Correct me if I'm wrong here, but supposedly they de-activate your old key meaning if you had to do a reinstall you would not be able to reinstall xp/vista, activate it (because old key is de-activated), and then upgrade again. This makes no sense because it essentially makes it seem like you only get one shot. But I can't seem to find a clear answer for it.
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Have you pre-ordered Windows 7 yet?
- Thread starter Krycek1
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I'll correct you. That claim was made regarding Vista when Vista came out and it proved to be bullshit. It's kind of an impossible thing for them to do, because including that sort of individual check would make the procedures too cumbersome and time consuming for anyone to put up with.
The check will only be verifying the presence of the entry in the installion which indicates that it's activated. Your old copies will continue to be usable, and it'll continue to be 'on your honour' to discontiue using the old license.
If you have a link proving that it would be great, however all I see are links supporting it like http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fe...de_guide_all_your_questions_answered?page=0,1. There was a workaround to it but the ability was still there. Now that you have to be activated to upgrade, unlike the Vista process, this becomes more important.
Still waiting to see what the pricing will be like in Europe. If it's 2x the US price (Vista Ultimate was something like $750 where I live), I will once again find an US online store that's willing to ship overseas.
There's plenty of time before the excellent RC expires so I'm in no hurry.
There's plenty of time before the excellent RC expires so I'm in no hurry.
I'm not sure if this is allowed to be posted or not, but if I legally own XP and Win7 but I don't want to risk deactivating an XP key, do you think borrowing a friends corporate XP key (they don't require activation) will work just to get the upgrade installed without permanent impact to my pervious licenses? Or will it de-activate his corporate key. 
Or does it not matter since the corporate version of XP doesn't activate? Yes I know technically illegal but only potentially the method since both original retail licenses are owned by me. I bought four copies of Win7 and own four copies of Vista as well so it's not like I'm a pirate, I'm just looking for convenience and I want to reserve the right to roll my netbook back to XP in the future if I decide to.
Or does it not matter since the corporate version of XP doesn't activate? Yes I know technically illegal but only potentially the method since both original retail licenses are owned by me. I bought four copies of Win7 and own four copies of Vista as well so it's not like I'm a pirate, I'm just looking for convenience and I want to reserve the right to roll my netbook back to XP in the future if I decide to.The article that someone posted gives a good workaround.
"The only good news I learned from all of this, is that the Windows 7 RC will serve as a qualifying previous version (assuming of course that its activated). I would highly advise readers who purchased the upgrade edition run an imaging program such as Acronis True Image, to take a snapshot of your drive before you install the Windows 7 upgrade. Youll need to decompress the image back onto the drive each time you do a fresh install, but it will certainly save you a great deal of time compared to installing and activating two separate OSs each time you want to start over."
This means you can use a Win7 RC restore image and never lose your XP or Vista license and not have to install the OS twice. I have Acronis True Image so will go this route.
"The only good news I learned from all of this, is that the Windows 7 RC will serve as a qualifying previous version (assuming of course that its activated). I would highly advise readers who purchased the upgrade edition run an imaging program such as Acronis True Image, to take a snapshot of your drive before you install the Windows 7 upgrade. Youll need to decompress the image back onto the drive each time you do a fresh install, but it will certainly save you a great deal of time compared to installing and activating two separate OSs each time you want to start over."
This means you can use a Win7 RC restore image and never lose your XP or Vista license and not have to install the OS twice. I have Acronis True Image so will go this route.
If your hardware changes though won't it trip the activation upon your first bootup thereby putting it into a non-upgrade state since it has to be activated now? And what happens when the RC expires next year? I'm asking these more for others since I think my trick with the corporate key will likely work.
That's not what it says here. It says Microsoft disables your previous OS key.
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fe...de_guide_all_your_questions_answered?page=0,1
What Happens to my old CD Key for Windows XP or Vista? Can I use it Somewhere Else?
