Clean install with Upgrade version..

[apollo911]

This is ridiculous - there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer.

Microsoft are going to get another kicking if people go out and buy a full retail and then discover they had no need to.

And what is the difference between the 'upgrade' and an OEM then?

 

[Zidane24]

This is ridiculous - there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer.

Microsoft are going to get another kicking if people go out and buy a full retail and then discover they had no need to.

And what is the difference between the 'upgrade' and an OEM then?

Big difference...

With an OEM copy, that licence is tied to ONE COMPUTER. This means, for instance, that if you uninstall the OEM licence from one machine and then try to install and activate it on another it won't.

To summarize:
Upgrade editions can be installed as many times as you want and re-activated as long as it is only activated to one machine at a time

OEM editions can only be used on the computer that was activated on them first...any subsequent activations must be used on the same machine that it was activated on prior

 

[Saltgrass]

Maybe someone has brought this up already, but it seems plausible to me Microsoft would forego the check for a prior OS for a certain period of time, like the initial rush after the release.

I would think they could throw a switch and restore the original requirement for the upgrade DVD to have a prior OS whenever they like. But I certainly do not know for sure.

 

[gregrocker]

Paul Thurrot has put up this workaround for clean installing Win7 to a new HDD:

http://community.winsupersite.com/b...-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-the-answer.aspx

 

[dmb219]

I have a WD Caviar Black drive I installed a few weeks ago. I have an install of RTM Home Premium on it (modded iso). The disk has never had an activated version of Windows on it. I just got my upgrade disks from Newegg off my front porch. I put the code in and it activated. I'm going to reinstall anyway, but that was pretty easy contrary to what some said.

 

[ojustaboo]

Windows Pro 64 upgrade from Digital River.

made ISO as per other peoples instructions on here.

Booted from ISO.

DELETED existing C drive

re-added it as a new drive

FORMATTED it.

Continued with the install (which took a long time to complete the installation compared to the RC version)

It accepted my product key and activated 100% fine. So it looks like a clean install without prior op system does work.

while I didn't reformat before I ran the setup, I had reformatted completely before I ran the previously installed RC win7

Sadly, I can confirm what others are saying

I removed my HD, put in a bigger new one and re-installed.

product key would not be accepted.

Looks like there does has to be some trace of an existing op

Have quickly installed Vista (which is what I'm typing this from) and then will try a clean install and hope that works fine.

one thing I have noticed, I have a fairly hi spec i7 6GB RAM system, with the pre-release versions of Windows 7, it took under 30 mins to completely install.

With both my original clean install onto my old hard drive, and my failed install on my new hard drive, it took about 40 - 50 mins to complete the final something along the lines of "completing installation" stage, and gave the appearence that it was stuck (but I waited and sure enough, eventually it worked).

That is annoying enough when the product key is accepted, but to spend over an hour to get to the point where it tells you the key is invalid, is simply wrong in my opinion.

Will get back in just over an hour presuming the custom clean install works fine over me formatting this from within the setup to confirm all is working

 

[gregrocker]

Windows Pro 64 upgrade from Digital River.

made ISO as per other peoples instructions on here.

Booted from ISO.

DELETED existing C drive

re-added it as a new drive

FORMATTED it.

Continued with the install (which took a long time to complete the installation compared to the RC version)

It accepted my product key and activated 100% fine. So it looks like a clean install without prior op system does work.

while I didn't reformat before I ran the setup, I had reformatted completely before I ran the previously installed RC win7

Sadly, I can confirm what others are saying

I removed my HD, put in a bigger new one and re-installed.

product key would not be accepted.

Looks like there does has to be some trace of an existing op

Have quickly installed Vista (which is what I'm typing this from) and then will try a clean install and hope that works fine.

one thing I have noticed, I have a fairly hi spec i7 6GB RAM system, with the pre-release versions of Windows 7, it took under 30 mins to completely install.

With both my original clean install onto my old hard drive, and my failed install on my new hard drive, it took about 40 - 50 mins to complete the final something along the lines of "completing installation" stage, and gave the appearence that it was stuck (but I waited and sure enough, eventually it worked).

That is annoying enough when the product key is accepted, but to spend over an hour to get to the point where it tells you the key is invalid, is simply wrong in my opinion.

Will get back in just over an hour presuming the custom clean install works fine over me formatting this from within the setup to confirm all is working

Paul Thurrot posted a workaround for this on WinSupersite this morning. It is given 3 posts above.

