Upgrade Media

[jsh1284]

Well, I got a deal during the super-cheap pre-release of Win 7 for $50 bucks .. of course, this is a copy of the Home Premium version. Well, I want to use it to do a clean install and my question is this: ...

I know you have to download the x64 bit version from MS as it only comes with the 32 bit version. So yeah .. since it's impossible to do an in-place upgrade from a 32 bit OS (I thought I'd have to install XP then do a fresh install over that of Win 7) so I assume the copy of the 64 bit version will actually let me do a straight up clean install, correct?

I'd rather not go to the trouble of installing XP then having to do a clean install over the top of that. Would be a pain in the rear. So yeah with the downloaded x64 bit version will I be able to do a fresh install without all that hassle of installing, reinstalling, etc?

 

[Jonmor68]

You lost me, if you already have XP installed that you are using, why are you talking about installing XP to upgrade to W7? The upgrade will remove the XP instalation and put it in a folder called Windows.Old. Any time you reinstall, the current valid OS will be detected, you use the custom instalation to clean install.
I did read on the "Windows 7 forums" that you will be asked for your system disk and product code when installing on a blank disk, by someone who said they worked for Microsoft. I posted this query on another forum that has a Windows Team member for confirmation, but he was unable to confirm without checking. So far no confirmation has been posted.
It does seem the logical way to go, but it's looking like it will be wait and see.

 

[jsh1284]

What? I'm using Windows 7 RC. It's pretty clear what I'm saying. You can't do an in-place upgrade from an x86 OS to a x64 OS so basically I'm wondering how I'll do the install. Windows will be letting you DOWNLOAD an ISO of the x64 bit Win 7 release since the 32 bit comes in the box only. So yeah .. I want to know can I do a CLEAN INSTALL from the x64 based disc since it's impossible to upgrade to x64 Win 7 from 32 bit Windows XP Home edition.

 

[jsh1284]

Or can I just do a clean install from Windows 7 RC? And if so, do I need my XP Home CD key?

Also .. the bigger question .. If the above question is yes, will I be able to do future clean installs after I upgrade from the RC?

 

[sminlal]

Until someone actually has a copy of the upgrade version in their hot little hands and tries it out to see how it *really* works, everything is just speculation.

 

[Bolbi]

Or can I just do a clean install from Windows 7 RC? And if so, do I need my XP Home CD key?

Also .. the bigger question .. If the above question is yes, will I be able to do future clean installs after I upgrade from the RC?

You can do a clean install from the RC. However, it won't work to reinstall once the RC expires, because you need that installed before using the upgrade media. You can always take a disk image once you have the Win7 final version installed, then just flash that to your HDD instead of reinstalling.