Based on the terms as they are laid out in the EULA, no. Users who buy and install Windows 7 using the upgrade media should expect to lose access to the product key from their previous OS. While technically this has always been true with Windows upgrades, before XP, this worked on the honor system. With the debuted of product activations in XP, it is now a simple matter for Microsoft to enforce. During a Vista upgrade, the installer would collect your old product key, and send off a cancellation request to the activation server. Simply put, dont bother upgrading a version of Windows that you will ever need to install somewhere else in the future (this includes dual boots). If you are hoping to make a multi-boot system, you will need to buy the full retail version of Windows 7, or find another spare copy to sacrifice to Redmond.
Based on the terms as they are laid out in the EULA, no. Users who buy and install Windows 7 using the upgrade media should expect to lose access to the product key from their previous OS. While technically this has always been true with Windows upgrades, before XP, this worked on the honor system. With the debuted of product activations in XP, it is now a simple matter for Microsoft to enforce. During a Vista upgrade, the installer would collect your old product key, and send off a cancellation request to the activation server. Simply put, dont bother upgrading a version of Windows that you will ever need to install somewhere else in the future (this includes dual boots). If you are hoping to make a multi-boot system, you will need to buy the full retail version of Windows 7, or find another spare copy to sacrifice to Redmond.
So what am I supposed to do if my motherboard quits and I cant get another one. The same model? If this is true I will just cancel my orders and get a OEM copy when it comes out. I know what there EULA says but it will be interesting to see what actually comes of this. I cant afford to get a used copy of xp or vista every time I need to reinstall windows 7.
So what am I supposed to do if my motherboard quits and I cant get another one. The same model? If this is true I will just cancel my orders and get a OEM copy when it comes out. I know what there EULA says but it will be interesting to see what actually comes of this. I cant afford to get a used copy of xp or vista every time I need to reinstall windows 7.
BS. There was no limited number, it was a time limited offer and no one ever said from the outset that was the deal. Perhaps in Japan there was but not here in NA.
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fe...de_guide_all_your_questions_answered?page=0,1
"This price tag assumes you missed out on the Windows 7 promotional pricing, which expires on July 11th."
I was on the edge about buying Windows 7 and I was about to pull the trigger on the last day of the pre-order when I started to encounter lots of annoying problems on two separate systems. The worst ones occurred on my desktop during gaming. I pulled my hair out trying to get Call of Duty 4 to run properly. If I wasn't getting kicked by Punkbuster for "unknown APIs", I was getting blue screens that I never had in XP. And, you know, for as fast as people claim Windows 7 is, it wasn't as fast as my XP Pro x64 installation.
Laugh if you want to, but I went back to XP Pro x64. It's quicker and everything works. It has a wealth of maturity behind it and I know that XP will continue to be supported for new games like Starcraft 2. Do I miss some of Windows 7's features? Yeah, I do. But I'm going to wait until the kinks get worked out before I consider paying for it. I don't think it suits my needs just yet.
Laugh if you want to, but I went back to XP Pro x64. It's quicker and everything works. It has a wealth of maturity behind it and I know that XP will continue to be supported for new games like Starcraft 2. Do I miss some of Windows 7's features? Yeah, I do. But I'm going to wait until the kinks get worked out before I consider paying for it. I don't think it suits my needs just yet.
So basically you admit you'll be buying it and you just missed out on the cheapest offer you'll probably ever see for it? Just because you bought it doesn't mean you have to install it immediately.
And for what it's worth, you should go buy a lottery ticket because your experiences are truly rare. I may buy it and I may not. I'm not going to put my money down on something that's given me serious issues unless I can be sure that said issues are fixed. I think that's fair enough. One of my relatives, who works for a university, will be able to buy the Ultimate edition for me at the discounted price of just $99 so I've got all the time in the world to wait.
If my experiences with 7 are really that unusual, by all means, feel free to PM me with suggestions on what I might try. I've Googled everything to death and haven't come up with anything so far. The RC is still free and I can reinstall it at any time to test things out.
If my experiences with 7 are really that unusual, by all means, feel free to PM me with suggestions on what I might try. I've Googled everything to death and haven't come up with anything so far. The RC is still free and I can reinstall it at any time to test things out.
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GreenMonkey
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That's what I'm worrying about. I'm planning to upgrade to win7 home premium from Vista Ult using the inplace upgrade option (I always have a ghost image of Vista I can revert to). But I'd hate to kill my Vista Ultimate key. I planned on moving that to my media server, eventually.