 

[ojustaboo]

Windows Pro 64 upgrade from Digital River.

made ISO as per other peoples instructions on here.

Booted from ISO.

DELETED existing C drive

re-added it as a new drive

FORMATTED it.

Continued with the install (which took a long time to complete the installation compared to the RC version)

It accepted my product key and activated 100% fine. So it looks like a clean install without prior op system does work.

while I didn't reformat before I ran the setup, I had reformatted completely before I ran the previously installed RC win7

Sadly, I can confirm what others are saying

I removed my HD, put in a bigger new one and re-installed.

product key would not be accepted.

Looks like there does has to be some trace of an existing op

Have quickly installed Vista (which is what I'm typing this from) and then will try a clean install and hope that works fine.

one thing I have noticed, I have a fairly hi spec i7 6GB RAM system, with the pre-release versions of Windows 7, it took under 30 mins to completely install.

With both my original clean install onto my old hard drive, and my failed install on my new hard drive, it took about 40 - 50 mins to complete the final something along the lines of "completing installation" stage, and gave the appearence that it was stuck (but I waited and sure enough, eventually it worked).

That is annoying enough when the product key is accepted, but to spend over an hour to get to the point where it tells you the key is invalid, is simply wrong in my opinion.

Will get back in just over an hour presuming the custom clean install works fine over me formatting this from within the setup to confirm all is working

Paul Thurrot posted a workaround for this on WinSupersite this morning. It is given 3 posts above.

Thanks. Have just read it.

Pity I didn't read it 3 hrs ago lol

 

[ojustaboo]

Just reinstalled windows 7, clean install and formatted the Vista partition from within the setup.

All worked 100% fine.

 

[Nosmo]

The last piece of the puzzle for me is re install.

Say in 6 months I have a hard drive failure. My Win7 gets wiped out and with it my upgrade path. And there is no other operating system for a flag to be set.

Well then I have to boot my upgrade Media because that is all I have.
If I enter my product key, It might activate if MS has somehow changed my 'key' from upgrade to 'full', Wishfull thinking but would be a very slick way of
validating.

 

[Elpants]

Just reinstalled windows 7, clean install and formatted the Vista partition from within the setup.

All worked 100% fine.

Did you do this with the upgrade .exe? Or an actual disk?

 

[ojustaboo]

Just reinstalled windows 7, clean install and formatted the Vista partition from within the setup.

All worked 100% fine.

Did you do this with the upgrade .exe? Or an actual disk?

Disk created from Digital river download.

 

[gregrocker]

This is ridiculous - there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer.

Microsoft are going to get another kicking if people go out and buy a full retail and then discover they had no need to.

And what is the difference between the 'upgrade' and an OEM then?

Big difference...

With an OEM copy, that licence is tied to ONE COMPUTER. This means, for instance, that if you uninstall the OEM licence from one machine and then try to install and activate it on another it won't.

To summarize:
Upgrade editions can be installed as many times as you want and re-activated as long as it is only activated to one machine at a time

OEM editions can only be used on the computer that was activated on them first...any subsequent activations must be used on the same machine that it was activated on prior

I had read on MS Technet forums that Upgrades are tied to the upgraded OS license and must be paired with it on any migration, so that if you have an OEM it can't migrate since tied to hardware, but if you use retail for the upgraded OS then it and the Upgrade are portable to migrate to another machine as long as it is only one at a time.

When I asked the MVP's how this is enforced since the upgraded OS is not deactivated or linked to the upgrade, they told me that it is not but is only binding in the EULA, that you can in actuality move an Upgrade anywhere you want as long as it is one machine at a time.

Just to be safe, I pulled out my retail XP to put on my laptop to use with the Upgrade disk so it would be portable for life, but when it arrived it clean installed to formatted HDD, so I didn't need it. So much for Technet's EULese.

Now Technet is insisting that these clean installs are against the EULA and could later be caught up with by WGA.

Who has time for all this? (Technet)

 

[gregrocker]

I have a WD Caviar Black drive I installed a few weeks ago. I have an install of RTM Home Premium on it (modded iso). The disk has never had an activated version of Windows on it. I just got my upgrade disks from Newegg off my front porch. I put the code in and it activated. I'm going to reinstall anyway, but that was pretty easy contrary to what some said.

More evidence these are full retail keys shipped with Upgrades.