Upgrading Windows 7 OS from HOME PREMIUM to ULTIMATE

[jagman55]

I was running HP Home Premium 64bit and it became corrupted.
Instead of FORMATTING and Recovery and back to Home Premium, I decided to UPGRADE to ULTIMATE. The upgrade fixed the problems and I did not lose my Data. But a couple of boots later, something changed my C:/ drive designation to D:/ and nothing would boot.
So, I UPGRADED again to Ultimate and everything seems to work now but when it BOOTS, It asks if I want to use OS:

1. windows 7 ("Ultimate" word is missing but it seems OK and loads and works OK)
2. Windows 7 Home Premium (which of course hangs as it is now folder WNDOWS.old and WINDOWS.old.000)

What concerns me now is if I dont REMOVE WINDOWS.old and 000, somehow it will screw it up again and make my Ultimate OS drive D:/ again.

My C:/ drive is still all i have as HD so is really not a real Dual boot??? Everything is on C:/

Yahoo/Google only find fixes for DUAL boot and they are for XP, etc. Can not find how to get rid of the "Home Premium" choice

1. Anyone know how to CLEAN UP and Remove the Home Premium as a OS option? So if I dont catch the timer, it will not try to boot to Home Premium? (maybe OK as is second choice) but......

2. Microsoft says you can not use the "Windows.old" but does not say why it saved it and what it is for? Can I simply DELETE the Windows.old and old.000 as regular folders?

 

[Britton30]

Windows.old contains your personal data from a previous install, eg, Home Premium. If all of your data is there in Ultimate, delete the old folder. Open Computer, right click the C drive/properties/ disk clean up. Tick (check) all options, OK, OK.

 

[gregrocker]

Where did you get Win7 Ultimate? How is it activated? How did you "Upgrade" to it when the only way to do so is Windows Anytime Upgrade which only unlocks the extra expensive features and doesn't even reinstall the OS?

Did your HP come with Home Premium preinstalled? If so you own that $100+ OS for the life of the PC to reinstall as often as you want. Most tech enthusiasts won't even run the factory install but instead choose to Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 to get rid of the corrupting bloatware and duplicate utilities which have better versions built into Win7.

The only reason to upgrade to Ultimate is if you need one of the few extra expensive features in it to justify it's expense. Otherwise the solution to problems is to get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. Which of the extra features did you need? Compare Windows 7 Editions - Windows 7 Forums

Please run this program MGADiag.exe and post back the results so we can analyze them.

 

[jagman55]

Responses to questions

gregrocker
Yes, I purchased a HP Desktop and a Laptop Pavilions and they both came with Home Premium 64bit.
1. Did your HP come with Home Premium preinstalled? YES
2. Where did you get Win7 Ultimate? How is it activated? I can not do without my Desktop so to see if I could recover, a friend loaned me a flash drive with Ultimate on it to see if it would reload some of the OS files. Home Premium would not fix or REPAIR with any of my DVD/CD. Like most Microsoft OS, it kept dying a slow death every day. It seem to recover my OS OK for now. But if I can get all this working again, I will get a real copy of Ultimate because, Microsoft shot me down when they got rid of MESH. That stupid Home Premium has no Remote desktop communications and no way to control my desktop remotely. Tried 3rd parties but could not find one that was free I liked so why not use the money for Ultimate.

Your are correct, When i get time, I would like to do a clean start without HP as i let my warranty expire on my Desktop.

 

[Britton30]

Most Microsoft OSes do not die a slow death without some help from users.

 

[gregrocker]

I would use TeamViewer which works perfectly and doesn't cost hundreds of dollars more like Ultimate. TeamViewer Download

You could have removed the ei.cfg file in the flash stick Sources folder and had all-versions to select Home Premium during install. Better yet start fresh with the latest official installer instead of one you don't know. Everything you need is here to get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

If you stick with the tools and methods given in the tutorial above you will get and keep a perfect install, which will stay that way as long as you do.

 

[jagman55]

So can I assume,

Give up? The Home Premium choice during start-up can not be removed without a format and reload?

 

[gregrocker]

So do you plan to keep Ultimate and buy a key for hundreds of dollars more when you already own a copy of Home Premium? If you were going to do this you should have bought Ultimate Anytime Upgrade and gotten a price break. But you'd sill have to reinstall Home Premium to insert the Ultimate Anytime Key.

So I would follow Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 to get a perfect reinstall of Home Premium which you already own, unless you're set on paying more for Ultimate.

Did you boot the Ultimate installer to install over Home Premium on C? And now the problem is that you have two listings on a Dual Boot Menu , one for labeled Windows 7 which boots Ultimate and one for Home Premium which doesn' t boot anything? Check to be sure now.

