FAQ: Buying the right Windows 7 upgrade
When I wrote on Monday about the ins and outs of what counts as proper licensing of Windows 7, I was worried that it might turn into a flame war. But, instead, readers sent in a whole bunch of really good questions on the intricacies of licensing Windows 7 that went beyond the basics I had covered.
Things like dual-boot machines and systems with beta versions of the operating system raise all sorts of interesting licensing challenges.
Before we dive into the edge cases, though, here's a recap of the basics on Windows 7.
For those upgrading their PC, they can choose from Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate editions. There is also a family pack that includes three upgrade licenses for Windows 7 Home Premium.
Many people will have to do what is known as a custom or "clean" installation, which involves backing up one's data, installing Windows 7, then restoring the data and re-installing all applications.
All users of XP will have to go this route, as will those moving from a 32-bit version of Vista to a 64-bit version of Windows 7 (or vice versa), as well as those who are moving from a higher-end version of Windows Vista to a lower-end version of Windows 7.
Those moving from Windows Vista to the same version of Windows 7 (or to Ultimate) can do what is known as an "in-place" upgrade, which preserves files and applications.
Anyway, on to the tough cases. Here are some of the questions that readers sent me, as well as the answers I heard back from Microsoft.
Q: I installed the release candidate version of Windows 7 on a reformatted hard drive that previously had Windows Vista installed. Can I use the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade version to install a licensed copy?
A: Yes. You can do a custom installation ("clean install") to Windows 7 using the upgrade. The Windows 7 installer will detect you have the RC installed, enabling you to do this.
Q: Try as I might, I haven't been able to find any reliable information on whether I can upgrade from Vista Home Premium Edition (that came with my HP Laptop) straight to Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate, or whether it is only possible to upgrade from "Vista Home Premium" to "Windows 7 Home Premium."
A: You can do an in-place upgrade from Home Premium to Ultimate, provided you aren't switching from 32-bit to 64-bit or vice versa. Going from Home Premium to professional, however, requires a custom installation. (For a chart of which versions can be done via in-place upgrades, check out this Microsoft Web page.)
Q: I have Vista Basic on two computers and XP on the other one. So all I would have to do is use a Windows 7 upgrade disc on all three computers? Does one disc do one computer or will it do all three? I live in Canada, not the U.S.
A: In both the U.S. and Canada, your best bet is probably the Windows 7 family pack, which offers a license to upgrade up to three PCs.
Q: Can you use an upgrade disk to run XP (or Vista) in dual-boot (meaning that one partition or hard drive has the older operating system and the other partition or drive has Windows 7?
A: Microsoft treats a dual-boot machine as if it were two PCs, so you can only use the upgrade if you are installing over an existing Windows partition. So, unless you have two licenses already on that system, you will need a full copy of Windows 7.
Q: What about upgrading a
Mac?
A: In order to qualify to use the upgrade version, Mac owners need to be running a previously licensed full copy of Windows (not just a beta version). That applies whether one they are using Windows in Boot Camp or using a virtualization product like Parallels or VMWare's Fusion.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
lol what a rip off. You by your OS and cant do a clean install.
some one should sue M$ for holding your PC hostage.
I have done enough of these "clean upgrades" already to know of what I write. I have also done regular upgrades as well as what are called "Anytime Upgrade". They have all worked perfectly.
If anyone deserves litigation, it would be idiots spreading FUD about an OS which they will never buy or use in the first place.
As noted above, you buy the upgrade and you can do a clean install. But you had to have a legal install before. If you want to move to a brand new hard drive, just clone your old drive first, then clean install on that device. Okay?
"if you move from certain previous versions to certain Windows 7 versions, you MUST do a clean install as an upgrade."
...and thanks to the plethora of versions and configs, a whole lot of people are going to be in for an unpleasant surprise.
No airport kiosks and other services. Most businesses will shut down. Welcome to your world. There would be no spaces in internet cafe's so that you could download Linux to run on that stupid machine and Apple Store would be full as hell. No one would have space to breathe in there. And you, would have wasted a couple if hundred bucks on a MS license which would be useless at that time.
Whatever. When you're done hystericising with the "F" in FUD, get back to us, okay?
(and maybe you might realize that Windows isn't the only OS in use out there - even in ATMs, kiosks, etc).
"...and thanks to the plethora of versions and configs, a whole lot of people are going to be in for an unpleasant surprise. "
And tha'ts why any IT professional will always advise you to do a clean install instead of an upgrade on any product regardless of the OS platform. Upgrades carry over issues from prior installations that may cause problems. Even Microsoft is wise in pushing people to do a clean install which results in the best performance possible. Apple does this as well.
