Win7 .edu version clarification

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Ninjabass

Weaksauce
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I asked this in the other Win7 .edu thread, but I doubt anyone will go back in there so I'll go ahead and ask it here.

People have said that the version you get from the .edu download is a full retail version, albeit you have to convert to an ISO and burn it yourself. However, in the cart, it has it listed as "Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade". Is this just a wrong listing?
 
Some people got upgrades and others got full versions.
 
-PK- said:
Some people got upgrades and others got full versions.
Click to expand...

Just randomly? That doesn't make much sense.

I want the full retail version to avoid any hassles down the road. Why Microsoft didn't make an ISO download available for this is beyond me, when they provided one for the non-student digital download. If the student version randomly chooses whether or not you get retail I would rather not take that chance.
 
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Ninjabass said:
I asked this in the other Win7 .edu thread, but I doubt anyone will go back in there so I'll go ahead and ask it here.

People have said that the version you get from the .edu download is a full retail version, albeit you have to convert to an ISO and burn it yourself. However, in the cart, it has it listed as "Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade". Is this just a wrong listing?
Click to expand...

The version you get through the website is the upgrade version. You can confirm this by looking at the invoice which shows the original price of $199.99, which is for the upgrade version. If you call and request the full retail version, they may give it to you. It will show the original price as $299.99 with the final price (after student discount) of $29.99.
 
PC_User said:
The version you get through the website is the upgrade version. You can confirm this by looking at the invoice which shows the original price of $199.99, which is for the upgrade version. If you call and request the full retail version, they may give it to you. It will show the original price as $299.99 with the final price (after student discount) of $29.99.
Click to expand...

So the people who said they got the retail version had to have called MS to get it? The least they could have done is said so. =P
 
Ninjabass said:
So the people who said they got the retail version had to have called MS to get it? The least they could have done is said so. =P
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Yes. That is the only way to get the full retail version. There is already this thread in the [H]otDeals section which has the number and explanation.
 
You can purchase one copy with a edu id correct?
 
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Ninjabass said:
I want the full retail version to avoid any hassles down the road. Why Microsoft didn't make an ISO download available for this is beyond me, when they provided one for the non-student digital download. If the student version randomly chooses whether or not you get retail I would rather not take that chance.
Click to expand...
Sent you a pm for an iso, you can verify it with the official checksums.
 
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My wife has gone back to school, so I purchased a .edu version. (I received an upgrade version)

I used the Microsoft tool to create a bootable .iso file from the downloaded files. I installed it in a Virtual Machine with the trick to use upgrade media for a full, clean install. (method #2, shown here. It worked beautifully.

So, last night, I backed up all my stuff, and took the upgrade plunge. I burned the bootable .iso file to a DVD and booted from my computer, used the utility to format my system drive, and installed. Went well.

I then tried that activation trick, above, again. No dice. "You can not use that key to activate this version of windows." I don't know if it said that because I had already activated a virtual machine (which was now gone anyway) or because it's an upgrade copy and they fixed the "loophole."

So, it gave me some choices on the next screen. I chose "phone activation," or something like that.

I called the number, read off some numbers on the screen to an automated robot lady, she gave me a code, I entered it, and it worked. She (the robot lady) did ask me how many computers this copy of windows had been installed upon. I told her "one." I hesitated a bit, because I wasn't sure what to say... I mean, yeah, I installed it on the machine I was trying to activate, but I had also installed it on that Virtual Machine that was now gone. I thought maybe I should have said "two," but when I said "one," she said that was correct.

Weird, huh.

So, take that FYI.
 
That was just a standard automatic activation failure, probably because you had just activated it in the vm.
 
jkr266 said:
That was just a standard automatic activation failure, probably because you had just activated it in the vm.
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yeah, probably so.

PC_User said:
Should've gotten the full retail version instead. :)
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should have, would have, could have, doesn't matter, when you can just activate the upgrade version anyway. But yes, it would be more convenient to have just purchased the full version (if they had publicized that it was available for the same $30, which is apparently the case). (I'm really sick of upgrade/full versions for OS distributing.... what a stupid model).
 
jkr266 said:
That was just a standard automatic activation failure, probably because you had just activated it in the vm.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking this is the case as well. I'm not sure why you would have activated it in a VM you knew was for testing anyway. You'd get at least 30 days to try it out. I'm really hoping people are taking advantage of this, rather than entering the key in during the install process.
 
TOOL1075 said:
should have, would have, could have, doesn't matter, when you can just activate the upgrade version anyway. But yes, it would be more convenient to have just purchased the full version (if they had publicized that it was available for the same $30, which is apparently the case). (I'm really sick of upgrade/full versions for OS distributing.... what a stupid model).
Click to expand...

You can, but it's more of a headache (as you have found out).
 
DeaconFrost said:
I'm thinking this is the case as well. I'm not sure why you would have activated it in a VM you knew was for testing anyway. You'd get at least 30 days to try it out. I'm really hoping people are taking advantage of this, rather than entering the key in during the install process.
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Because I wanted to test whether or not I could activate an upgrade copy of the software as if it was a full-version copy. Test result? You can.

Then, I wanted to see if I could install it again, the same way, but for real (on a real computer). Test result? You can.

So there ya go- there is your answer in the name of science :p

I figured if it didn't work, worst outcome would be me being out $30. Seeing as how a lot of people make much more than that per hour, I really didn't see a risk lol
 
If it worked in a VM, it would work on a real computer. If the license you bought was considered retail, then you would know you could move the license from the VM to a real computer. I can see trying to process, but I still wouldn't see a reason to actually activate it. If you had repeated the process on your real computer, and found that it wouldn't activate, you could have just called it in, and then you'd know for the future.
 
Mine worked on a fresh build. It seems the people who bought Pro were more likely to get a retail key vs. those who bought Home. This was via DR. The people calling MS are getting full retail versions for the same price.
 
number69 said:
You can purchase one copy with a edu id correct?
Click to expand...



Here is what I did with my single .edu email address:

Ordered from the MS store by calling, and they sent me the full Win7 Pro DVD retail package for $37 with tax.

Then after I got off the phone, I went to the Digital River site and purchased the Win7 Pro 64 bit upgrade for $30, downloaded the files, made and burned the ISO and installed that on my main PC as a clean full install, not upgrade (had an OEM Vista Ultimate 32 bit installed).

When I got my package from the MS Store, I installed the 32 bit version (came with 32 bit on one disc and 64 bit on the other disc) on my kids PC and my laptop and all is well.
 
PC_User said:
The version you get through the website is the upgrade version. You can confirm this by looking at the invoice which shows the original price of $199.99, which is for the upgrade version. If you call and request the full retail version, they may give it to you. It will show the original price as $299.99 with the final price (after student discount) of $29.99.
Click to expand...
Incorrect.

I never called, and I got a full retail install via download.

I did opt for the Pro version, though, of course.
 
Down8 said:
Incorrect.

I never called, and I got a full retail install via download.

I did opt for the Pro version, though, of course.
Click to expand...

That's very strange, as the website explicitly states "Upgrade." How do you know you got the full retail version?
 
wow. Im gonna have to call MS and then order through the site. I'm gonna take advantage of this great deal.
 
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