If you are on Windows XP and planning to UPGRADE...

Originally Posted by kemical

Usually it will search for a previous installation. If it can't find one then it will ask you to place a windows os disk in the drive to validate. Once done it will then continue to upgrade..

My download upgrade didn't ask for an Windows OS disk. I was upgrading from XP, so I had to create an .iso from the download as it wouldn't run as-is. To clean install on a fresh HD I had to attach my old HD (via USB, as it happens) during installation so it saw I had a valid version of Windows. If I didn't do this, it wouldn't accept my product key, either at installation or trying to activate it once installed. However, proper DVD installers might be different.

Ok.. so you still had to validate though.. Thanks for updating your post though..

You can use the upgrade version to install windows 7 when you have XPbut there IS NO EXCEPTION you HAVE to back up your files as it will erase all the files.

the reason they have the full versions of any operating system is for several special occasions that require it. For example a self built computer. But in most occasions if you are a person who will have Windows 7 from XP you only need to get the upgrade disk, it is 60-100 dollars cheaper! And who doesnt want to save money?

Hello. I've actually already used the upgrade disc to convert my laptop from XP Home to Windows 7. It took about 2 hours to complete the process, and it did completely remove XP from my hard drive.

The only real problem I had with all of this business, is that it also removed the drivers for some of my hardware, and I've had a heck of a time finding Windows 7 drivers for my Win XP machine. That's the trouble with a "Clean Install". It wipes out everything.

Originally Posted by confused

Not if you put in rc version of windows 7 correct? If you had windows 2000 and then put in the beta windows 7 you could still purchase the upgrade version and install. In fact now that I think about it if you put in a new hard drive you could still use the upgrade version and do a clean install

Question: Who would buy the full version except somebody that doesn't know the difference?

I am wondering that myself. I have never used the upgrade disk, and do not use XP, so cannot comment further.

I used Easy File Transfer and placed the files (3) on an external drive. After installing Windows 7 I was able to transfer two of the files from the Easy transfer disk, but the third file (350 Gb) continues to give me the message that there is not enough room on the destination computer. I have 250 Gb for the System hard drive and a 500 Gb for files, etc. The 250 Gb drive has about 100 Gb free. The 500 Gb is almost empty at this time. The 350 Gb file on the transfer drive won't let me see or change its content. What do I need to do to view/change/modify/download this file?

Hi, I am trying to do a clean install from XP to Windows 7 on a home built system with a ASROCK AliveNF6P-VSTA Mother board, Athlon 64 6000 X2 AM2 CPU, 2 Mg Ram and a SATA hard drive.

When I try to install Windows 7, it get to the install start up screen after a long delay (as much as 5 minutes), and when I click install, it says "Windows 7 can not identify any drives on this machine" and goes back to the install screen.

my SATA drive appears in the Bios, but I can not get past this point to install drivers or anything.

XP installs fine, having no problem finding the drives.

Please Help!

Make sure the drive is configured for IDE in the bios, then boot from the 7 disk (change the boot order to CD first).
You then need to choose a 'custom' install which will get you to a screen where it says 'install drivers' in the left hand corner. You'll need to have these drivers loaded up on either a floppy, USB drive or a DVD/CD. Browse to where the drivers are located and install. The installation will then continue..
To obtain said drivers, try the motherboard manufaturers web site..

If you are doing a clean install I assume you have formatted your hard drive. also make sure the formated drive is set to basic, not dynamic as Windows 7 doesn't seem to recognize dynamic drives for the installation.

So i'm trying to install 32 bit on my old xp computer. I've followed the steps to a T and everything checks out. I insert the disk and nothing. I go to my dvd drive which the win7 dvd is in and it appears blank. At first i thought great they gave me an empty disk so i popped it into my work computer and the disk comes alive and wants me to upgrade to win7. Has anybody else run into this problem?