As an educator, I can get a Windows 7 Upgrade for $30. Not bad. I'm wondering how the upgrade process works.
Here's what I think(hope) happens... I put in my new Windows 7 disc and tell it to install. At some point, when Windows 7 is installing, it will ask me to insert my Windows XP disc to verify that I am a legitimate XP owner. After seeing the XP disc, Windows 7 gets fulling installed Is this correct? Does it wipe the old XP from the hard drive and do a clean install of Windows 7?
Currently, I have Windows 7 installed on my machine but I'm past the 30 day trial. I got a cd-key from eBay last year and it allowed the installation but I think it probably will not activate (haven't tried it yet). I got the key code for $10 or some stupidly low price. Still it did install and might be good after all. If so, then my questions above really don't matter but I'd still like to know how the upgrade works.
gs
Windows XP to Windows 7
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Gary Shepherd
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Mitch Drumm
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Re: Windows XP to Windows 7
You are NOT prompted to insert your copy of XP.Gary Shepherd wrote:
Here's what I think(hope) happens... I put in my new Windows 7 disc and tell it to install. At some point, when Windows 7 is installing, it will ask me to insert my Windows XP disc to verify that I am a legitimate XP owner. After seeing the XP disc, Windows 7 gets fulling installed Is this correct? Does it wipe the old XP from the hard drive and do a clean install of Windows 7?
Currently, I have Windows 7 installed on my machine but I'm past the 30 day trial. I got a cd-key from eBay last year and it allowed the installation but I think it probably will not activate (haven't tried it yet). I got the key code for $10 or some stupidly low price. Still it did install and might be good after all. If so, then my questions above really don't matter but I'd still like to know how the upgrade works.
gs
You aren't even asked to enter the XP product key.
You ARE required to OWN a legit copy of XP, but it doesn't even have to be installed.
For $30, I'd just buy the new upgrade disk and avoid using the Ebay key entirely.
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Gary Shepherd
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Mitch Drumm
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Yes, I know from experience.
MS doesn't KNOW you have XP. It's taken on faith.
For that reason, there is no reason to buy a "full" copy of Windows 7. You can do a clean install of 7 with an "upgrade" copy of Windows 7 onto a brand new hard drive that has never had ANY operating system on it.
The EULA requires that you own a qualifying OS, but at no point are you asked to prove it. MS did this deliberately.
You should be able to activate without issues. A few people have to use a workaround to activate.
Go to:
http://www.sevenforums.com/
for more details if you need them, but I'd just dive in.
Does that $30 buy you a retail version of Windows 7?
MS doesn't KNOW you have XP. It's taken on faith.
For that reason, there is no reason to buy a "full" copy of Windows 7. You can do a clean install of 7 with an "upgrade" copy of Windows 7 onto a brand new hard drive that has never had ANY operating system on it.
The EULA requires that you own a qualifying OS, but at no point are you asked to prove it. MS did this deliberately.
You should be able to activate without issues. A few people have to use a workaround to activate.
Go to:
http://www.sevenforums.com/
for more details if you need them, but I'd just dive in.
Does that $30 buy you a retail version of Windows 7?
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Gary Shepherd
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Thanks for the info. It seems there's no reason for me to buy a full retail copy.
As I understand it, the $29.99 gets me an upgrade CD with key. You can probably do a search for "Windows 7 academic" if you want the details.
I'm a teacher with 3 kids in school. I think, technically, the $30 deal is only for students but I'm pretty sure it will work for me too.
In any case, $30 is certainly cheaper than $300!
As I understand it, the $29.99 gets me an upgrade CD with key. You can probably do a search for "Windows 7 academic" if you want the details.
I'm a teacher with 3 kids in school. I think, technically, the $30 deal is only for students but I'm pretty sure it will work for me too.
In any case, $30 is certainly cheaper than $300!
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Mitch Drumm
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My comments were directed at retail discs.
I don't know if there are some peculiar limitations to "academic" versions. I have not heard of any such limitations, but I never deal in the academic line.
I think you can buy a 3 pack of licenses for around 150. That's a pretty good deal if you have to license more than one PC.
I don't know if there are some peculiar limitations to "academic" versions. I have not heard of any such limitations, but I never deal in the academic line.
I think you can buy a 3 pack of licenses for around 150. That's a pretty good deal if you have to license more than one PC.
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Gary Shepherd
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I've reinstalled Windows today. Both XP and Win7.
As expected, the Win7 Key was a fraud. It lets me install but when I tried to activate it failed. It's possible that I did try to activate it last year on my old machine. That would probably cause the new machine install to fail.
Oh well... Guess I'll buy a new copy.
I set this machine up as a dual boot because I've found a couple of older programs that don't work well on Win7. Plus, it's really easy to reinstall my WinXP from backup images. WinXP will still work with DriveImage7 and the backup images are tiny compared to all the Win7 backup options I've tried so far. Less than 1gb for a fresh install.
I backed up my Win7 system earlier today and it took nearly 80gb to do a complete system backup. GEESH!!!
As expected, the Win7 Key was a fraud. It lets me install but when I tried to activate it failed. It's possible that I did try to activate it last year on my old machine. That would probably cause the new machine install to fail.
Oh well... Guess I'll buy a new copy.
I set this machine up as a dual boot because I've found a couple of older programs that don't work well on Win7. Plus, it's really easy to reinstall my WinXP from backup images. WinXP will still work with DriveImage7 and the backup images are tiny compared to all the Win7 backup options I've tried so far. Less than 1gb for a fresh install.
I backed up my Win7 system earlier today and it took nearly 80gb to do a complete system backup. GEESH!!!