Has anybody tested this yet?

[PurdueRy]

I'll be formatting my drive tonight(win7 RC/Vista dual boot) and installing win7 pro upgrade. There has been a lot of talk on what you can get away with and what you can't with the upgrade version. My question is if anyone has installed win 7 from the DVD with no previous OS installed.

There has been rumor that perhaps during the install process you may be asked for your old OS key and then win7 would continue to install. I'm wondering if anyone has confirmed this yet. The other option is if you can do as people did for vista and install win7, not activate it, and then install it again.

Interested in hearing if anyone has found anything out regarding this...otherwise I guess I'll find out tonight!

 

[TheSlamma]

I just got done installing it about 10 minutes ago on my step brothers machine, he did the student deal and got the Professional edition upgrade for $29.99. I converted the download to an ISO, burned it, booted off the disk and installed it on a blank hard drive. It never asked for an older version of windows disk from me. But I don't have his activation key right now, he took off to work and it's in his email still. So I don't know if it asks when you do the activation.. though it doesn't seem like it would. IIRC older versions like Windows 98 used to ask at the beginning of the install.

Anyway it's sitting here at the desktop with 30 days left to activate and no need for me to put in his XP CD.

 

[JDub02]

Why did you convert to an ISO?

Can't you just create a data disk and select the "bootable" option?

 

[TheSlamma]

He was still on XP so it didn't have the data DVD burning built in, so I converted it to ISO then burned it with a free util called Active@ ISO Burner.

 

[wonSR4]

Someone on hard forum tried what you are thinking about OP but the CD key kept coming back as invalid.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1462259
scroll down a little

 

[Fabio]

Originally posted by: wonSR4
Someone on hard forum tried what you are thinking about OP but the CD key kept coming back as invalid.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1462259
scroll down a little

Now that thread has been updated to say the upgrade works just like it did for Vista. Install from blank HD without using key, then once it finishes do "upgrade" install and use the key. Voila!

 

[CU]

I though MS specifically said that would not work.

 

[wonSR4]

Originally posted by: Fabio

Originally posted by: wonSR4
Someone on hard forum tried what you are thinking about OP but the CD key kept coming back as invalid.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1462259
scroll down a little

Now that thread has been updated to say the upgrade works just like it did for Vista. Install from blank HD without using key, then once it finishes do "upgrade" install and use the key. Voila!

So it seems. I was just about to update this but you beat me to it.

 

[tbooth]

Originally posted by: wonSR4

Originally posted by: Fabio

Originally posted by: wonSR4
Someone on hard forum tried what you are thinking about OP but the CD key kept coming back as invalid.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1462259
scroll down a little

Now that thread has been updated to say the upgrade works just like it did for Vista. Install from blank HD without using key, then once it finishes do "upgrade" install and use the key. Voila!

So it seems. I was just about to update this but you beat me to it.

1.)I installed to blank HD, tried key not accepted (upgrade only)

2.)Booted to DVD again deleted the partitions that were created on the previous attempt and reinstalled. This time the key was accepted. I haven't activated Windows yet though because this is a work PC I was testing on. I'll activate tonight when I install on my home PC.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: wonSR4
So it seems. I was just about to update this but you beat me to it.

That thread is confusing because somebody posted on top of it with a report of "upgrading" a W7 RC install. But, reading carefully, it seems that somebody says they installed and Activated a W7 Upgrade package onto an empty hard drive.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: TheSlamma
He was still on XP so it didn't have the data DVD burning built in, so I converted it to ISO then burned it with a free util called Active@ ISO Burner.

Can you tell us the exact steps used to convert it to an ISO? You can't just burn the files as data files onto a DVD, because that won't be bootable.

 

[ComputerDude67]

What I have found with Vista is if you have an upgrade version (key determines if it is a upgrade or new install - all media is same other than 32bit vs 64bit) and want to do a clean install is.

1) Install Vista\Win7 and do not activate (you will have 30 days to activate).
2) Install Vista\Win7 a second time and this time use the upgrade key to activate, because it detects a installed OS the upgrade will work (easy workaround - have not tested with Win7).

