Reusing instal key after upgrade to W7 Ultimate

[Sewo]

Hi all,

A while back I purchased a retail copy of W7 Home Premium which had both a 32 and 64bit disk. I installed the 64bit version on my PC, but subsequently purchesd and installed a Ultimate upgrade (via disk). This disk had a different key on it.

My question: Can I now use my old Win7 HP disk (64 or 32 bit) and key to do an install on another home computer?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[gregrocker]

Is Ultimate an Anytime Upgrade key? If so then under the EULA you can't use Home Premium while it is qualifying for the Ultimate Upgrade. This is on the honor system.

If Ultimate is retail Win7 upgrade then as long as there is a qualifying XP or Vista which came installed on the machine, or a retail copy (even though it doesn't have to be installed), then you can free up the Home Premium to migrate since it is retail.

However if Home Premium is upgrade version then it also needs a qualifying XP or Vista which came preinstalled on the machine it's being installed upon or a retail copy of either.

Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

Keep in mind that these are the exact same OS in performance, but Ultimate has a few expensive extra features which most users don't need. So be sure you really need Ultimate if Home Premium is locked to the computer as Ultimate can be moved elsewhere to get the $100+ value of the Home Premium:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/14422-compare-windows-7-editions.html

 

[Sewo]

Is Ultimate an Anytime Upgrade key? If so then under the EULA you can't use Home Premium while it is qualifying for the Ultimate Upgrade. This is on the honor system.

I'm not sure. I purchased a Win7 to Win7 Ultimate upgrade disk with a product key as part of a university staff deal. It says on the face of the disk: "64bit x64 Upgradere-existing OS License Required (Product Key Required)" So I am guessing that this means that I cannot use my retail W7 64bit HP on another computer. But what about the 32bit version?

Keep in mind that these are the exact same OS in performance, but Ultimate has a few expensive extra features which most users don't need. So be sure you really need Ultimate if Home Premium is locked to the computer as it can be moved elsewhere

Moot point, as I already have the Ultimate upgrade installed on my normal PC; I got the Ultimate version as I needed to be able to connect to my work computer via VPN. The new computer will be a net surfing/HTPC rig, so I can get away with a 32 or 64bit HP version.

 

[gregrocker]

Each Win7 license comes with either 32- or 64-bit, but you cannot use both at the same time.

If you can find an old retail copy of XP or Vista it qualifies you for using the Ultimate Upgrade version where it is so you can migrate Home Premium elsewhere.

 

[Sewo]

Fantastic. Thanks for Gregrocker for clearing that up for me.