Upgrade from home to professional

[hemi525]

I have windows 7 home and need to upgrade to professional as Sage taxation won't run on home which my laptop is. Can anyone let me know if I can upgrade.

 

[rhysiam]

Start -> type "anytime" and choose "Windows Anytime Upgrade". You can step up to a better version without any reinstall or reconfig.

They're not the best prices so if you're prepared to put the time in to a reinstall you can probably do better elsewhere. But if your time is more valuable than saving a few tens of dollars, that's by far the simplest way.

 

[hemi525]

thks i will try this first.

 

[nimd4]

"Windows XP Professional" it says.. You *could* use something like the Oracle VM to set up a Windows XP virtual machine on your PC.. OR, actually: https://www.google.com/search?q=Windows+XP+Mode+on+Windows+7+home+premium

@
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-xp-mode-windows-7-win7,10213.html

Btw., "As a side note, it is important to realize that although Windows XP Mode is now installed, the Windows XP virtual machine will be without a valid license and will be subjected to a limited time grace period before requiring activation." (So you might have to sort that out. )

 

[orlbuckeye]

The way Windows works is it is key driven. When you install Windows all version are installed and the key you enter unlocks the version you purchased.

Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade Pricing List for USA

* Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium: $79.99
* Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Professional: $114.99
* Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Ultimate: $164.99
* Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional: $89.99
* Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Ultimate: $139.99
* Windows 7 Professional to Windows 7 Ultimate: $129.99
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http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/help/videos/upgrade-to-another-edition-of-windows-7-by-using-windows-anytime-upgrade

 

[Hawkeye22]

Probably not a concern, but you can only use the anytime upgrade with the same bit version, so you can't change from 32 bit to 64 bit without a complete reinstall.

 

[orlbuckeye]

Windows 7 Pro and above allow you to download and install XP mode for free. Do you own a license to XP. Technically if you run XP in Virtualbox or VMplayer you will have to buy a license for XP which I'm not sure if you can get anymore. But if you upgrade to Windows 7 Pro XP mode is a free download. Seeing that your using professional accounting software you really want to be legal. So the cost I listed above was 89.99 to got from Win 7 Home to Pro.

 

[nimd4]

*just btw., and eye know that it's a l8 reply; bt, check it out (there were loads of preexisting threads):

tomshardware.co.uk/s/upgrade+home+professional/

Edit:

[..] so you can't change from 32 bit to 64 bit without a complete reinstall.

@Windows XP To Windows 7 Upgrade FAQ (STICKY)