Also you can not upgrade 32bit OS to 64bit OS. You can upgrade 64bit OS to 64bit OS.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: TheSlamma
He was still on XP so it didn't have the data DVD burning built in, so I converted it to ISO then burned it with a free util called Active@ ISO Burner.

Can you tell us the exact steps used to convert it to an ISO? You can't just burn the files as data files onto a DVD, because that won't be bootable.

http://www.sevenforums.com/gen...e-iso-student-d-l.html

 

[crab]

I just did a 7 Pro clean install. I didnt enter a serial during the install, but entered it through control panel after the install was finished. Worked great!

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: crab
I just did a 7 Pro clean install. I didnt enter a serial during the install, but entered it through control panel after the install was finished. Worked great!

This is for the upgrade version? You installed to a newly formatted drive?

 

[crab]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: crab
I just did a 7 Pro clean install. I didnt enter a serial during the install, but entered it through control panel after the install was finished. Worked great!

This is for the upgrade version? You installed to a newly formatted drive?

Yes sir.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: crab

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: crab
I just did a 7 Pro clean install. I didnt enter a serial during the install, but entered it through control panel after the install was finished. Worked great!

This is for the upgrade version? You installed to a newly formatted drive?

Yes sir.

Sweet, sounds like I'll follow this method first. We'll see what happens.

 

[tatteredpotato]

So I accidentally installed a torrented Ultimate Windows 7 (long story, but needed an OS to get to the files from the Win741 deal). Didn't enter a key and got to the desktop. Then downloaded the upgrader from win741, installed as a "Custom/Non-Upgrade" and installed, entered the key, and successfully activated.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian
So I accidentally installed a torrented Ultimate Windows 7 (long story, but needed an OS to get to the files from the Win741 deal). Didn't enter a key and got to the desktop. Then downloaded the upgrader from win741, installed as a "Custom/Non-Upgrade" and installed, entered the key, and successfully activated.

Are you saying you don't need a activated version of Windows to successfully activate, aka I can upgrade over my Win 7 RC and then enter my upgrade key for an activated copy?

What's the point of a full copy then?

 

[sygyzy]

What exactly do you do when you DON'T enter a key during install? Is there an option or button that says "I'll enter the key later>?" And once you are in Windows, can you just run a program and enter the key or do you really have to "upgrade" ... as in reinstall Win 7 on top of Win 7 that you just installed?

 

[PurdueRy]

Ok So I did the method Crab described and it worked for me as well. I have an activated copy of win7 pro now installed to a formatted drive without installing anything prior. Didn't have to even enter my old vista code. Makes you wonder what the point of the retail version is.

 

[tbooth]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
What exactly do you do when you DON'T enter a key during install? Is there an option or button that says "I'll enter the key later>?" And once you are in Windows, can you just run a program and enter the key or do you really have to "upgrade" ... as in reinstall Win 7 on top of Win 7 that you just installed?

You just leave the product key field empty and hit next it will finish the install without the key.

Once you do this you need to reinstall, and this time enter the product key. Select "custom install" and then you can delete the previous partitions and reformat them.

 

[PurdueRy]

No, read what me and Crab posted. As of right now, there is no need to preinstall windows then reinstall it again. Just install...go into control panel...and register. That's it.

 

[tbooth]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
No, read what me and Crab posted. As of right now, there is no need to preinstall windows then reinstall it again. Just install...go into control panel...and register. That's it.

I tried earlier entering the product key after the installation finished by right-clicking "computer" and going to properties on an empty HD and it didn't work. Is there something different than this in control panel?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: tbooth

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
No, read what me and Crab posted. As of right now, there is no need to preinstall windows then reinstall it again. Just install...go into control panel...and register. That's it.

I tried earlier entering the product key after the installation finished by right-clicking "computer" and going to properties on an empty HD and it didn't work. Is there something different than this in control panel?

Nope I simply clicked "activate windows" by searching in the search box for "register". Worked first try. Out of curiosity when you installed, did you click "upgrade" or advanced install? I chose the latter. Just in case we did that differently.