Random: "...and thanks to the plethora of versions and configs, a whole lot of people are going to be in for an unpleasant surprise. "
It was a very pleasant "surprise" for me and everybody I've installed Windows 7 for so far. Quick, easy, and painless.
All you Mac and Linux users try telling us to "just try it!" before we trash talk the products. When are any of you going to try Windows 7? You're all talking a lot of trash regardless. Most of you haven't even touched Windows since XP, thus know nothing about what you're talking about. Just copying lies and paranoya from other people like yourselves who also have no idea what they're talking about.
Err, what percentage of people actually take the time to do that (ask, that is)?
http://www.apple.com/macosx/
epic fail, go troll somewhere else
Actually, you probably can:
http://www.insanelymac.com/
Either:
a) you're lying, or...
b) you did an upgrade, logged in as root immediately after reboot, enabled the guest account, then pulled the power cord and logged in as guest when the power was restored. Oh, you also did it in an Apple store, and by some weird anti-miracle the hardware suddenly stopped working for no explicable reason, and at the same exact time as your alleged data loss.
I think we can all safely guess "a" here.
Come up with a better one next time, okay? There's a good boy.
Ironic that you can install Windows on a Mac without any such limitation. Only Apple tries to control what people do with their computers.
Unfortunately due to Apple's EULA, you cannot install this on anything but an Apple computer. That is quite a limitation in itself.
Ironic that you can install Windows on a Mac without any such limitation. Only Apple tries to control what people do with their computers."
@Vegaman_Dan--If Apple was so controlling, they wouldn't allow Windows to be installed in the first place. Also, don't give me the market share excuse. Apple does not have allow Windows on their systems via Bootcamp.
just go to the oakridge store in california and ask them about this case. then you'll know who's lying and or what happened. I was tired of upgrading it myself because it never worked properly after the upgrade, then I let the GENIUSES do it. well some geniuses, they just broke it.
Also why are you so upset. Can't stand to hear anything bad about Apple. No company is perfect after all.
Fixed that for you.
Peeps were hatin? on it
?fore I left my comment
We didn?t start the flame war
Let the whole wide world know
I?m a big old *******
It looks like he copied and pasted from another site. That's why there are so many question marks all over the place. If you didn't know already, that's from a College Humor song (One of their very few actually funny videos).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QyYaPWasos&feature=fvst
@Indiffernt_Opinion
I was just thinking about that. People really are such big, old ********.
If it works, doesn't that mean it's a free discount?
However, from a legal standpoint, you are only legally authorized to use the upgrade if you had purchased a licensed copy of Windows XP or Vista for that PC.
I think what MS is saying is "If you have a legal license for XP or Vista for your PC, we don't care how you put a legally licensed copy of WIndows 7 on your PC, as long as you activate the copy of Windows 7 for that PC"
If you wipe the hard disk and use workarounds to put the licensed copy of Windows 7 back on the PC to which it is legally licensed, the workarounds are legal.
But, if you use technical workarounds to put a copy of Windows 7 on the PC, in violation of the EULA (i.e. use an upgrade copy of Windows 7 when you don't have a legally licensed copy of Windows for the PC), you put yourself in legal hot water.
When you say you "had" XP, I am assuming you own a legal license. If not, I don't think the MOFTIA crack down on illegal upgrades for home users very aggressively, but why not buy it in a legal form? You can get an OEM license with a $40 motherboard for $99 at Newegg or wherever.
It'd be nice for homes with lots of computers to run a license server (sort of like old NT) so you only need a given number of licenses.
------
Hrm . . . still wish there was a "try and see if it works" option :/
MS would have really done much better to drop the price for the first few months and raise it after that, giving more exposure to the upgrade (for better or worse).
I think I'm just going to hold out now with the devil I know . . .
They sort of did do that. They were offering it pretty cheap if you ordered it a month or two before it was released.
Yes, a clean install is always the best thing to do. If you don't want to do that, why did you even bother buying Win7 in the first place?
I have an old HP laptop (bought it in 2003) running XP and what I am interested in is looking for a laptop which allows touch screen. I haven't found a single article on that.
Can anyone suggest which is a good laptop with touch screen (don't care which Win7 edition is running on it)?
Thanks
Dell offers the new XT line of products that support this option. Search for Dell XT Tablet and you should see something there you might like or help you to find something you are interested in.
Do you really think apple will fool anyone with that pitch, bwinski?
I'm one of them and I've $500 laptop. It does EVERYTHING. i don't need to spend $700/$900/1200 laptop to do the same jobs as my cheap one does.
It wasn't a big deal. I keep all my data and apps backed up to my file server so doing a clean install was quick and easy.
