W520 - Clean Windows 7 install w/ retail upgrade media?

I just purchased a W520 and I'd like to do a clean Windows 7 install. I've read many of the very helpful threads on this forum and others, and I plan on using the ABR tool to backup/restore the OEM activation. My only question is as follows: I own Windows 7 (retail) upgrade media that I purchased separately-- can I use that disc to perform the clean install and just restore the OEM activation via the ABR tool?

Thanks for any guidance here.

 

I bought an upgrade from Win 7 Home Premium to Professional and it turned out I could do both clean install or just upgrade. It's up to you.
When I did just upgrade above my existing Home Premium I ended up with almost 100Gb! of space that OS took on HDD. Then I wiped out everything and did clean install - i ended up with 20Gb of Windows 7 professional! So the choice is obvious - I guess with just upgrade Windows keeps both versions - I doubt that you need that. So just go with clean install.
Apparently in my case upgrade disk contained full version of Windows 7 anyway. Also you can just download Windows 7 and then just activate it using your ABR tool - but I'm not 100% sure about that.

 

thanks for your response his_dudiness. the difference in your case is that I'm assuming you used the key/activation from the Win7 Professional (retail) media that you purchased whereas I'm particularly curious about using retail upgrade media in conjunction with an OEM key-- i.e. that which comes with the W520. I would like to keep my existing Win7 install on my other machine (for which I originally purchased the upgrade...)

has anyone tried this? I'm assuming it should work as it's ultimately all the same software depending on the key one uses...

 

If you have a valid key, you can legally download a Windows 7 ISO image and install from it (using the medium of your choice).

What does the "upgrade" media does for you? Converting Home Premium to Professional, for example? Well, one can do upgrade without any media: given an upgrade key, Windows itself can do an "in-place" "reconfiguration" without (re)installation.

 

thanks for your response Kaso. I guess another way to ask the question is does it make any difference to do the clean install with purchased upgrade media vs. the downloaded ISO with respect to using an OEM key? i.e. is there anything inherently different about the software on the upgrade disc?

 

The Windows 7 upgrade disc is capable of running "on top" of a Windows environment, typically XP or Vista: it replaces the system code without affecting (complex legalese properly inserted here) the existing user directories, files and preferences. If you boot from a Windows 7 upgrade disc with the intention of doing a clean install, it should proceed as expected, but the OEM key may not be accepted. Microsoft would say that the installation is not properly licensed.

I would use the Windows 7 ISO image.

I would also raise the question in the Windows forum (is there one?) because it is remotely related to the W520 per se.

 

got it-- thanks for your input Kaso. I think I will just use the ISO to avoid any issues with the OEM key.