Karl,

Here's a link to another post of his that's basically for the same thing in Method #2 there. We've used the same method here as well. I just provided a REG file to make it easier to do instead.

Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media

As long as the user meets the requirements in the red Warning box at the top of this tutorial, then it is perfectly legal. Microsoft left this option available for their customers that meet these requirements so that they will not have to say install Vista first, then upgrade to Windows 7.

 

[karlsnooks]

Shawn,
The only shortcoming there is that the blogpost is not the full writeup which I had seen from him before.

I'm trying to gather as much info as possible so I can fire a real volley at this guy.

Many thanks,
karl

 

[Brink]

Yeah, it seems that he has removed the original article from his site that I linked to in the tutorial. I Googled for the original article as well, but it appears to be gone now. The link above is the closest I could find for it where he references this.

 

[karlsnooks]

I found it!

Check this link out:
Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media

 

[Brink]

LOL, that's the same article that I linked to in my post above.

 

[karlsnooks]

somewhere i must have goofed before, because what i got was a very abbreviated version.

Wonder how I managed to do it? Oh well, all's well that ends will.

 

[Brink]

somewhere i must have goofed before, because what i got was a very abbreviated version.

Wonder how I managed to do it? Oh well, all's well that ends will.

LOL, I don't know either.

 

[windrider]

Click this link and it will take you to the one he posted in 2009

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media

 

[Brink]

Thank you Windrider. That was it. I updated the link in the tutorial with this one for reference.

 

[karlsnooks]

Shawn,
Actually, you don't want to use the link from Windrider. That's the one with the abbrevaited presentaion of the problem.

 

[Brink]

True, but with the original missing/removed, that link will do for now since it has what I quoted in our tutorial here and the other one didn't.

 

[windrider]

Thank you Windrider. That was it. I updated the link in the tutorial with this one for reference.

Your welcome Brink.. I have had to use that method for quite a few tutorials in the past that don't exist anymore.

 

[Tester Ray]

Clean Install with Upgrade Media with SP1

Is there a way to do a clean install with upgrade media using a Windows installation DVD that has been slipstreamed with SP1? I tried this and got an error message on the second pass saying I was trying to upgrade a version newer than the DVD. Used the same DVD for both passes.

 

[Brink]

Hello Ray,

You might give OPTION THREE a try to see if it may work for you instead.

 

[dixietech]

Windows 7 Home Basic (Brazil) Upgrade Options?

Hi there! New kid in town, be gentle! Not a reply but a question: bought an HP dv4-2112br laptop in Brazil with W7 Home Basic (32bit). What are my upgrade/clean install options if any? As I reside in the UK, can I use UK purchased W7 say Home Premium OS? What might be the restrictions?? Any advice gratefully received. Thanks.

 

[Brink]

Hello Dixietech, and welcome to Seven Forums.

If it's a retail upgrade copy, then sure you could do a clean install with is using an option in the tutorial.