Besides, it's like your house- you probably have a lot of junk in there that you never got around to throwing out and really need to do some house cleaning anyways.
Talking about increasing the cost by about 1000% when you don't have to.
Why are Mac owners always trying to get Windows owners to switch? Are you in dire need of friends because you're the only one on your block to own a Mac? Notice Windows owners don't try to get Mac owners to switch. We're happy with our systems and just laugh at the pathetic attempts of the Mac crowd to get people to switch.
We will laugh even harder if you succeed and increase the Mac user population to the point where all the hackers start making more malware for your precious Mac o/s. You're only safe because they are ignoring the minuscule Mac population. Can't wait to see what happens if that changes.
I have two PCs - one running Windows XP, and one running Kubuntu 9.04. And a MacBook. I would love to "retire" the Windows machine, as it's an old power hog (dual Xeon chips, circa 2001) and I keep it up 24/7 because I am afraid to reboot - there's a 50/50 chance it will then keel over with cross-linked files, and then have to restore from backup. (I think I've isolated that problem, though. Ironically, it seems to happen after snapshotting the system volume with VSS during the backup. Backups I make using VSS while the system is running are unusable - those I make from a Linux live CD with the system down are fine. Of course, I won't rely on VSS in the future...)
Unfortunately the system doesn't run for more than a week without nagging me to reboot due to this update or that.
Sooooooo.... I'd love to pitch Windows Anything out the window completely.
But I can't.
I have to use Windows to enter my damn time sheets. I work for a tech temp agency, and they use Quickbooks online for their timesheets. Guess what? Microsoft have Symantec so in their pocket that the only way to use Quickbooks online is on MSIE. Oh, recently they started supporting Firefox with a plugin. As long as you are on a Windows machine. (Not Linux. Not Mac.) Guess what? I don't have a Windows machine at work. (Centos.) So, I have to have a damn Windows machine to enter my damn timesheets. Thanks, Microtec/SymSoft...
So...... I figured I'll put Windows 7 on my Macbook using VMWare, move my Hauppauge TV card to to Linux system, and shut down the Windows system. Any other software I have that won't run anywhere else but Windows (Metastock) I can run on the Mac under VMWare.
As a practical matter, many people simply don't have the choice. They need to enter their timesheets. Or chart their stocks. Or run AutoCad. (BTW, I have QCad on the Mac, which is good enough for my home remodeling needs, but a professional would want the real thing.)
I have no idea why Microsoft seemingly makes upgrade so difficult and so expensive. It doesn't make sense. I think they should drop the different retail/upgrade pricing all together. Most all PCs come with Windows pre-installed anyway. It seems to me that Microsoft is collecting for the full license from many people who qualify for an upgrade but don't want to jump through the unnecessary hoops to do an upgrade. (There are plenty of NECESSARY hoops - why add UNNECESSARY ones, like installing a previous OS simply to be able to install an upgrade over it, or installing TWICE?) For example, why don't service packs update from any previous version of the same OS?
(I just got done installing XP under VMWare from an old MSDN disk. Yes, this is legal. For the last year that I have MSDN for, you had the privilege to install up to 10 copies of each Microsoft OS, and the OS licenses survive the 1-year MSDN subscription - that is, they are perpetual. So, I install XP, then I tried to update to SP3, but it told me I have to update to SP2 first. So, I update to SP2, then to SP3, then online updates - about 5 times.
Guess what? I can enter my damn time sheets. I think I'm done. :)
The great thing is, I'm no longer in fear of the system keeling over. I can snapshot the filesystem - RELIABLY - using VMWare tools. I can just copy the VM file in MacOS to a network drive for backup. I can even move the image to my Kubuntu machine. (I built it with the "full portability" option in VMWare.) Frankly, I'd never run an OS as unstable as Windows outside of a VM again.
But is it worth the trouble to upgrade to Windows 7? I'm not sure it is. All the software I want to install will still run under XP, and probably will continue to do so for several years. Updating to Windows 7 will take two more installs, plus, I am sure, multiple online updates already.
Why not just sell one version, retail and lower the price accordingly? Who pays $300 for Windows? Just DIY system builders, first-time Windows Mac users, and people who probably already qualify for MULTIPLE upgrade copies but don't want to go to the extreme hassles needed to clean install from an upgrade disk. I think retail Windows is a tiny percentage of sales, and most of it illegitimate.
Microsoft ******* about people cheating them by applying upgrade hacks. How about Microsoft cheating us by selling full versions to people who don't need them - except to get around the barriers they throw-up to easily upgrading?
like many Apple users say, iLife and OpenOffice is a replacement tool for Office. Why shouldn't you use them and get rid of Office?
