cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Windows upgrade Licencing

the_groundsman
Rising Star
Posts: 488
Thanks: 24
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎12-08-2007

Windows upgrade Licencing

I have bought a win7 upgrade disc and moved from windows xp to windows 7. I have a couple of concerns for the future.
I have done the upgrade to win 7  and now cleared out the old wondows xp files. If ( when) at somepoint in the future I want to do a clean install again will I have to reload XP and then do the upgrade again or will I be able to do an install from scratch using the upgrade disc?
If I do need to reinstall the OS - as the win7 product is now activated will I be able to activate it again after a reinstall?
Thanks
7 REPLIES 7
HPsauce
Pro
Posts: 6,998
Thanks: 146
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎02-02-2008

Re: Windows upgrade Licencing

I think XP to 7 is not an "upgrade" in the traditional sense so you should be able to do a clean re-install without XP.
As for activation, that will be down to however Microsoft now control it; you'll probably need to make "that" phone call (it's free).
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Windows upgrade Licencing

I guess you'll need to keep hold of the old XP product licence key and possibly CD and that during the install it will ask for one of those as well as the new Win 7 key.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
HPsauce
Pro
Posts: 6,998
Thanks: 146
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎02-02-2008

Re: Windows upgrade Licencing

Quote from: jelv
I guess

Never a good move with Microsoft.  Cool
(but keeping those items is a wise precaution)
I didn't need either. My most recent install (I've done several of W7) was from a "family pack" upgrade DVD onto a totally clean wiped laptop.
Most of the others I've done were dual-boot with XP already installed on another partition so that doesn't prove a lot as it "could" be detecting that, though I doubt it.
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Windows upgrade Licencing

With the normal upgrade licence it looks for an installed version - in this case XP - without the option for using the CD or license key. There is, however, a way round it.
http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media
HPsauce
Pro
Posts: 6,998
Thanks: 146
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎02-02-2008

Re: Windows upgrade Licencing

@Oldjim, if you read that article (I guess you personally have, so "you" is other readers of this thread) it actually says that mostly "it just works" and that is most definitely my experience.
It then goes on to say that if you do hit a problem, just phone Microsoft and they sort it out. Having done that in the past I'm confident that will work.
Finally they give a bit of technical trickery to sort it out yourself. Very few people would need or want to do that.
So I think, as the Aussies say, "no worries"  Grin
the_groundsman
Rising Star
Posts: 488
Thanks: 24
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎12-08-2007

Re: Windows upgrade Licencing

Many thanks for this. 
Still slightly apprehensive but there is no rational reason to fear the worst.
Mav
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 22,369
Thanks: 4,725
Fixes: 514
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Windows upgrade Licencing

I've installed from the W7 upgrade disc three times now and two of them were on brand new unused discs without any issues.

Forum Moderator and Customer
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear - Mark Twain
He who feared he would not succeed sat still