I'm still waiting for confirmation on it.
I'm going to pull down the RC download tonight and get ready for a clean install if needed. But I'd rather not go through the hassle.
Yea, this can't be right because if you are required to install Win7 to an already activated OS like Vista and/or XP then they disable that key then how are we going to be able to install the Win7 upgrade disk again if the other OS has had the key disabled already? You can't activate the previous OS if the key is disabled. I will probably cancel my Win7 order if this is really how it works.
âVelocitymasterâ
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I pre order pro from the egg for 99 bucks two weeks ago
jedimasterk
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Seems like many may cancel their orders if this is true!.
FromTheLou
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The EULA is simple (and it was the same for Vista). If you purchase the upgrade and use it to upgrade your Vista install. You lose the license to that Vista install.
If you want to install Windows 7 and continue to use Vista then you need a full oem/retail copy of Windows 7.
MS isn't trying to pull a fast one on anyone. The rules are the same, they just have the ability to enforce those rules now. Doesn't mean that they will, doesn't mean that they have and it doesn't mean that they aren't going to.
Plain and simple, no one knows yet. And all this the sky is falling bullshit from these bloggers, is exactly that.
Stanley Pain
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Poll needs a TechNet option
GJSNeptune
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Yeah, like:
No, I subscribe to TechNet
Yes, but I'm canceling my order(s) and jumping on the TechNet train
No, I subscribe to TechNet
Yes, but I'm canceling my order(s) and jumping on the TechNet train
FromTheLou
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But after they stop subscribing to Technet they are supposed to stop using the software. If they don't then MS will format their computer*. OMGWTFBBQ, the sky is falling.**
*This is complete and utter bullshit, and I made it up.
**This maybe not.
Yea, well, you don't know jack shit either so telling us how you think it will be ain't any more valid than all the blogs. Personally, I want concrete clarification of how it will be before Oct. 22 so I can know whether to cancel my order or not. Ridiculing people with "the sky is falling" just confirms what I thought of you in the first place.
FromTheLou
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Everybody wants a concrete clarification on how it will be before Oct 22. Why wouldn't they?
And you are I right, I don't if they will be disabling keys or not. Hence why I have never said that they would be disabling or not disabling keys. I've been stating that nobody knows, including these bull shit bloggers. And you can see that from my last post.
All I've asked for is a legitimate source for this, and all that has been provided are URL's to blogs and the likes that are all getting/basing their information off of what?
Have any of them tested that when you upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 that your key is deactivated? Have any of them posted their information they receivved from MS on this issue? Do any of them really know?
The answer to all three of those questions is no.
I'm glad that I've lived up to your expectations. I'm sure you think I'm an asshole or many other worse things. Get in line, your aren't the first and sure as hell won't be the last.
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Technet route, several computers and Office 2010 is coming up.
Exactly what I was thinking... I don't even have an actual Windows Vista disc, just the restore disc that came with my Toshiba laptop. I think it's automatically activated because I've never went through an activation process after reformatting my drive and reinstalling Vista with that disc. Can they deactivate that?
As for the original subject of the thread, I did pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium during the $50US/$65CA promotion a few weeks ago, but this worries me a bit...
Stanley Pain
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Exactly what I was thinking... I don't even have an actual Windows Vista disc, just the restore disc that came with my Toshiba laptop. I think it's automatically activated because I've never went through an activation process after reformatting my drive and reinstalling Vista with that disc. Can they deactivate that?
As for the original subject of the thread, I did pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium during the $50US/$65CA promotion a few weeks ago, but this worries me a bit...
Don't worry about it, your old key isn't going anywhere. It's just under the letter of the EULA when you have the "upgrade" installed you can't install the previous OS unless you uninstall your "upgrade" first.
jedimasterk
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Quote: "Everybody wants a concrete clarification on how it will be before Oct 22"
Your right about that, but knowing Microsoft we won't find out until after Oct 22, when it's to late to cancel our orders. And old business trick. Remember all Microsoft really cares about is your money, not your experience. So yeah they may not clarify it until after Oct 22. And after Oct 22 when we are all scratching our heads and wondering how Microsoft tooks us all again for a ride. The Microsoft big whigs we be sitting back in some luxurious restaurant drinking some Dom Perignon and laughing at our expense and stupidity.
