Upgrade To Windows 7

[Dino]

I ran the Win7 upgrade adviser on My computer and everything passed but
it says that the upgrade is not supported and that a clean install is in
order.This is not a problem as I hate upgrades anyhow and always do a
clean install anyhow.
My question is can I use an upgrade version of Windows 7 to move from XP
and do a clean install the same as in the the past?

 

[Bob Knowlden]

Yes.

From what MS support told me (this morning), it'll be like a Vista upgrade:
the upgrade DVD will have to be booted from a running qualifying OS. (XP is
one.) With XP, only a clean install will be possible. An in-place upgrade
(which preserves applications and settings) won't be permitted.

There are restrictions on an upgrade license. For example: you are not
permitted to format the install partition. (The old installation is moved to
windows.old, which you can later erase.)

With Vista, there was a trick, widely described: you could install Vista
without a license key, giving you a 30 day evaluation copy. That evaluation
copy could be used to launch the upgrade, allowing you to install Vista on a
blank hard drive without ever installing an older OS. The downside was that
you had to install Vista twice. I haven't read whether the same gimmick will
exist with Win7. (I expect that it will.)

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

<QP>
Q: I am running Windows XP, can I upgrade to Windows 7?

A: Microsoft designed Windows 7 Upgrade media for Windows Vista. A customer
with Windows XP can purchase Windows 7 Upgrade media but must back up their
files, clean install, and then reinstall their applications.
</QP>
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy/offers/pre-order-faq.aspx

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Windows 7 Beta Support Forum (technical)
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/category/w7itpro/

Getting Ready for Win7 Forum (less technical)
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/GettingReadyforWindows7/threads