Vista to W7 upgrade

[sargan]

I have a PC with full legit W7 Ultimate installed.
I also have a currently unused full legit Vista license. (originally came with PC .. I bought new OS not upgrade)

I am building a new PC and wish to use the W7 license so I can put 64bit W7 on my new PC ... easy enough as it will be a clean install and I can use original install disk, it allows for 32 or 64bit install.

The Q is the existing PC will then be 'unlicensed' ... when I bought it, it came with VISTA license ...

For this old PC .. to pass it on to family ...can I -

Opt A ... if I buy a Vista to W7 upgrade, can I apply this license without having to reinstall. ? (as this was a recent clean install)

Opt B... if not can I re-install W7 and apply the upgrade license without having to install Vista first ? For obvious reasons I don't want to install Vista then upgrade to W7 ... prefer the clean install that exists?

Hopefully this explanation is clear.

 

[Petey7]

You may be able to change the liscence key without having to reinstall. If you go to Control Panal > System. If you scroll down you should see a link that says Change Product Key. You can also do a clean install. Personally, I would do a clean install so that who ever inherits the laptop can have a fresh start. For either method I recommend using Option 3 of the tutorial linked below. I can say that I have used it successfully on more than one occasion.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

 

[gregrocker]

If you buy Ultimate Upgrade, then do the workaround Petey showed you above, it should accept the Upgrade version key at the Change Product Key link on System page.

When you activate the full version on it's new hardware, you'll likely have to make the robocall to change the hardware signature in MS Activation servers, deactivating the old install if it hasn't had it;s activation changed already.