Doing a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

[Zidane24]

I did a student upgrade clean install as the pro version wouldn't upgrade XP and the key verified. But when I called MS to have there help with removing the recovery partition there was no problem, but the main XP couldn't be removed W7 had used it for the 100Mib booting file since it was a running XP upgrade. So the MS tech said misinformed I might say that since they key worked once I could just overwrite the disc and the key would work not so. I cracked it with Pauls site info and called MS to close my case and was informed that even though I had all my ducks in a row with licensing that cracking the key made it not a legal verification. But since I had a record of XP ownership and due diligence in following MS protocol except for the crack they were happy to let me install while on the phone and crack the key in for me. So let the story be don't crack the key when you don't need to MS will help you.

The method on Paul's website came from information provided by the same MS tech support

Tech Support is not in unisom at Microsoft...you will get a different story each time from a different rep

 

[gregrocker]

I did a student upgrade clean install as the pro version wouldn't upgrade XP and the key verified. But when I called MS to have there help with removing the recovery partition there was no problem, but the main XP couldn't be removed W7 had used it for the 100Mib booting file since it was a running XP upgrade. So the MS tech said misinformed I might say that since they key worked once I could just overwrite the disc and the key would work not so. I cracked it with Pauls site info and called MS to close my case and was informed that even though I had all my ducks in a row with licensing that cracking the key made it not a legal verification. But since I had a record of XP ownership and due diligence in following MS protocol except for the crack they were happy to let me install while on the phone and crack the key in for me. So let the story be don't crack the key when you don't need to MS will help you.

Puhleeze, never use the blunderbuss word "crack" when speaking with MS, or here.

A crack is a way to illegally use a key or program. MS has said themselves that as long as there is a qualifying previous OS, then there is no illegality in utilizing this convenience to not having to reinstall Vista/Xp.

Millions were using 7 beta and were owed the convenience. Neverthless it was a pleasant surprise.

It is a "registry workaround" which Paul Thurrot offered and MS was giving out en masse in the days after release.

Thank you.

 

[wee]

I didn't use the word with MS they did, and thanks for the warning on this site, my point was the rep who was supposedly talking to the W7 tech team made this judgment. I have no intention of breaking any licensing issues now or in the future. I am primarily a open source user I only have a MS OS because it came with my net-book and I was offered a 29$ upgrade. But I like W7 it is fast and responsive so it was a good purchase.

 

[Qwghlm]

I'm slowly going through all this thread to find if it's already been answered, but 23 pages!?!?

Anyway,

I've got Vista Home Premium on a 300GB HDD formatted into a 40GB OS partition and a 260GB data partition.

There is now only 5GB left in the OS partition but Windows 7 needs 16GB.

If I get an Upgrade Windows 7 Home Premium can I reformat the 40GB partition on installation or will the installation just tell me I haven't got enough room on the OS partition?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[gregrocker]

Boot into the WIn7 upgrade installer and select Custom>Advanced drive tools to delete the Vista partition, create a New one, and format it before install.

The upgrade installer will see Vista before formatting and allow you to insert your key.

 

[Qwghlm]

Boot into the WIn7 upgrade installer and select Custom>Advanced drive tools to delete the Vista partition, create a New one, and format it before install.

The upgrade installer will see Vista before formatting and allow you to insert your key.

Thanks for that.

If I delete the Vista partition, wont that also delete the data partition?

I really don't want to have to backup 150GB of stuff, can I just reformat the Vista partition?

Or am I missing something here? (Probably )

Steve

 

[Zidane24]

I'm slowly going through all this thread to find if it's already been answered, but 23 pages!?!?

Anyway,

I've got Vista Home Premium on a 300GB HDD formatted into a 40GB OS partition and a 260GB data partition.

There is now only 5GB left in the OS partition but Windows 7 needs 16GB.

If I get an Upgrade Windows 7 Home Premium can I reformat the 40GB partition on installation or will the installation just tell me I haven't got enough room on the OS partition?

Thanks,

Steve

Read the first post...it has been answered by Brink

 

[Qwghlm]

I'm slowly going through all this thread to find if it's already been answered, but 23 pages!?!?

Anyway,

I've got Vista Home Premium on a 300GB HDD formatted into a 40GB OS partition and a 260GB data partition.

There is now only 5GB left in the OS partition but Windows 7 needs 16GB.

If I get an Upgrade Windows 7 Home Premium can I reformat the 40GB partition on installation or will the installation just tell me I haven't got enough room on the OS partition?

Thanks,

Steve

Read the first post...it has been answered by Brink

Perhaps I had better be more descriptive then.

Do I have to reformat the Vista partition before trying to install the new OS or will the installation allow me to format it within the installation program.

I'd rather be certain that I can just put the Windows 7 Upgrade disk in, run the installation program, let it format the OS partition, then load Windows 7 onto it.

Thus leaving my data partition fully functional.

I can't seem to get that guarantee from the 1st post.

Steve

 

[gregrocker]

Steve, you need to boot from the Win7 DVD in order to get the Custom>Advanced drive tools to delete the Vista partition (only), create a new one of same size, then format and install.