The problems you described are brought on by your own efforts, BTW. They are all user-caused. I will predict now that you'll be having similar problems with any OS you choose to use.
It's pretty simple to keep a Windows XP system running fairly well. Anyone with half a brain can keep malware off of it easily. People who purchase good hardware have even less worries. I reboot my machines every day when I turn them on without any problems at all.
Like I said, anyone with half a brain can do it. People with less than half a brain purchase Macs. (you know, the same people who have Velcro on their shoes because they can't figure out shoe laces).
It's pretty simple to keep a Windows XP system running fairly well. Anyone with half a brain can keep malware off of it easily. People who purchase good hardware have even less worries. I reboot my machines every day when I turn them on without any problems at all.
Like I said, anyone with half a brain can do it. People with less than half a brain purchase Macs. (you know, the same people who have Velcro on their shoes because they can't figure out shoe laces).
sounds like jealous PC fanboy thinking he is all smart cause he uses a hard-to-use OS. that's the only way they can make themselves feel better about not buying a better product.
Many people don't need Ultimate or don't have a PC capable of taking advantage of all its features, so why spend all that extra money on a version you don't need? In fact, why even upgrade at all unless you see features in the new version that make your life more productive or enjoyable?
Ah, and everyone else will have an IT person do it for them as well? I'm somehow doubting that one, considering the hue and cry that even the pro-Microsoft crowd has had to put up with so far (see also the gent on winsupersite.com who took umbrage at being called a 'pirate' :) ).
"All you Mac and Linux users try telling us to "just try it!" before we trash talk the products. When are any of you going to try Windows 7?"
I'm typing this from a laptop with Windows 7 Enterprise installed. I'd much prefer to put the hardware to more efficient use with another OS, but you takes what your given.
"Ah, and everyone else will have an IT person do it for them as well? "
Well, not everyone has as much trouble with the concept of putting a DVD in the drive and booting to it as you make it sound. It's not difficult, really.
And here I thought you were an IT professional. Perhaps you need a consumer to help you out with the concept?
I'm not sure exactly why you are intentionally trying to spread misinformation like the comments above, but it surely isn't doing your reputation any good.
Paul Thurrott says otherwise. ;)
Ubuntu works well for surfing the 'net unless you use one of the increasing number of sites that use Flash. I've tried Adobe's Flash player for Linux and it isn't anywhere near 100% compatible with the Flash apps out there.
Granted, it's not Ubuntu's fault, but it makes surfing the 'net much more limiting.
The average does not understand the implications of what they are doing. Much like the individual that ordered the Windows 7 Pro to do an upgrade from Vista Home and found out after the fact that was not possible is completely Microsoft's fault for not requiring really large warning letting people know that an in place upgarde was only possible with certain version combinations.
Pay an extra $20.00 for the Ultimate and in-place upgrade does work.. Means they left that option off the pro version on purpose.
Microsoft they only only exist to take another few dollars out of your pocket
If they where intentionally making it harder to do an in place upgrade unless you purchase the Ultimate version wouldn't it make sense for them to advertise that in really large warning letters?
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-considerations.aspx Simple chart and pretty colors for the if that makes it easier for you.
Huh? It can be done by simply following the instructions. It may lead into a clean install, but so what? If you're moving to a new o/s you're not very smart at all if you're not going to do a clean install. I do a clean install on my machine every 2-3 years (whenever I upgrade my hardware) although I don't HAVE to. I have installed completely new hardware inside my computer, and feeling a little lazy just allowed my old hard drive to boot with the new hardware. Windows XP handled it without any problems. Worked perfectly for a year before I decided to do a fresh install to get rid of lots of old junk I had built up in the O/S. Lets see a Mac do that....oh yeah, I forgot, YOU CAN"T UPGRADE THE HARDWARE in a Mac, you HAVE TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE MACHINE! Ha ha ha, what a laugh. Not only do you waste a ton of money repurchasing an entire computer, but it's not very green either is it?
But whatever, each to his own. If you or the guy you are referring to are having a hard time doing such a simple thing them maybe a Mac is more your speed. And maybe you can get some nice Velcro shoes on the way home with your shiny new Mac.
Howard
Howard
- by macman1138 November 5, 2009 3:26 PM PST
- Just cut through the crap and get a Mac.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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- by Mergatroid Mania November 5, 2009 4:27 PM PST
- Except a PC.
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- by nopinktoday November 7, 2009 8:18 AM PST
- I never would have thought the person named "macman1138" would suggest a Mac. I'm so confused!
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (102 Comments)Nothing beats a Mac.
Nothing.