Your right about that, but knowing Microsoft we won't find out until after Oct 22, when it's to late to cancel our orders. And old business trick. Remember all Microsoft really cares about is your money, not your experience. So yeah they may not clarify it until after Oct 22. And after Oct 22 when we are all scratching our heads and wondering how Microsoft tooks us all again for a ride. The Microsoft big whigs we be sitting back in some luxurious restaurant drinking some Dom Perignon and laughing at our expense and stupidity.
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I had already pre-ordered 3 copies of Home Premium, one from NewEgg and two from Amazon. NewEgg had a limit of 1 per customer when I ordered, and later to upped it to 3 like everyone else. I went ahead and pre-ordered a copy of Pro on the last day of the sale, just in case. If I decide I don't need it, I can cancel it.
As for this activation mess, I'm not going to cancel my pre-orders over it. I'll wait for a more official word before I decide what to do. Some guy on a blog that says his source is a spokesman for MS, but doesn't give that spokesman's name isn't enough proof for me.
Even if it turns out to be true, I'm not going to cancel the pre-orders. Since they'll retail for $120, I'll just sell them on eBay for $100 and make a little profit, then buy the OEM version since I don't plan on installing it until I build a new machine anyway.
Either that, or I'll install my current XP to this machine, and activate it. Then make an image of it and store it on a CD or DVD. Then all you have to do is dump that image to any computer before installing the upgrade. You don't have to boot XP first, just dump the image and boot up the upgrade disk.
As for this activation mess, I'm not going to cancel my pre-orders over it. I'll wait for a more official word before I decide what to do. Some guy on a blog that says his source is a spokesman for MS, but doesn't give that spokesman's name isn't enough proof for me.
Even if it turns out to be true, I'm not going to cancel the pre-orders. Since they'll retail for $120, I'll just sell them on eBay for $100 and make a little profit, then buy the OEM version since I don't plan on installing it until I build a new machine anyway.
Either that, or I'll install my current XP to this machine, and activate it. Then make an image of it and store it on a CD or DVD. Then all you have to do is dump that image to any computer before installing the upgrade. You don't have to boot XP first, just dump the image and boot up the upgrade disk.
rockyrobin
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When I used to install XP upgrade I could do a clean install using the upgrade disk. All that I had to do was pop the previous OS install CD in for a moment when asked, then pop back in the XP disk and continue as normal.
Surely you can still do this still or has MS changed things?
Surely you can still do this still or has MS changed things?
Gorankar
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They changed that with Vista. You had to have it installed. You could still do clean install of Vista by installing Vista, not putting your key in, then installing over it and using your key. Many were assuming Win7 would be the same way as Vista. It still may be, we don't know for certain, as the rumor of Win7 requiring the previous OS be activated, is still unverified.
My guess, if activation is actually required required, is that it will also be easily gotten around. If all it is looking for is the activation file and a few other files in a certain directory, it may end up being as easy as dropping those directories and files on a freshly formatted HD and then proceeding to do a clean install. You could write a batch file to do all that automatically from a bootable DVD or flash drive.
We will see. We will definitely know on Oct. 22
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I've been an IT journo, and know damned well that what gets written and published ain't always the absolute, inviolable truth. I'm also an inquisitive bugger who likes to actually check claims made, rather than kicking back and trusting to the utterances of people who like to parade their self-importance.
So here's me. A bloke who actually TRIED it to see what really DOES happen.
I've several XP and Vista licenses here which have, at various times, beenm used as the 'qualification verification' for Vista Upgrade installs. Every single one of them will still install and activate! In no instance has the install code provided with that license actually been rendered unusable forever after.
That MaximumPC article, when you closely examine it, is actually basing the claim that the previous key gets deactivated upon a reference to an entry in the bloody EULA! It's a nonsense article!
