Windows 7 Upgrade - Safe blank install

Prof Kerfuffle

Windows 7 user
Guru
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4th planet from the sun
I have bought a old(ish) laptop designed for Vista but has no OS on it. I can
afford a Windows 7 Professional upgrade disk.

My question is can I install Windows 7 off a clean partition without ANY previous version of Windows and activate safely without conflict or invalidating the serial key.

(I would like to stress there is NO copy of Windows on the laptop.)

Thanks
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
GIGABYTE Rig (Custom)
OS
Windows 7 Professional (x64/SP1) /Linux Mint 16
CPU
Intel i5-3570k 3.40 GHz @ 4.6 GHz
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z77X-D3H
Memory
8GB (2133MHz) DDR3
Graphics Card(s)
Asus GTX560 Ti (Nvidia)
Monitor(s) Displays
HP 23", Acer 19" and a Dell 17"
Screen Resolution
1080p, 1440x900 and 1280x1024
Hard Drives
Sandisk Extreme 120GB (SSD), WD 2TB green and 4 other HDDs
PSU
Antec 620w High Current Gamer
Case
Corsair Obsidian 600D
Cooling
CPU - Antec KÜHLER H₂O 920
Keyboard
Steelseries 6Gv2
Mouse
Roccat LUA
Internet Speed
4 - 6mb/s
Antivirus
ESET NOD32
Browser
Chrome/Firefox
Other Info
Intel Gigabit CT (PCIE NIC) and Thinkpad T61p,
Anyone? I have searched but there answers from 2009. Am looking to see if Microsoft has prevented this.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
GIGABYTE Rig (Custom)
OS
Windows 7 Professional (x64/SP1) /Linux Mint 16
CPU
Intel i5-3570k 3.40 GHz @ 4.6 GHz
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z77X-D3H
Memory
8GB (2133MHz) DDR3
Graphics Card(s)
Asus GTX560 Ti (Nvidia)
Monitor(s) Displays
HP 23", Acer 19" and a Dell 17"
Screen Resolution
1080p, 1440x900 and 1280x1024
Hard Drives
Sandisk Extreme 120GB (SSD), WD 2TB green and 4 other HDDs
PSU
Antec 620w High Current Gamer
Case
Corsair Obsidian 600D
Cooling
CPU - Antec KÜHLER H₂O 920
Keyboard
Steelseries 6Gv2
Mouse
Roccat LUA
Internet Speed
4 - 6mb/s
Antivirus
ESET NOD32
Browser
Chrome/Firefox
Other Info
Intel Gigabit CT (PCIE NIC) and Thinkpad T61p,

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion Elite 495UK
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
Motherboard
MSI 2A9C (CPU1)
Memory
8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
HP2310i
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1x1954GB Hitachi HDS22020ALA 330 (RAID), 1x1954GB Hitachi External for backup and storage
PSU
460W
Case
HP Elite
Cooling
Air cooled
Keyboard
Logitech K750 solar-powered keyboard
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M180 mouse
Internet Speed
2Mb
Other Info
Pure Avanti Flow Internet Radio with iPod Dock, 64Gb iPod, HP USB Speakers, Sony MDR-V500 Headphones, Sony Vaio F-Series Laptop
I have bought a old(ish) laptop designed for Vista but has no OS on it. I afford a Windows 7 Professional upgrade disk.

My question is can I install Windows 7 off a clean partition without ANY previous version of Windows and activate safely without conflict or invalidating the serial key.

(I would like to stress there is NO copy of Windows on the laptop.)

Thanks

You are qualified to use an upgrade disk if you at have an earlier qualifying Microsoft OS, such as Vista. But that earlier OS does NOT have to be installed---you just have to own it.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
CPU
Intel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked
Motherboard
AsRock Z170M Extreme 4, micro ATX
Memory
8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card(s)
none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Sound Card
onboard: Realtek ALC1150; external: USB Behringer UF0-202
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2340M 23 inch IPS
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
System: Crucial MX100 series SSD, 128 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00D8PB0, 3 TB
PSU
Rosewill SilentNight 500 watt fanless, semi-modular
Case
Antec Solo II
Cooling
Noctua NH-U12S; Noctua F12 intake, Noctua S12A exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft 200 6JH-00001 USB
Mouse
Dell or Microsoft optical wired; USB
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.
If you have qualifying XP or Vista then you can clean install Upgrade version with no OS on the HD but you'll have to leave the key blank when requested at beginning of install, then after install do the qucik registry workaround given here to activate Upgrade version on clean HD: Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

If you don't have a qualifying retail XP or Vista you're not using or a Vista factory COA sticker on that machine, you'll need to buy OEM or full retail.
 
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