Student Offer: Boot Disk Required?

[Trapt]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to take up the Australian $50 Student Offer, but am confused about whether I need to purchase the boot disk kit which is gonna cost me $15 extra and force me to wait for it to be delivered.

Now as far as I understand it, upon purchase they're going to link me to downloads for setup and box files. But since I want to do a clean install (going from 32 bit XP to 64 bit 7, so I don't have much choice), these files don't really mean much to me.

So basically, I'm left with the choice of buying the disk and waiting for delivery (could be over a week, especially at this time of year) or getting an ISO and burning my own copy. As far as I know I can't make my own ISO because I won't be able to execute the 64 bit exe file.

I have however found links to the ISO from the digital river content site which I can (legally I guess) download.

So I guess my question is this: is this ISO identical to the disk they want to mail to me and charge me for?

If so I'll just download that and burn my own copy, and just spend the $50 to get the product key/license.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tews]

Yes and Yes....

 

[Trapt]

Alright!

Thanks a lot.

So does that mean when I purchase the key through the Student Offer site, I don't have to download whatever they link me to?

 

[Tews]

Not if you already have it installed, no...just keep in mind though that if the key is for say, an upgrade disc, you wont be able to use a Full Version key or an OEM key..

 

[Trapt]

Well as far as I know, the Student Offer is only for the Upgrade version, which still allows clean installs. So if I purchase that I'm guessing I'll be getting an upgrade key.

I'm downloading the 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x64 ISO fromhere. Will the key I purchase work fine with that ISO?

I'm a little confused now.

 

[richc46]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to take up the Australian $50 Student Offer, but am confused about whether I need to purchase the boot disk kit which is gonna cost me $15 extra and force me to wait for it to be delivered.

Now as far as I understand it, upon purchase they're going to link me to downloads for setup and box files. But since I want to do a clean install (going from 32 bit XP to 64 bit 7, so I don't have much choice), these files don't really mean much to me.

So basically, I'm left with the choice of buying the disk and waiting for delivery (could be over a week, especially at this time of year) or getting an ISO and burning my own copy. As far as I know I can't make my own ISO because I won't be able to execute the 64 bit exe file.

I have however found links to the ISO from the digital river content site which I can (legally I guess) download.

So I guess my question is this: is this ISO identical to the disk they want to mail to me and charge me for?

If so I'll just download that and burn my own copy, and just spend the $50 to get the product key/license.

Thanks in advance.

F/Y/I if you do decide to burn your own copy, make sure that you burn at a slow speed. Last October, when Win 7 was released many posters had problems because they burned their copy too fast. Whatever you do, enjoy the OS and have a great holiday.

 

[richc46]

Well as far as I know, the Student Offer is only for the Upgrade version, which still allows clean installs. So if I purchase that I'm guessing I'll be getting an upgrade key.

I'm downloading the 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x64 ISO fromhere. Will the key I purchase work fine with that ISO?

I'm a little confused now.

The key is tied into the version. Just be sure that you are getting 64 bit. There have been problems with that, too in the past.

 

[Trapt]

Thanks for your help and handy tips guys, much appreciated. Looks like I'm pretty much good to go!

 

[TimStitt]

There's a number of deals for Aussie students at the moment.

Win 7 Professional (upgrade version) is A$49.95 at Microsoft Office Discount for Students - It's Not Cheating. This is an upgrade version so you must have a copy of vista or XP already. A reinstall means to install vista or XP first. The solution is to get the cheap upgrade offer and then take an image of your install, then it's much faster next time.

The Microsoft Student Upgrade offer is A49.95 for home premium (complete version) TAFE & University students, get a killer deal on Windows 7 Home Premium

and since I'm dropping a plethora of student links....
Also here is the link to Microsoft Dreamspark https://www.dreamspark.com/default.aspx for free software for students including:
• Visual Studio
• SQL Server
• Expression Studio
• XNA Game Studio
• Robotics Developer
• Server 2008 R2
• Visual C+/#
• etc

These sites also have huge discounts for students(usually less than half price) when buying software
• Apple Student Discount - Apple Store (Australia)
• Abode Adobe - Education Software, Academic Software, Student Software - Student Discounts

 

[Tews]

Good deals one and all, but I thank God for TechNet...

 

[gregrocker]

There is a tutorial on this site for how to convert student download files into an ISO.

You use VLite to compile into an ISO and burn from there to DVD. You can add in drivers and apps too, as that is the magic of VLite.

