# Win7 Upgrade Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631 "2009-10-21T17:11:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/1 "2009-10-21T17:11:47Z")
This answer is proving a hell of a lot harder to find than it should be. I’ve got 3 PCs in my home. The thing is, they’re either running XP or Win7 RC (7100 or 7600, depending). So…I see a nifty 3-pack of Win7 upgrades in various places - [Microsoft Windows 7 Family Pack/ Home Premium Upgrade - Retail 3 PCs - Newegg.com](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116775) Great. Big savings. Totally worth it. But I can’t find anything telling me what I need to have, OS-wise, to do the upgrade. XP? Vista? What? Anyone know? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/2 "2009-10-21T17:16:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Upgrades to Windows 7 from the following operating systems are not supported: > [ul] > [li] Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows XP, Windows Vista® RTM, Windows Vista Starter, Windows 7 M3, Windows 7 Beta, Windows 7 RC, or Windows 7 IDS[/li][li] Windows NT® Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server® 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2[/li][/ul] > **[Windows 7 Upgrade Paths](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-7/dd772579(v=ws.10)?redirectedfrom=MSDN)** ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/3 "2009-10-21T17:28:39Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [Windows 7 Upgrade Paths | Microsoft Learn](http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd772579%28WS.10%29.aspx) Man, Vista only? That sucks. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/4 "2009-10-21T19:29:59Z")
Isn’t there a way to do a custom install from scratch even with upgrade CDs? MS seems to suggest you can do so with the $30 student editions. Do you just need a Vista key first or something? ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/5 "2009-10-21T19:36:38Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Isn’t there a way to do a custom install from scratch even with upgrade CDs? MS seems to suggest you can do so with the $30 student editions. Do you just need a Vista key first or something? I have the student edition of Windows 7 that I got for $20 and the restriction is it was an upgrade only… Meaning you had to have a pre-existing copy of Vista already on your machine. You could either do an upgrade or a clean install, but if you did a clean install you had to have Vista already installed and you had to let 7 format/re-partition your HD (you couldn’t install 7 on a clean hard drive). ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/6 "2009-10-21T21:13:54Z")
Also, you cannot do an in-place upgrade from 32bit Vista to 64 bit Windows 7. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/7 "2009-10-21T22:15:32Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Man, Vista only? That sucks. > > -Joe Wow, what a buzzkill. I have a couple retail versions around, but I’ve happily traced my current XP install back through a series of upgrades to Win 3.1, and I’m pretty sure that was an upgrade from DOS 6. So ends a lineage. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/8 "2009-10-21T22:40:24Z")
If you had Vista installed on a USB drive, I wonder if that would suffice, given that there’s a clean install option. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/9 "2009-10-22T00:05:21Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Wow, what a buzzkill. I have a couple retail versions around, but I’ve happily traced my current XP install back through a series of upgrades to Win 3.1, and I’m pretty sure that was an upgrade from DOS 6. So ends a lineage. Wow. I never upgrade. Clean install all the time. It’s an opportunity to organize my data files and start nice and fresh. Also, previous “upgrade” versions just asked for a CD, not a full hard-drive install. Things must have changed. I wonder though if you can trick it by installing Vista without activating it, and then upgrading. But wow. 3.1 to XP? How’d you handle all the motherboard changes? What kind of strange programs have you got installed? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/10 "2009-10-22T00:06:10Z")
Ah so you do need it installed. I try to shy away from upgrades because they leave old crap behind, but maybe I’ll pick up the student one. As far as XP, according to the [win741.com](http://win741.com) website: > [@](#): > > My PC is running Windows XP. Can I upgrade it to Windows 7? > > If you’re thinking about upgrading a PC from Windows XP to Windows 7, please download and run the free Windows Upgrade Advisor to see if your PC can run Windows 7 acceptably. > > If you decide to install Windows 7 on a PC running Windows XP, you’ll need to do a custom installation. This is sometimes called a “clean install” because it erases the contents of your PC. To avoid losing anything, you’ll need to make copies of all the files, photos, and other information you want to keep. You’ll also need to have installation disks for all the programs you want to use. > > If you have an external hard drive, you can use it with the free Windows Easy Transfer program to help back up your files and information. > > After Windows 7 is installed, you’ll need to reinstall your programs and use Windows Easy Transfer to move your files and information back onto your PC. > > Upgrading a PC with Windows XP to Windows 7 is an involved process. If you’re at all uncomfortable with it, please consider having the upgrade done by a local PC or electronics retailer. Looks like you can install over XP? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/11 "2009-10-22T00:23:15Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > If you had Vista installed on a USB drive, I wonder if that would suffice, given that there’s a clean install option. Even if it did, there is still a problem. The comments in this thread indicate that the Windows 7 upgrade installer wipes all trace of Vista off your machine if you attempt that install option. The question would be whether you can circumvent this. I could see someone removing the USB drive after the verification, but before Windows could wipe it. But that could be quite risky. I’d think drive cloning would be a better solution, as one is legally allowed to have a backup of their hard drive. One would clone the USB drive to the internal hard drive before the upgrade. The problem there would be that the activation for one of the drives may no longer be legitimate. And, obviously, I’m not encouraging this, especially if it turns out that any of this breaks the law. If one were inclined to break the law, it would make little sense, as someone unhampered by the legalities would presumedly have other methods of getting Windows 7. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/12 "2009-10-22T00:24:03Z")
[According to zdnet you can do the upgrade license. It will ask for your key:](http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1184) From a licensing point of view, your installed copy of Windows is irrelevant. What matters is the sticker on the side of the PC. If you have a Certificate of Authenticity for Windows XP or Windows Vista on that computer (or a certificate of authenticity from a retail copy of Windows that has been assigned to that machine), you qualify for an upgrade license to any edition of Windows 7. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/13 "2009-10-22T00:32:56Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Man, Vista only? That sucks. > > -Joe Yip, and they are cleverly not telling you this straight out. It would be far simpler to list what would work, but that would be a marketing disaster. Vista has endured a very negative public image and has only recently been considered okay. I also want to point out that this is, if I’m not mistaken, the first time Microsoft has required the upgrade user to have had the most recent previous version of Windows. With Vista’s lack of popularity, it is surely the first time it has really mattered to the average user. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/14 "2009-10-22T00:36:56Z")
I think we need to go back to what Horselover (if that’s his real name) was saying. You can’t in-place upgrade XP because the OS is just too different, but you can buy the Upgrade version of 7 and save money. ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/15 "2009-10-23T05:06:03Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > I have the student edition of Windows 7 that I got for $20 and the restriction is it was an upgrade only… Meaning you had to have a pre-existing copy of Vista already on your machine. You could either do an upgrade or a clean install, but if you did a clean install you had to have Vista already installed and you had to let 7 format/re-partition your HD (you couldn’t install 7 on a clean hard drive). For the student editions of Vista, at least, there was a workaround where you installed it without an activation key, requiring you to activate it within 30 days. Then, before those 30 days elapsed, you did the upgrade install, upgrading your unactivated Vista to activated Vista. Did they fix this for 7? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/16 "2009-10-24T22:28:05Z")
Instructions on how to turn your upgrade install into a full install without having to install twice: > **[ITPro Today: IT News, How-Tos, Trends, Case Studies, Career Tips, More](https://www.itprotoday.com)** > > IT Pro Today Homepage ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/17 "2009-10-24T23:24:28Z")
Here’s CNet’s guide to upgrade from XP to Windows 7: [http://cnettv.cnet.com/8301-13415\_53-10377034-11.html](http://cnettv.cnet.com/8301-13415_53-10377034-11.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/win7-upgrade-question/514631/18 "2009-10-24T23:53:47Z")
Instructions from Microsoft for going from Windows XP to Windows 7 are [here](http://windows.microsoft.com/upgrade-windows-xp).