Main reason that "no one knows" is thatr, pretty much, no one is thinking straight and recognising what's realistic and what isn't amongst all this.
Microsoft doesn't (and can't) monitor, track and permanently record every incident regarding every individiual install key in existence. To do that would be such a monumental and invasive task that it'd have detrimental impact on any activation event whatsoever, to the point where people would simply refuse to put up with it! To the point where even the unknowing general public would be clamouring for an alternative, because the 'system' would've become unworkable.
At present mickeysoft product activation is (despite the whinings of those w2hose heads are stuck too far up their own arses) a relatively painless thing to put up with. A smallish annoyance every now and then maybe, when circumstances have you doing it over the phone, but that's about it.
It remains relatively painless because it's really only the amount of recent activity getting recorded and checked, and because those counters get periodically and regularly flushed and reset. It's a mechanism designed to detect abuses, rather than a mechanism designed to enforce the 'law'. And that's all it can possibly be!
Gotta be a nong to think otherwise
No you didn't. The articles are talking about how it is with retail Win7 upgrade disk and not XP>Vista.
Nope. Read it. Capable of comprehending what it actually SAYS too!
Here's the full relevent excerpt:
Within that, the reference for the claim is embedded into the words "a cancellation request", and that reference points to this:
http://www.whatthetech.com/2007/01/29/vista-upgrade-invalidates-your-xp-key/
That article pointed to makes the claim that the deactivation request is ALREADY being sent to the activation centre, since Vista arrived on the scene as a retail product. The MaximumPC article is just blowing hot air speculating that it'll be the case for Windows 7, based upon that earlier supposed 'understanding'.
And it's wrong. Didn;t happen with Vista. I've got the still working XP and Vista licenses, which have been used to qualify Vista Upgrades, to prove the lie of it. But you keep on going round and round in circles with your dependence upon "but somebody SAID so!" articles. I'm happy to kick back and continue relying upon truth, proof and evidence
By the way, people. None of this is reason to avoid a Windows 7 Upgrade package. It's just a different workaround to the one we had last time.
With Vista we bunged a 'trial' install in place to qualify the upgrade install key.
With Windows 7 we'll just need to keep a partition clone of an activated install, and bung that on the drive first.
If people are frequent formatters then it's really still no problem, because that 'install and activate the qualifying OS' process only ever needs to be done once on a particular rig. Soon as it's done make a clone image and use that to prepare the machine for the next 'upgrade' clean install. It's no 'genuine' big deal. Just something which requires a small amount of lateral thinking
Here's the full relevent excerpt:
Within that, the reference for the claim is embedded into the words "a cancellation request", and that reference points to this:
http://www.whatthetech.com/2007/01/29/vista-upgrade-invalidates-your-xp-key/
That article pointed to makes the claim that the deactivation request is ALREADY being sent to the activation centre, since Vista arrived on the scene as a retail product. The MaximumPC article is just blowing hot air speculating that it'll be the case for Windows 7, based upon that earlier supposed 'understanding'.
And it's wrong. Didn;t happen with Vista. I've got the still working XP and Vista licenses, which have been used to qualify Vista Upgrades, to prove the lie of it. But you keep on going round and round in circles with your dependence upon "but somebody SAID so!" articles. I'm happy to kick back and continue relying upon truth, proof and evidence
By the way, people. None of this is reason to avoid a Windows 7 Upgrade package. It's just a different workaround to the one we had last time.
With Vista we bunged a 'trial' install in place to qualify the upgrade install key.
With Windows 7 we'll just need to keep a partition clone of an activated install, and bung that on the drive first.
If people are frequent formatters then it's really still no problem, because that 'install and activate the qualifying OS' process only ever needs to be done once on a particular rig. Soon as it's done make a clone image and use that to prepare the machine for the next 'upgrade' clean install. It's no 'genuine' big deal. Just something which requires a small amount of lateral thinking
Ihaveworms
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I will be using MSDNAA. Plan on upgrading as soon as possible .
.-=Antimatter=-
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What happens if you get a new computer, and you restore said image, and it asks you to re-activate? Then you're hosed. At least with Vista you could do a clean install on a brand new machine with the workaround.