If you run the disk from Vista, you won't be given the tools to delete and format the Vista partition. You will only have the choice to do an in-place Upgrade of Vista (saving your programs, files and settings) or a Custom clean install which overwrites Vista and saves your files in a windows.old folder - this is not as clean of an install than booting the DVD, but close.

If you don't select the data partition, nothing will be touched in it.

That said, we are always advised to back up our data before installations of any type.

 

[Greg B]

Clean Installation on blank formatted drive

I followed the tutorials on this site, and got through the Dual Boot tutorial and rejoined the Clean Installation tutorial at step 9. I was not able to see step 10 however. After a reboot I saw the screen where the choice is made to boot 7 or the previous version, and I chose 7. Then the screen went black and stayed that way, with not apparent activity. About a half hour later the lights went out and the PS light went to blinking like standby mode. I had disabled all power saver options prior to starting the installation. After about 5 minutes off I pushed the start button. The lights came on and the disc read, but nothing else happened until just now the lights went back out and the PS light went to blinking again.
I'm certain this isn't what is supposed to happen....

 

[gregrocker]

I followed the tutorials on this site, and got through the Dual Boot tutorial and rejoined the Clean Installation tutorial at step 9. I was not able to see step 10 however. After a reboot I saw the screen where the choice is made to boot 7 or the previous version, and I chose 7. Then the screen went black and stayed that way, with not apparent activity. About a half hour later the lights went out and the PS light went to blinking like standby mode. I had disabled all power saver options prior to starting the installation. After about 5 minutes off I pushed the start button. The lights came on and the disc read, but nothing else happened until just now the lights went back out and the PS light went to blinking again.
I'm certain this isn't what is supposed to happen....

Please start a new topic here to get installers' attention to your exact issue.

This behavior sounds like you might have a t.v. card outputting to a different monitor at Win7 startup. Disconnect card and all peripherals and restart.

 

[Greg B]

No Cards

I've got no cards in the computer. I think I might know the trouble, but its just a guess. I was installing 7 on a HDD that is plugged into the fifth eSATA connection on my MOBO. I can see this drive in XP having formatted it with EASEUS, but it isn't supposed to be used unless a RAID array is configured, which I have not done. I'm trying the install on another drive that is on an earlier eSATA connection. hat install is going on right now, we'll see how it goes

 

[Qwghlm]

Steve, you need to boot from the Win7 DVD in order to get the Custom>Advanced drive tools to delete the Vista partition (only), create a new one of same size, then format and install.

If you run the disk from Vista, you won't be given the tools to delete and format the Vista partition. You will only have the choice to do an in-place Upgrade of Vista (saving your programs, files and settings) or a Custom clean install which overwrites Vista and saves your files in a windows.old folder - this is not as clean of an install than booting the DVD, but close.

If you don't select the data partition, nothing will be touched in it.

That said, we are always advised to back up our data before installations of any type.

Thanks for that.

Do I have to delete the Vista partition and then create a new one, or can I just format the Vista partition from within the installation of Windows 7?

Steve

 

[gregrocker]

You can just format if you want but the installer needs to be booted.

Something about the word Delete makes me like to use it first.

 

[vice86]

I'm using the RC Build 7100 copy right now...could I buy this:

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Anytime Upgrade from Home Premium - Operating Systems

and do a clean full install??

 

[Adrian]

I'm using the RC Build 7100 copy right now...could I buy this:

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Anytime Upgrade from Home Premium - Operating Systems

and do a clean full install??

Yes, thats what I did.

 

[vice86]

I'm using the RC Build 7100 copy right now...could I buy this:

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Anytime Upgrade from Home Premium - Operating Systems

and do a clean full install??

Yes, thats what I did.

Sweet!! You can't beat that deal then. Don't care for the BitLocker and extra languages to need Ultimate.

 

[torrentg]

Right. TrueCrypt is even better than Bitlocker and it's free.

 

[vice86]

One last thing before I run out to Staples right now...i just noticed this on the first page:


Remember that you need a valid qualifying previous version of Windows to use a Upgrade Windows 7 copy legally. 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.

Is currently running the RC Build 7100 considered a "qualifying previous version of Windows"? I have a copy of Vista Ultimate but since I never used it anymore I gave it to my sister to use on her laptop.

Am i gonna possibly run into key problems down the road doing a clean install from Build 7100?

 

[gregrocker]

One last thing before I run out to Staples right now...i just noticed this on the first page:


Remember that you need a valid qualifying previous version of Windows to use a Upgrade Windows 7 copy legally. 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.

Is currently running the RC Build 7100 considered a "qualifying previous version of Windows"? I have a copy of Vista Ultimate but since I never used it anymore I gave it to my sister to use on her laptop.

Am i gonna possibly run into key problems down the road doing a clean install from Build 7100?

Yes MS specifically announced that RC is a qualifying OS for doing the Upgrade.

Since the Upgrade can be installed even to a new HD with the workarounds, there really isn't an issue of having a qualifying OS after the RC expires, since you never have to reinstall either OS if you save externally a Win7 Backup Image of the your completed installation. You can then reimage your HD or a replacement in 15 minutes by booting from the installer/repair disk and choosing "Recover Using An Image"