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Doesn't really matter if your key was an upgrade key rather than a full install key anyways, really. The workarounds linked above work perfectly well for conducting a fully clean install with an upgrade disk/key.

Was the 'upgrade' key actually tried? The product distributed by Digital River via the so-called 'student upgrade' deal is actually supposed to be a full install version. The people advertising it didn't understand that "upgrade" has a specific meaning in relation to licensing, and assumed...

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/pinfolder.htm Many of the registry tricks used in XP and Vista before it also work in windows 7 :D

Yep. Topic post links old and now outdated information. The 'European' version of Windows 7 includes IE8, and on first run of that browser presents a 'ballot screen' choice which mentions alternative browsers, listed in order of their relevent market shares, and provides links to where they...

There is no practical mechanism to prevent you from doing so. Again, there is no practical mechanism to prevent you from doing so. Remember, however, that when using an upgrade install key you'll either need to have a qualifying install of an older version in place, or use an upgrade...

Very few programs give you no option for install location. Those programs which do give you no option are poorly written ones which it would be best to replace with something better written.

64-bit Windows does NOT 'need' double the RAM. The minimum recommendatios are what they are because the additional overhead of 64-bit Windows only has meaningful impact down in the lower reaches. By the time you reach 4Gb installed RAM the differences aren't meaningfully noticeable. The...

Yes. Choose 'Custom' as the install type and then select the drive/partition where you want to place the new install. That will create a dual-boot configuration for you, with boot menu already configured and operating.

Everry time I've had need to call to activate Windows the question asked has been "Is this copy of Windows only installed on one PC?" Answering that in the affirmative not only gets you an activation code - it also means you didn't actually tell lies!

Fresh installs are always possible using upgrade media/keys. People just need to understand that 'custom clean' gives just as clean/reliable an end-result as does 'wipe and install clean'. Anyways, as DeaconFrost suggest, you only gotta do it (with qualifying install in place) the once and...

Wrong. The info appeared on Microsoft Store website for the 'Half Price Upgrade PreOrder' special deal, and remained there for full priced preorders for a fair while before Microsoft altered the Eligibility information displayed there.

Welcome to 3 years ago. You must've skipped Vista! :D

Ooops. Read too quickly and didn't notice who it was that posted :cool: Anyways. Can't do it in a folder because Explorer auto-sorts the display of contents. You can change the sort algorithm to work Windows 2000 style, but you can't disable it altogether as far as I'm aware.

Reread my post, to see the edit. :D

Nothing happens when you do that because Explorer is configured to display folder contents in alphanumeric order. Edit: For desktop, right-click, choose 'View' and then enable 'Auto-arrange'. Your much desired little bars will now show when you try drag/dropping the icons to shift them...

Home Group. It's the primary reason I made the switch, because I was perfectly happy with vista.

It's got little to do with 'fear' and everything to do with practicality. What you describe is fine for a person who uses installation default settings for each and every program installed, but when the process of configuring individual program settings starts it can take an inordinate amount...

You must have pretty bloody simplistic usage requirements on your rig, mate. For a machine in 'household' use at my place, if I clean install and start over again from scratch, the process of installing/configuring all required software, setting up user accounts and system configuration...

I'd assume that the Upgrade disk/key would upgrade a Windows 7 install which is already in place. But I wouldn't adopt that approach regardless. All windows 7 versions now include Complete PC Backup and Restore, so I'd make a drive image after successfully installing and configuring Windows...

Incorrect assumption! An over the top 'in-place-upgrade' install cannot be performed when moving from XP to Windows 7. A 'clean install' is required. That does NOT mean, however, that the drive must be formatted before installing Windows 7, or even formatted at all! Nowadays what...

Have you tested this to verify? With Upgrade media/key? I'm well aware that it's "common wisdom" that this is the case, but I've yet to see the contention tested and verified by somebody who has used upgrade media/key to verify. I've yet to see an 'official' Microsoft document which...

At times (dependent upon circumstances and hardware) the installer can appear to 'hang' and can remain in that state for anything up to hours on end. If this seems to be happening to you then let it run even overnight if need be, to see if it will eventually complete or continue.

It'll need to be confirmed by somebody who has the windows 7 upgrade pack and tries using it with Windows 2000. Originally Microsoft Store indicated that Windows 2000 would qualify the Windows 7 Upgrade key. Later Microsoft removed that information. It is as yet unclear if that is because...

The $30 student offer is most definitely a license upgrade, not a full license for use without a qualifying OS version.

Possibly, bocochoco. But it wouldn't do you any good, because the install key you have would be recognised as an upgrade key by the installer. You CAN'T change the installer!

Yes. OEM system Builder packs only contain the one install disk (and only legitimately entitle you to use the provided install rather than the alternative. that's kinda part of why it's a cheaper license.

To my knowledge nobody has yet confirmed, in practice and with an actual upgrade install key, whether or not the qualifying install needs to be an activated one. That may simply be assumption. Relevent documents on Microsoft website mention that the qualifying install needs to be a 'valid'...

No and maybe You need to have a 'qualifying' install in place for the upgrade key to be accepted. If you install without first having a qualifying install on the machine, then when you enter the install key it will be rejected as 'not valid' You will need to contact the vendor or...

^ Amen to that!

The Family Pack special offer is not yet available, and Microsoft has stated that after it becomes available it will remain so for only a limited period of time. There has been no statement made regarding the date it will be made available, or whether or not it will be made available via...

Good grief! Are you deaf, dumb and blind? Have you not actually ever heard/read anything about Windows 7? The claim that it is 'faster than Vista' is the most commonly encountered comment about the new OS version! :eek:

It's my understanding that, even with an OEM System Builder installation, you are having to call in and manually activate because you are so frequently wiping and starting over. I have on numerous occasions reused an OEM install on a different PC when that OEM key hasn't been used for...

If you're not running 3D games with a gaming graphics card and/or high-quality audio on a dedicated audio card then the Windows-derived drivers will do just fine. So-called 'lessons' learnt from experiences with XP are a complete irrelevence. XP was developed and released in 2001. Most...

People should try for themselves rather than paying heed to the prattlings of internet whiners. Vista runs perfectly well unless you install it on an old, clunky shitbox. Windows 7 is only perceptibly 'faster' ON those old, clunky shitboxes. As Azhar mentions, on a decent modern system you...

There's no actual 'lifetime' fixed number of activations attached to EITHER license type! What happens is that if you activate too many times within a fixed period then auto-activate fails and you need to telephone activate. If you allow the alloted period to elaps between activation attempts...

Rules of Partition management: Rule 1 When performing changes which can impact on the system partition, use a tool with its own bootable environment, rather than using a tool from within Windows. (The Partition Magic install disk is a bootable CD which allows you to use the tool from...

Signature version is a special promotional release with its own set of legsality restrictions. You can reuse it legitimately on subsequent machines. You can't legitimatelly resell it. (Copies being flogged off on eBay or forum swap meet sections are illegal sales!) In the 'real world'...

Using a Windows 7 Upgrade pack will render your Vista license 'void' in a legal sense. Your Vista key will NOT become blacklisted and unusable, but if you continue to use it or use it again later you would be operating in a legally unlicensed fashion. You are allowed to use it afterwards only...

keenan is correct. If you install a newer version release of Windows after you already have an older version of Windows already installed, and place that newer version installation on a different partition or drive, then a multi-boot menu will be automatically created for you by the Windows...

XP mode isn't suitable for running older games. Unless those older games are text adventure games, maybe. Home Premium will serve your needs.