 

[Trapt]

The Microsoft Student Upgrade offer is A49.95 for home premium (complete version) TAFE & University students, get a killer deal on Windows 7 Home Premium

This is the one I'm going to get, but as far as I can work out it's the Upgrade version. That's based on the heading of the page and the picture and such.

Just wanna make sure one more time that the key I'm going to get from purchasing from that page is going to work with the ISO I downloaded overnight. I've burnt it and it seems to be working fine as a bootable disk.

 

[TimStitt]

The Microsoft Student Upgrade offer is A49.95 for home premium (complete version) TAFE & University students, get a killer deal on Windows 7 Home Premium

This is the one I'm going to get, but as far as I can work out it's the Upgrade version. That's based on the heading of the page and the picture and such.

Just wanna make sure one more time that the key I'm going to get from purchasing from that page is going to work with the ISO I downloaded overnight. I've burnt it and it seems to be working fine as a bootable disk.

Yeah you are right mate. It does say upgrade offer.
I think the professional version on the other link I sent has more features though, just check it out. They are both Microsoft sites.
Which one is right for you? - Microsoft Windows

In Vista, I could not use my upgrade version key on a full version disk. I presume this was because they had different PID's. I really have no idea about Win 7; but I can tell you just after XMAS as my younger bro has purchased an upgrade version and I'm going to install it for him on the 26th.

 

[Trapt]

Well I've already downloaded and burnt the Home Premium ISO, and the extra features of Professional really aren't any use to me, so it doesn't bother me.

Is there a way of telling whether the ISO version I downloaded is Full or Upgrade? Since it's 64 bit and I'm currently on 32 bit I can't load the disk up in Windows, I have to use it as a bootable disk.

I'm not entirely sure there's much difference between upgrade and full versions since you can do clean installs with upgrade version anyway?

I'd just rather make sure I'm 100% sure it's going to work rather than throwing away 50 bucks, which is a lot of money for us poor students.

 

[TimStitt]

I'm not entirely sure there's much difference between upgrade and full versions since you can do clean installs with upgrade version anyway?
.

Not so, with the upgrade version of Vista I bought from 'Microsoft - It's not cheating'. Win 7

Is there a way of telling whether the ISO version I downloaded is Full or Upgrade?

Probably, but I don't know how sorry mate. Is it an option for you to install it on a virtual machine to find out?

What I can say is that my Win7 key works a-ok on both x86 and 64bit; but I haven't tested the upgrade release.

 

[gregrocker]

Well I've already downloaded and burnt the Home Premium ISO, and the extra features of Professional really aren't any use to me, so it doesn't bother me.

Is there a way of telling whether the ISO version I downloaded is Full or Upgrade? Since it's 64 bit and I'm currently on 32 bit I can't load the disk up in Windows, I have to use it as a bootable disk.

I'm not entirely sure there's much difference between upgrade and full versions since you can do clean installs with upgrade version anyway?

I'd just rather make sure I'm 100% sure it's going to work rather than throwing away 50 bucks, which is a lot of money for us poor students.

If you really want to know whether it is Upgrade or Full, then pre-format the HD, boot the installer and and install.

If it is Full version, it will accept the key on a new or preformatted HD.

If it's Upgrade version, it will reject the key until after install when you can run a repair install (upgrade over itself) from the desktop which will allow key, or do the Paul Thurrot workaround which is even given out by MS tech support: http://community.winsupersite.com/b...-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-the-answer.aspx

If it is Upgrade then you need to have a qualifying Vista/XP on hand in case the issue ever arises during reinstall. Of course, you can avoid ever having to reinstall by saving a Win7 Backup image to reimage the HD or a replacement in 15 minutes by booting from the DVD repair console.

 

[Trapt]

Will an upgrade key work on a full version disk?

 

[TimStitt]

Will an upgrade key work on a full version disk?

Well in Vista it wouldn't; but you can always try Greg's advice above, he knows his stuff.

This thread looks to be a guy who installed the upgrade version and the key didn't work. I've just passed on Greg's tip to him. Let's follow this thread and see how he goes (I really hope he posts back and tells us )
http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/48366-am-i-activated-not-activated.html

 

[gregrocker]

Will an upgrade key work on a full version disk?

All of the installers are the same, with only some versions hidden due to an ei.cfg file in Sources,.

The key is version-specific.

If there is an issue with accepting an Upgrade key, then run a Repair install (upgrade over itself) from the Win7 desktop and it will then accept the key.

Or you can use the popular workaround: http://community.winsupersite.com/b...-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-the-answer.aspx