another clean install with upgrade disc workaround...

i have heard from a few people that this does work

perform a clean install of windows 7 without a prior OS with an upgrade lisence

insert disc and run setup (but DO NOT enter a product key)

once it is installed create a folder called 'windows.old' ( i beleive this is meant to be created in My Documents but not 100% sure, could someone that has done an upgrade please check where windows put this folder...thanks)

once the folder is created in the right spot go to windows activation and enter your product key... hopefully it should now accept the key. done


i beleive this works because this is the only way that windows can tell there was another windows OS one the computer so it thinks the machine has been upgraded therfore the lisence is valid.

i beleive this is the easiest method yet to do this so i hope it works...

can anyone that is able to please confirm that this works?

hope i helped

thanks
mtarm1

 

The above doesn't work.

Here is the 2 solution you can do.
Launch Win7 setup and do a Upgrade (if you can), or custom install (clean install) from Windows. Either case, for any OS above Windows 2000, will allow you to change your Windows into the latest one without issue.

Or

Run the custom install (clean install), by booting onto the disk, follow the installation steps as normal. Then do "Method #2" on this web site:
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

 

have you actually tied this method?

 

I had upgraded (clean installed) from Vista Home Premium 32-bit to Windows 7 Pro 64-bit with the upgrade student version and it activated fine.

 

Of course, both of them. First I did not not and boot it the upgrade disk, so I had to do the method in the link. And on my second system I tried it form Windows.

 

What is all this activation talk about?

I did what this guy did, albeit with a normal home premium version. The 64bit disc was not picked up by Vist 32bit, so clean install booted from disc, no more Vista on system... typed in my product key on installation, two days later Win 7 is activated by its self.

I dont understand why people are having to get around it with all these tricks....

 

If teh setup did not detect your previous Windows with Windows 7 UPGRADE license, it will fail, and the method mention will be needed to by-pass the requirement of you formatting everything putting your previous Windows once more and then install Win7 once more, like it was for XP and Vista upgrade. A very time consuming and frustrating task.

Because the setup detected your previous Windows. Because either you started the setup from your previous Windows or did NOT format the HDD when you did boot from Win7 disk.
In my case, I hit the format partition, therefor the setup was unable to see my previous Windows, and had to this method.

 

this work around is if you do not have a previous windows OS already on your computer... you did therefore it worked fine...