Win 7 upgrade

[VH]

I am buying a recertified desktop........Pentium 945........for my wife that comes with Win XP pro. I could keep that system for all she will do with it, but have a Win 7 upgrade for 3 computers. The computer with XP only has a 80gb hard drive so I want to increase that to something larger. How can I upgrade the hard drive and keep the Win XP on the new drive so I might be able to upgrade the new drive to Win 7? I'm sure the recertified Computer does not come with a Win XP disc. Is it possible to keep the 80 gig hard drive as a boot drive and add a larger drive as a slave onto which I could load the upgrade for Win 7?

 

[jamesmcuk]

I think you should get some system restore software that is designed for hard disk crashes etc and do a backup followed by a restore to the new drive then upgrade. If not that then download a torrent version of windows XP - virus check it - install it and enter your legal key. After all its the KEY you are buying not the ACTUAL copy so its not illegal to bit torrent a copy of XP really.

 

[corkyg]

Basically XP cannot be upgraded to Win 7. Win 7 requires a clean install. The end result is, of course, an upgrade, but it can't be done directly.

 

[VH]

Can it be a "clean install" on another hard drive on the same XP computer? Or are you saying I can't use my 3 pack Win 7 upgrade at all to install on this XP computer.

 

[jamesmcuk]

Basically XP cannot be upgraded to Win 7. Win 7 requires a clean install. The end result is, of course, an upgrade, but it can't be done directly.

LOL good Point! forgot about that.

VH - Its a custom install but basically wipes your xp progs and you need to migrate your files - I think it all depends on if your product key for xp is valid for an upgrade. Probably best to download the upgrade advisor and see.

 

[bruceb]

License wise, yes, your Win 7 upgrade license is fine for from XP to Win 7
You can not do an In Place upgrade, like you can from Vista to Win 7.
Win 7 requires a completely fresh install of the OS and your programs.
You can migrate your data files and possibly desktop settings.

 

[VH]

Thanks.

 

[Spydermag68]

You can use the Win7 upgrade as a normal install. You just install once and it will fail out at some point in the process. Start it over again and it installs correctly.

 

[0roo0roo]

when does upgrade ask for xp key? or does it? how does it verify the upgrade bit

 

[Spydermag68]

when does upgrade ask for xp key? or does it? how does it verify the upgrade bit

On a new hard-drive or a reformatted one Win 7 upgrade will start installing and then it will just stop and will not finish the install. Then you just reboot the computer to the DVD and re-install. This time it will finish the install.

 

[0roo0roo]

ah interesting did not know that.

 

[Emulex]

just go to my digital life and grab the technet windows 7 - install the appropriate o/s with your key done.

technet cd's can be installed with no key and no activation
or with key - they don't care. then when you are sure your setup is prime right - add key.

so you can go 29 days and be like this sucks i want 64bit and switch up without having to deal with the microsoft police.

werd

 

[VirtualLarry]

I thought all Win7 DVDs would allow you to install without entering a key, and then let you run for up to 30 days without activating?

 

[Emulex]

oem do not.

 

[mclaren777]

I'm in the same boat. I have a legit 32-bit XP disc and an upgrade for 64-bit W7 Ultimate that my college gave me (currently unused).

So if I understand this correctly, I need to do a clean install of the upgrade for W7. Then after it's set up I need to insert my XP disc to authenticate the license.

Is that correct?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm in the same boat. I have a legit 32-bit XP disc and an upgrade for 64-bit W7 Ultimate that my college gave me (currently unused).

So if I understand this correctly, I need to do a clean install of the upgrade for W7. Then after it's set up I need to insert my XP disc to authenticate the license.

Is that correct?

No. You'll have to install XP on the system first, and then with XP installed on the HD, boot off of the Win7 64-bit DVD, and choose Install, Custom, select the partition that XP was installed into, and then install. Win7 will do a clean install, but move your XP into "Windows.old", which you will then have to delete later. That's the way you have to do it in order for Win7 to accept an upgrade key.

 

[mclaren777]

How silly.

Thanks for the reply.