Couple Noob questions.

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typeo

typeo

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Aug 9, 2008
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Hi,

I had a couple questions that were kinda confusing me when I was choosing whether or not to buy the "Student Upgrade Win 7" for $30. The stuff I'm not 100% on is what the "Upgrade" actually entitles me to do.

I have Win Vista on my computer atm, and I know with the upgrade I can.. well upgrade my operating system. But with this upgrade can I do a clean install? Like wipe my hard drive and have a "Brand New" computer there with Win 7 on it?

Also with the upgrade, can I at any time after I have already used the upgrade reformat my computer with win7 upgrade I had previously purchased? Or will I have to reformat with Vista and then use the upgrade again to get Win 7 back on my computer?

I have read the FAQ on the Microsoft site, but they seem to dance around my question and mention needing to buy an addition back up DVD to do a clean install? /shrug.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank,
Typeo
 
Solution
B
With any version (including student) you can clean install, aka custom install. It will take everything from your previous Windows OS, and put it in a folder called "Windows.old". Then Win7 is installed. So you will have a clean system.
It is unclear whether the official position is that Vista would have to be first reinstalled, as you found out. But no matter; you can clean install from the Upgrade Media in any case. Not sure, but it probably wouldn't break the license agreement if you didn't continue to use that copy of Vista.
Finally, some sources report that the Student offer actually gives you a Full version of Win7, which means that you don't have to worry about the upgrade licensing anyway. You can install it on whatever...
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With any version (including student) you can clean install, aka custom install. It will take everything from your previous Windows OS, and put it in a folder called "Windows.old". Then Win7 is installed. So you will have a clean system.
It is unclear whether the official position is that Vista would have to be first reinstalled, as you found out. But no matter; you can clean install from the Upgrade Media in any case. Not sure, but it probably wouldn't break the license agreement if you didn't continue to use that copy of Vista.
Finally, some sources report that the Student offer actually gives you a Full version of Win7, which means that you don't have to worry about the upgrade licensing anyway. You can install it on whatever you want, and move it to another PC whenever you want.
 
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Solution
One of the reasons we are getting conflicting reports about the upgrade, is that apparently some of the upgrade keys issued, were actually full retail keys.
So some are able to clean install on a blank drive, while others find that a previous OS is required.
It shouldn't be too long before the facts start to emerge.
I left my old Vista instalation intact and installed the upgrade to another drive, so if I need to reinstall I won't have a problem.
I can spare the space used by Vista.
 
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I've never done it myself, but I've been told that with an upgrade version of windows 7 you simply install it custom, WITHOUT the PRODUCT KEY. Then you reinstall on top of that and upgrade the first installation.

It sounds ridiculous to me, but that is what I've read.
 
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You're right; details on how and why it works can be found in the link I put in my earlier post.
 
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