Upgrade XP to Win7 -- Method Should Work!

Hi there -- I had VISTA Home Premium -- however I'm quite happy to be corrected if VISTA ULTIMATE works with the XP PRO upgrade. From there in either case as you said its an easy upgrade to W7.

This was the ONLY way I could aactually get an old legacy HP plotter to run on W7 -- I couldn't manually install any drivers or the program application as the firm no longer exists and I don't have the original install "Floppies" (yes it was on floppy disks) or any hardware to install from.

I've still got some applications that didn't work however -- also old legacy stuff so I'm keeping the Windows XP virtual machine around for a while.

Cheers
jimbo

So, has there been an official word from MS on exactly HOW will *Commercial* Upgrade version work in a RE-install scenario,, or they are keeping mum on this?

Here's the scenario: I get a W7 Upgrade, and do a clean install on my XP machine. It either gets my XP key during initial verify, or prompts me to enter one during activation. What happens to my XP key? Does it get 'eaten'? does my W7 Upgrade key get bumped to full-license status? Should I still keep my XP sticker around?

Say I need to reinstall a couple years later (major upgrade). Do I have to re-install XP, do I have to activate it (will I even be able to?) in order to install Upgrade? Say I get a copy of regular W7 install DVD - can I install from that and activate using my Upgrade key? (Or maybe upgrade key + original XP key)?

I guess we'll know for sure in a few days, but this is really eating me....

First thing, if anyone has verified the functionality of the xp -> vista -> Win7 route, I'd be very interested in seeing if it works. I'm a bit myphed that Microsoft won't allow an upgrade from XP to 7 without doing a clean install.

Second, I have xp Pro 32 bit installed right now, but have a 64 bit processor. I tried the MS compatibility check, and it suggested Win7 32 bit. Not sure why. I decided to HOPE that it was because it was checking a system that had SP Pro 32 bit installed, and created a partition and installed Win7 to dual boot with XP. I have a Win7 64 bit install dvd, and thought I had it beat, as it installed to the partition ok without asking about bit versions, and gave no errors. Went in and looked at the OS version, and it installed the 32 bit version. . . . again, not sure why . . . .

Would a clean install allow the 64 bit version to install?

Did it install 32 bit because the XP version on here is 32 bit?

Can my processor show 64 bit but NOT be?


so many questions, so little time, lol

Originally Posted by Vgolfmaster

First thing, if anyone has verified the functionality of the xp -> vista -> Win7 route, I'd be very interested in seeing if it works. I'm a bit myphed that Microsoft won't allow an upgrade from XP to 7 without doing a clean install.

Second, I have xp Pro 32 bit installed right now, but have a 64 bit processor. I tried the MS compatibility check, and it suggested Win7 32 bit. Not sure why. I decided to HOPE that it was because it was checking a system that had SP Pro 32 bit installed, and created a partition and installed Win7 to dual boot with XP. I have a Win7 64 bit install dvd, and thought I had it beat, as it installed to the partition ok without asking about bit versions, and gave no errors. Went in and looked at the OS version, and it installed the 32 bit version. . . . again, not sure why . . . .

Would a clean install allow the 64 bit version to install?

Did it install 32 bit because the XP version on here is 32 bit?

Can my processor show 64 bit but NOT be?


so many questions, so little time, lol

I posted the "sticky" because I did upgrade xp -> vista -> win7 to verify the method. As far as installing X64, in Retail, they are separate disks and you can't install X32 with the X64 disk. A clean install with the X64 disk WILL give you X64.

Thanks busydog,

I did clear up my 32 / 64 bit issue, seems I didn't label the disks properly when they were burned. We have downloads available through school and I did several in a short amount of time and just got the disks backwards.....

The upgrade route -vs- a clean install was brought up there as well, and while the upgrade is possible it seemed that Microsoft is now stressing a clean install for all versions, even those where upgrades were previously 'ok'd by MS. I'm going to go the safe route and just install it cleanly now, and go through the long version of this to install it properly and test it.

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated

I don't think I could recomend going from XP to Vista as a path to Win7. XP runs good, I haven't had any problems with Vista 32 bit. When you install Win7 on XP it saves all your data files so you just need to reinstall your program disks and track down your data under Windows.old

Mate,

You won't be able to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. Microsoft made the upgrade for Vista users, like myself. I use to have Windows Vista a few weeks before the release of Windows 7. Now I have Windows 7. If I were you, do a custom installation , this will destroy all data on the hard drive and reinstall Windows 7, the new operating system.

Hope this has helped you.

Kind Regards,

Aikma

Go to the "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor" website from the "Resource" link.

Click "Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor" button on the page. The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor checks the hardware and software in your computer to establish if you can upgrade to Windows 7 without any compatibility issues.

Save the installation file to your computer.

Double-click the installation file and click "Install." Click "Close" when the installation finishes.


Double-click the "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor" icon on your desktop and click "Yes."

Click "Start Check."

Read the report and recommendation to fix any issues, if there are any.

Originally Posted by aikma

Mate,

You won't be able to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. Microsoft made the upgrade for Vista users, like myself. I use to have Windows Vista a few weeks before the release of Windows 7. Now I have Windows 7. If I were you, do a custom installation , this will destroy all data on the hard drive and reinstall Windows 7, the new operating system.

Hope this has helped you.

Kind Regards,

Aikma

You can upgrade from vista to windows 7 ? windows 7 pro or home basic or premium?
I have bought one windows pro key online at $ 99,there only have one issue.
I have to activate it through the VPN(Virtual Private Network) account the seller gave me. Otherwise, Microsoft will be prompted to: the product key you entered can be used only in certain countries or regions. Either activate Windows where you bought it or buy a new product key.
Yesterday I bought one office 2010 professional product key code from the same website at the same price $99. I can activate it smooth and register the software to Microsoft, no other operations,VPN account is no needed. Great!

Wish to 1) Upgrade from XP to Win7 AND 2) go from old HD to new HD.

I have XP (OEM) version installed. Need to install Win7 on a new HD. Have Win 7 upgrade CD. Can someone tell me how to do that?