Please post back a screenshot of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums

 

[ascomputers]

i'm not a big fan of windows upgrades. by the time your finished correcting errors you would do well to backup, fresh re-install windows ultimate and restoring all your data and applications.

 

[jagman55]

Thanks, one more thing,

Lets say I do the OEM from a clean start, per your suggestion/links.

What version is that OEM called?

I own a Home Premium, but is the bloatware HP.
Isn't that OEM the base OS without any features? Far below the Home Premium?

I don't understand how a free OEM can be better than even HP Home Premium?

Cant see Microsoft giving anything of use, free.

Isn't even HP better than a BASE OEM? Or is the Factory OEM the equvalent of the Home Premium HP started with?

CORRECT? or did I miss something?

 

[DavidE]

My responses are highlighted in blue.

Lets say I do the OEM from a clean start, per your suggestion/links.

What version is that OEM called?
It is called Home Premium, the same as the version you are licensed for on the COA.

I own a Home Premium, but is the bloatware HP.
Isn't that OEM the base OS without any features? Far below the Home Premium?
No. No.
The download link in Greg's tutorial is for the "clean" MS version of Home Premium without any of the additional "junk" HP has added to the version they installed on the PC you bought.

I don't understand how a free OEM can be better than even HP Home Premium?
It is not really free - you paid for the license when you bought the PC.
It is "free" of the junk HP decided to give you on top of the "clean" Win 7 Home Premium.

Cant see Microsoft giving anything of use, free.
See answer above

Isn't even HP better than a BASE OEM? Or is the Factory OEM the equivalent of the Home Premium HP started with?
See answers above - I hope I explained things to clear up a misunderstanding of the difference between a clean install of Win 7 without any of the HP bloat (Tutorial link), and what you get from the factory.

If you download and install from the link in the tutorial you will get a clean install - NO HP bloatware!

CORRECT? or did I miss something?

 

[jagman55]

Sometimes I am a little dense but think I am getting it.

Lets see.
Go to link you supplied, there i can find a OEM of Home Premium, Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. Install it CLEAN, FORMAT my C: drive, Load the OEM, use my lic and key, etc to register it as my copy of Home Premium.

Correct?

I can find for my desktop LIC/SN number under Control Panel/SYSTEM page?

Well you may get some questions as I am going to try this.
and use: TeamViewer

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU that responded

 

[DavidE]

You need to use the license key on the COA sticker to activate Windows.
See step 6 in http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164

Make sure you have a readable key on the COA!

 

[gregrocker]

Is the Product Key on the COA sticker on bottom of laptop is readable?

Here is the download you need: Win7 Home Premium x64 SP1 w/Media Refresh English Official ISO download

Pay close attention in the tutorial to how drivers are handled in Win7. Download your wireless driver now to your backup so you have it in case the installer doesn't provide it, so you can get online to run all rounds of Important and Optional Windows Updates which should provide most all drivers, after enabling Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3). Only import drivers missing after all updates are done, with reboots after which you Check for Updates again.

 

[jagman55]

The Problem is, my Desktop does not have a sticker

and the Laptop bottom, due to wear has been made unreadable.
Do these exist anywhere else?

 

[gregrocker]

In this case your option is to order Recovery disks from the PC maker's Tech Support. There's no way to Clean Reinstall your licensed version without a readable Product Key.

 

[DavidE]

The Post #15 Title states "The Problem is, my Desktop does not have a sticker"

Did you buy a new HP Desktop with Windows pre-installed, and it did not come with a Windows COA sticker?

 

[jagman55]

Desktop COA sticker

I did, it was directly from HP. Both, Laptop and Desktop.
The company I retired from supplied my PC's while working but had to turn them in so purchased the two Pavilion at the same time directly from HP.

But both still have the Recovery partition so worst case is to RESTORE or Recover the original, then get the ID then reload the OEM downloaded.

BUT big question is, there is a PRODUCTION ID: XXXXX-OEM-XXXXXXX-XXXXX

on the: Control Panel/System [page.] under section: Windows activation ---------------------

is this the ID I need when I reload the OEM from your links?

 

[Britton30]

Those two numbers are product ID numbers, not activation keys, they are different. IF you don't have key on any stickers, you'll have to buy new ones.

 

[gregrocker]

The PC cannot be sold with preinstalled Windows without having a COA sticker attached. Look again. But you said at first it didn't have one, then it was rubbed off. Which is it?

Can you run HP System Recovery?

Be sure to back up first, then try running it according to the steps in the blue link.

If it fails, report back exactly when and any error message or behavior.

You can also try Marking Recovery Partition Active to reboot and try the process again, which sometimes works. You may or may not need to press the Fkey given. Try both ways.