Make bootable iso from student d/l

SIW2 said:

jnetty99 said:

Wait, Wait, Wait! No .iso download for the student version?
I have a friend who bought the student version. He is not technically savvy to do this whole burning a bootable image from the files downloaded.

Can he just do a clean install from a Windows 7 RTM .iso and put the activation key given to him on the email?

YES.

All the installtion media is the same. If you are on Vista/7,you can use Alex's isorecorder to make a copy of the dvd for him.

ISO Recorder v3

Okay good, obviously the copy just had to match the key purchase. i.e. Home Premium RTM to Home Premium Upgrade.

Not sure what you mean. There is no Home Premium dvd - there is no Pro dvd - there is no Ultimate dvd. They are all identical in spite of what it says on the box, or label.

They all contain all the files to install all Editions.

Use any dvd - when it sees the key - it knows which Edition to install from the dvd to the Hard Drive.

spiffman said:

Once you boot into the iso you can choose to format the drive during the windows 7 installation and it won't mess you up even if you're upgrading (note that the option to do this is available when the installer asks you which drive you want to install on - I believe you may have to click on a little button at that time that says show advanced options for it to appear). I did this upgrading from windows xp 32 -> windows 7 64.

Note that even if you don't format I think it's a "clean" install in the sense that windows 7 isn't relying on any of your old os files but you will have some remnants of your files stored in a windows.old folder that the install creates.

This is good to know because i did want to do a 'custom install' and let Win7 reformat the target drive before installing such that I get a true clean install. Some of the posts that said NOT to format the drive were not clear as to whether letting Win7 reformat as part of its clean install process would also cause problems.

One question, however. If you went from 32-Bit XP or 32-bit Vista and chose the upgrade option after booting from the install DVD, would it still do some form of clean installation or would it attemp to leave your installed programs and settings intact?

Had a 32bit Vista Hom Premium system.
Downloaded Student 64bit Pro. Expanded/burned ISO boot disk per instructions.
Did "custom install" & formatted c:\ drive OS partition

Win 7 Pro 64 bit works as advertised.

Many thanks.

ChadClancy said:

One question, however. If you went from 32-Bit XP or 32-bit Vista and chose the upgrade option after booting from the install DVD, would it still do some form of clean installation or would it attemp to leave your installed programs and settings intact?

Can't speak to going from Vista 32 -> Windows 7 64 but the upgrade option is not available going from xp 32 -> windows 7 64 (you're forced to do a custom install).

You cannot format the partition that vista(or xp) is on while installing. If you format your key will not work as it does not see it as an upgrade if there is no OS on the hard disk.

So now I have to reinstall vista then try again. Problem is I cannot get my vista OS disc to boot (its a gateway OEM OS disc) Every time it boots it just brings me to the serial key screen for windows 7 and my key does not work so I'm stuck.

IcEmAn911 said:

Okay, I'm upgrading from Vista Home Premium 32bit to Windows 7 Professional 64bit and I've managed to make the .ISO file using this command:

oscdimg -n -m -b"C:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop\expandedSetup\boot\etfsboot.com" C:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop\expandedSetup C:\7.iso

Change directories accordingly! It works for me and I hope it works for you !


Sources:
How to create a Bootable DVD (Windows 7 or Windows Vista) - Cesar da la Torre Blog
HotUKDeals Forum - View Single Post - Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional - £30 for UK Students

According to the second link you must NOT format C: but to install Windows 7 Upgrade straight into the drive where Vista is found which commence an auto clean install format I THINK

First. I've been lurking for a couple of weeks, and want to thank everyone for all the info. I've gotten over this time.

I bought the Digital River Upgrade for 7 Pro 64-bit. I currently run XP Pro-32 bit. Had the same problem as many with the extraction failing at the end, but I've used the instructions to make an iso, which burned fine (and boots fine). Since folks here have had no problems registering the Digital River upgrade key after doing a custom install to repartition and wipe the drives (which is what I plan to do), that's all good.

My question is this: I also plan to buy a 32-bit 7 upgrade license for a second PC (running XP). Will I be able to boot from an image I make from that DVD and repartition the drive? Or, because I'm going from XP 32-bit to 7 32-bit, do I have to run that setup from within XP?

A better question may be, has anyone figured out yet exactly how Microsoft is checking to be sure the user has a previous version of Windows? Or does 7 not really check at all, and anyone having issues with their license keys are simply entering it wrong?

Much thanks!

Im upgrading from XP pro 32 bit to 7 64bit. I burned the ISO and booted off the disc. My problem is that it just goes to a screen with just the window 7 background and cursor. That's it. What am i doing wrong?

ok, i must be stupid, I used

oscdimg -bC:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop\expandedSetup\boot\etfsboot.com -h -u2 -m -lWIN_EN_DVD C:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop\expandedSetup\ C:\7.iso

and it wrote it 100% but I cant find the ISO isnt it supposed to be in C:\ named 7.iso?

Edit: Nvm, i ran it again and it seemed to work

Ok I followed the first post, I got the unpacking error due to having xp 32 bit, but I continued, I was able to burn an iso dvd, it booted from the dvd loaded setup files, had the little windows logo pop up and then changed to a blue screen with the cursor on it but thats as far as it goes, I can move the mouse around and thats it. Anyone else having this issue? I have burned the iso on 3 dvd to see if that was the problem but its the same thing. Any one?