Will the $49 Win 7 "upgrade" work on a new HDD?

[NicColt]

Originally posted by: totalnoob
Quick question: After the upgrade version detects a valid installed XP license, and Windows 7 is fully installed and activated, can the upgrade disk be used to do a fresh install later? Does the "upgrade" key essentially become a RETAIL key that can be installed on a fresh HD later?

It's not written in stone but according to everything that I have read and understood it to be Yes

However, again keep in mind that there's give and take and that the validation will be kept on the WGA Servers and that once you migrate your XP license, that license will be deactivated.

Again here's how I understand it to be.

1) if you have a W7 Upgrade disk, you can either do an upgrade over an existing install or a custom install. All W7U disks will have both 32 and 64 bit and XP on it.

2) Your previous copy of XP will no longer work, but the copy on the W7 disk will as long as you only have one Validation running.

3) If you do a custom install first, you will not be able to validate it because it never migrated to a master key on the WGA Servers, and after 30 days your borked and it will offer you a WAU purchase offer.

4) If you do have a master key on the WGA Servers your W7 Upgrade will/should validate just like a full retail.

 

[Raduque]

Nobody's addressed my post about upgrading the RC - how will that work if I need to install again someday after the RC has expired?

 

[NicColt]

Originally posted by: Raduque
how will that work if I need to install again someday after the RC has expired?

Everything that I have explained in the past on W7 activation so far has been confirmed.

It's hard to explain when there's nothing official. We can only best speculate, but here's my understanding and best guesstimate on the issue.

Whether you have the full retail or the upgrade you can boot from either disk both versions offer 32 and 64 bit, you can do a clean install with both versions and be able to run W7 for 30 before activation (120 days if you know how).

If the KEY on the W7 Upgrade disk has been merged into a full activation, Microsoft will now hold that info in their WGA servers. Once that is done, you will be allowed to use W7U as a full retail version. Meaning that in the future you will no longer need the XP, Vista or RC media to install W7 Upgrade. You will do a full install with the W7U media and Microsoft will recognize your merged master key from their WGA servers.

W7 Retail and W7 Upgrade both act the same but W7 Upgrade needs just one previously activated XP - Vista or RC key to merge your W7U key to a full key.

I think that those that have merged their RC keys into a Full Key will simply be allowed to run W7U in the future.

Whether you have a RC, academic, not for resale, full retail, OEM or Upgrade, it all has to do with Licensing and Microsoft has fixed the tricks and are going to (eventually) enforce the licensing.

Let me give an example, you had XP or RC running on your PC and purchased W7U.
You did a W7 install along with all your programs and activated W7.
W7 and WGA de-activated your XP or RC key and merged your W7U key.
The next day you have a full system and disk failure.
You put a new disk into your computer.
You put your W7U disk in and do a full install.
You then go and activate your W7U and WGA recognized your migrated key.
There is no more need for the XP or RC media.

This is what I believe MS will be doing.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: NicColt
Everything that I have explained in the past on W7 activation so far has been confirmed.

Do you have a link(s) to confirm that? From all appearances, Microsoft seems to have left the old "Vista double-install" workaround fully intact. In fact, there's a Registry change that supposedly came from Microsoft that allows a Windows 7 Upgrade-Only DVD to be installed on an empty hard drive while doing only a single install of Win7. Folks have Activated these "empty-hard-drive" installs.

If this is the case, then it'd seem like a total waste to modfy MS' Activation database with records of prior Keys.

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From my Win7 Update Q&A Topic in the Operating Systems Forum of AnandTech:

HardForum post on installing W7 Upgrade onto an empty hard drive.

This is the same "double-install" technique that was usable with Vista. Please read the instructions CAREFULLY. It's easy to make a mistake and have failing Activation.

WinSupersite post on installing W7 Upgrade onto an empty hard drive without having to install it twice.

This is a Registry change to the OS that is supposed to eliminate the need to install W7 twice when using "Upgrade-only" media. Quote: "This is what MS Tech will tell you to do, someone on the sevenforums called MS and pretended to have a problem and this is the advice they gave him."

=======================================

I'd be the last to say that this is the end of it all. As with Vista, there's always the possibility that MS could issue a patch to Win7 that would invalidate any Upgrade-only install that has no XP or Vista Key attached to it. But you'd think that MS would have just "fixed" the double-install "flaw" to begin with. To let (millions?) of folks install and begin using Win7 for days or months and then invalidate those installs would be a public-relations nightmare.

I still believe we are going to see the end of "Upgrade" versions of Windows with Win8. 90% of Windows computers are OEM and already have Windows licenses from the factory. Bothering with all the BS about Upgrades and prior licenses and such is way too much trouble to the consumer (and Microsoft Support) just to "catch" the computers that are home-built that folks HAVE paid for an Upgrade package, but don't have a previous Windows license for them, or have technical problems (disk failures, lost Install CD/DVDs, lost Keys) "proving" the existence of a prior license.

 

[jlee]

FWIW, I did the install-twice deal and mine activated and updated without a problem.