Vista won't allow an upgrade to windows 7

[Mister Lemons]

The problem is pretty simple yet incredibly stupid.

I have a product key for windows 7 professional and a laptop currently running on windows vista. The problem? When I open Anytime Upgrade, there is no option to upgrade at all. No area to enter a key or anything, just a tab that allows me to compare this version of vista to others. It offered a download to check for compatibility for 7 so I did that.

The hardware met requirements, as did MOST of the software. There were 3 reccomendations though. The first was updating an Ethernet port driver, the second was removing catalyst control center, and the third was updating game booster.

Now here is where the fun starts. I attempted to uninstall game booster completely, but uninstall capability only comes with a 64 bit OS which I do not have. So I manually removed all folders containing the program. It still showed up. Oh well, did the best I could. Time to check the CCC. Wouldn't you know it, the application doesn't have an interface. Old version I guess, I'll update it so I can uninstall it. Bluescreen... (It was an audio driver that was incompatable or some BS, I rolled it back in safe mode)

Alright, screw it all. Oh, look at that! I still can't upgrade! Fantastic!

So here lies the problem. Worthless vista OS has no option to upgrade to windows 7. Any thoughts?

 

[okcnaline]

Anytime Upgrade does not help you upgrade to 7... Grab a Windows 7 iso like a real man and upgrade from that.

 

[i7Baby]

Also, before you get too far, check that in fact you can put Windows 7 onto that laptop. You might find that the drivers for it only work with Vista.

 

[dekertek]

I don't necessarily know if the other answerer's suggestion of being a "real man" would be of that much benefit here, however you can get the Windows 7 ISO and burn it to a CD or make a USB boot stick from Microsoft here:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery

Run that from your current Vista, or boot from it and select the "Upgrade option" during install and enter your key. Make sure you pick the Professional version when you're downloading it.

Any Anytime Upgrade option is for changing the SKU of your current OS, like from Home to Professional, so that wouldn't be relevant here.

 

[Mister Lemons]

Alright, based on what you all have posted here I checked up on some of the procedures and hardware. Vista with service pack 2 does NOT seem to have a functioning Upgrade feature, so there's that. On top of which it would seem that some of the built in hardware has drivers that are not compatible with windows 7.

On top of it all, I would prefer to keep the crap on that laptop in tact. I only wanted to upgrade because I have the key, not because it was needed. Anyway, thanks everyone for your help and input.

 

[FALC0N]

Vista and 7 are basically the same operating system. They didn't do a whole lot to the driver model. Most drivers are interchangeable, regardless of how they are labeled.

Vista can be upgraded to 7. You just can't use anytime upgrade.

All that said, Vista became pretty stable with service pack 2. As long as your happy with it, it should be fine a few more years.

 

[FALC0N]

derektek wrote:

I don't necessarily know if the other answerer's suggestion of being a "real man" would be of that much benefit here...

You couldn't be more wrong derektek! Your obviously not a "real man"! Because real men use ISO's! Or at least that's what I read on the internet.

However, he wasn't clear on whether it was ok to use USB or if it had to be optical disk only. My manliness is assured as I currently prefer DVD. And DVD's are ISO!