CNET News Daily Podcast: Students report Windows 7 upgrade problems

Of the many ways to buy Windows 7, the best deal Microsoft makes available goes to students, who can buy a downloadable upgrade version of Windows 7 for $29. However, a number of students have reported problems when trying to download and install the new version of Windows.

Microsoft says it is aware of several issues that people have encountered. Most common is the fact that folks can't easily go from the 32-bit version of Vista to the 64-bit version of Windows 7. "This appears to be a series of isolated issues that are often related to the user's Internet provider or installed third-party software," Microsoft said.

The company recommends students with products either get a refund or contact Digital River, the company managing the digital downloads, to try to get a physical disc with the operating system. In support forums, Microsoft technicians are also pointing users to a five-step workaround that is said to fix the problems.

Also on the podcast: The White House moves its Web site to Drupal; Microsoft opens up Outlook; Mozilla building a new social in-box; Facebook memorializes its deceased users; Amazon exits the wine business; and more.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

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Today's stories:

Students find problems with Windows 7 upgrade

White House Web site makes open-source move

Microsoft to open up Outlook data format

Yahoo Mail outages plague some users

Mozilla tries to build the ultimate in-box: Raindrop

Carl Icahn resigns from Yahoo board of directors

AOL names its post-Time Warner board

Universal phone charger OK'd

Nokia pushes back N900 Net tablet

With 'memorialized' profiles, Facebook sees dead people

Amazon suspends wine sales effort

[Gold_Storm_Mac]

i wouldn't want to troll.

[lazycat202]

and make sure your PC hardware supports 64 bits.

[lazycat202]

upgrading from 32bit to 64bit and saying it's Microsoft's fault? ahhh! bunch of stupid students!
do a fresh install and it'll be good!

[tektaktyks]

i dont know,its an .exe that you need to run in windows and install on the same partition?

[dubob1234]

If you ran the same software then you'd understand, you can't just install like that. Student software at times only gets one install! Besides, I can't install two of my major software's because Windows 7 kills it even in XP/admin mode.

The problem is in the network changes. These software's can not confirm your MAC address like they could with XP.

Computer Tech "15 years experience"

[The_happy_switcher]

Press 'start' to shut down. Place computer on Craigslist. Go to nearest Apple store and get an actual computer running on 21st century technology.

[Gold_Storm_Mac]

true, pc's still use bios motherboards.

[tektaktyks]

gee,my pc runs windows,osx and linux,its pretty fast,8 gb ram,quad core,1,5 tera internal storage(thats 500 +1 tera),8x bluray burner,all for around $800,thats 21st century...

[ocxmcl]

the_happy_switcher, I totally agree with you. However, are you willing to give me money so I'm able to buy myself a mac? After all, the best way to convert someone is to give them money.

[ywkhgqo]

get a computer from apple so i can have all my data erased after being in a locked down system to begin with? No thanks

[lazycat202]

ywkhgqo
it wont delete your date. Just keep your date in a safer place where no body can get in :)

[lazycat202]

Apple = 21st century? no wonder that all Apple fans are the same.

[miaminica]

"Go to nearest Apple store and get an actual computer."
You don't "get" a Mac, you buy it.

[szilagyic]

Why should the users be forced to buy a new computer and lose money on the old system, just to upgrade their operating system? I can understand that if the PC was 10 years old that would be an option, but Windows 7 is bloated and users shouldn't be forced to buy new hardware just because of that. Migrate to a real and efficient OS like Linux, and upgrade for FREE.

[cbscowards]

AppleSuxLeo? shellcodes_coder?

[man_w_balls]

To work around the Digital River / Windows 7 download issue, just burn your own disc from the download. Google it, a solution exists. However, I must say I was not happy when I got my paid-for download and there was no ISO to burn - Digital River should have given some notice that the product you download is just a damn folder!
... but the damn folder apparently is the contents of a Windows 7 disc, so you just need a program like ImgBurn to burn it into a bootable installation disc (choose Advanced options and select the boot file within the "boot" folder in the Windows 7 downloaded folder etc) - generally a PITA but not too hard to rectify. I can confirm bootability of the burned disc results of this method.
Woo hoo Microsoft! I just wish I had a Mac instead... oh, wait, this is for my Mac. All OS's are belong to my Mac.

[dubob1234]

Ha ha ha, Crazy guy.

I have considered changing my primary platform to Linux or Mac. I don't like the servier slowdown and software issues I have received with a so called "Upgrade". I have lost so much that I might as well switch.

You got me laughing.

[ckh1272]

"This appears to be a series of isolated issues that are often related to the user's Internet provider or installed third-party software," Microsoft said.

Problem with this is that they have the word "Microsoft" instead of "Apple. That's why there are so few responses here. However, I see some of the more "overzealous" Apple types have chimed their two cents worth. It's an OS update and there are always going to be hiccups (some big, some small). If you don't believe that it can happen to "your" OS while ragging others, then you are delusional at best.