Windows 7 upgrade from Vista Home Premium

[Sentinel45]

I am having a devil of a job upgrading from Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 to Windows 7 Home Premium. The installation procedure runs all the way through without a hitch. However, when the PC boots back up, I get a message saying the upgrade was unsuccessful and that the previous Vista O/S will be reinstated. Also, if I restart the PC manually, I get a Dos screen up asking me to choose between 'Setup' and 'Vista'. The PC will only boot up if I choose the 'Vista' option. Can anyone offer any advice on how to resolve this annoying problem?

 

[RolandJS]

Are you using an OEM Windows 7 DVD? Or, MS blue-disk DVD? OEMs are often installed & "married" to a specific computer.

 

[Sentinel45]

Hi Roland...Thank you for the prompt reply. I'm using a genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade 2 DVD disk set. (Vista to Windows 7)

 

[Berton]

One thing Win7 can't do is upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit or 64-bit to 32-bit, has to be a clean install so be sure to back up to other media any data you've created or that exists nowhere else as the drive or partition will be wiped.

 

[Sentinel45]

Hi Berton....I'm trying to upgrade Vista Home Premium SP2 - 64 Bit to Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. The upgrade procedure runs faultlessly all the way through, but when the PC reboots after the upgrade I get a blue screen with the message that the upgrade was unsuccessful. The O/S then reverts back to Vista.

 

[DavidE]

See if this tutorial by Brink helps:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

 

[RolandJS]

Berton, could OP use some USB-thingie to wipedrive; then boot the Windows 7 blue-disk?
Wait, it's an upgrade disk, so probably my wipedrive idea won't work, huh?

 

[gregrocker]

One thing you can try that works about half the time is to enter Device Manager - Access During Windows 7 Installation to disable any erroring drivers (as symbolized by a !) to see if install will complete.

If not you'll need to do the Clean Install Windows 7. Be sure to delete all partitions during the booted install. It should allow Upgrade key since the installer will see Vista upon booting, but if not leave it blank and later do Option 3 from the tutorial David linked above.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[Ranger4]

Sentinel45.

Are you doing the upgrade from Vista to 7 while in the Vista operating mode. You have to have Vista operating as you normally would & then you start the 7 Upgrade from within the Vista operating system.
If you do a completely fresh install you will lose everything on your hard drive.

 

[Sentinel45]

H Ranger4,

Yes, I am trying to do an upgrade from Vista Home Premium 64 bit, to 7 Home Premium 64 bit from within Vista.

The upgrade runs through faultlessly, but when the PC re-boots, I get a blue screen advising that the upgrade was unsuccessful. The O.S. then reverts back to Vista.

 

[Ranger4]

H Ranger4,

Yes, I am trying to do an upgrade from Vista Home Premium 64 bit, to 7 Home Premium 64 bit from within Vista.

The upgrade runs through faultlessly, but when the PC re-boots, I get a blue screen advising that the upgrade was unsuccessful. The O.S. then reverts back to Vista.

Read through this website, even though it's for the 32 bit upgrade, to be sure that you have done everything needed for a good upgrade.

How To Upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium Edition