If this has not already been posted, sorry if it has.

Most people can buy the Windows 7 Upgrade and install it on a bare hard drive as though it were a "Retail" or "OEM" copy -- no old copy of Vista or XP required. Thus, one need not buy an OEM copy or "Retail" copy to get "Retail" performance on a new system.

For example, I bought 2 copies of the Windows 7 HP Upgrade preorder for $50 each (vs the $120 each regular price). I can install them as non-upgrade "Retail" copies on my machine and my wife's machine ($200 each regular price for the "Retail" version -- I saved $300).

I read Microsoft allows this because it knows there are "enthusiasts" who "need to be taken care of". If true, good for them. But, there may be more practical reasons.

Clean Install of Windows 7 Upgrade Media

Of course, students can get a "Retail" copy of Windows 7 for only $30. So, allowing the hack is no big loss for MS.

Since this hack has been around since Vista and MS has not deactivated it, I assume it is not considered "piracy". However, if SimHQ doesn't want this type of post, delete it. Meanwhile, just trying to help out fellow "enthusiasts".

Besides students, can you get the upgrade copy for less than $50 anymore? I thought that was only for pre-orders?

Fry's has the OEM Professional for 129 and the Ultimate OEM for 159. That's in store only.

http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com/

IT related students should be able to get Win7 free soon, if not now, through MSDN-AA. I took classes over the last year or so and that program gives students all kinds of free software. I've gotten about 4 copies of Vista Business, 3-4 XP Pro's, Server 2008, 2003, several other MS products I haven't even had time to look at. Most schools are set up, just check into it. For operating systems, get all you can, 32 and 64 bit, one per each service pack etc. All are separate product keys.
Also, there is an offer to students to pick up Vista Ultimate or Ultimate Office for ~$50 each through their "Ultimate Steal" program. (I got both)
MS LOVES IT students. Might be worth enrolling at a school for a class or two for 1 semester to load up. Just keep registration info on record, they can and sometimes will check up. They give you free or incredibly cheap access to thousands of dollars worth of software as a student.


Newegg.com had a similar deal on OEM copies, but not quite as cheap IIRC. May have to be on their mailing list, I'm not sure.

It was.

They also have a family pack upgrade. It costs $150 and installs on 3 computers ($50 each). That would work for some folks (e.g. we have 3 home built computers in the house).

Of course, many folks have Windows installed, so could merely upgrade. However, as the articles point out, that is not as easy as it seems with XP -- that many enthusiasts have. Being able to install the upgrade on a bare drive without actually upgrading anything is an advantage.

This is one of those things that may or may not apply to a person. For example, an "enthusiast" could build a new system and install an Upgrade copy rather than the OEM or retail (the OEM is tagged to a specific MB and theoretically can't be moved when the MB is upgraded, the retail can move to a new MB but costs more). With the hack, the upgrade copy can move to a new MB.

Just another option that may or may not apply.

They have never enforced the motherboard limitation on my XP OEM copy. The computer on the phone just asks if this is the only computer this copy is installed on and if it's the first time. I've had mine installed on five different mobos. A MSI, ECS, Abit, Gigabyte and now a ASUS. But only one at a time. So it will be interesting to see if they enforce the limitation with 7. I bet they don't.

Got my Windows 7 HP Upgrade copies today.

I've installed mine as a new install on a clean HD (not an upgrade). I now have a quad-boot -- Windows 7 HP, Windows 7 RC, Vista HP, Windows XP-Pro. I will look into Ubuntu Linux -- the new version is available today. Usually, I pass on Linux as it does nothing Windows won't for me.

This factory fresh Windows 7 installs WAY faster than my XP Pro did. And, seems faster than Vista too.

Apparently, the drivers are reasonably up to date. All my hardware worked (including HDTV tuner working and Windows Media Center automatically finding all the channels and setting up the TV program guide) using the drivers on the Windows 7 disk (a couple drivers were immediately updated by the automatic Windows update software).

I have not tried to "activate" (as a non-upgrade). I'll wait a couple of days or more to make sure I like my settings and things are running right -- I always do that -- just in case there are limited activations.

I'm still not activated, same here, I wait until I've got everything running right.

Allen, are you running those OS across multiple HDDs? What boot loader do you use?

Here we have the OEM version of Windows 7 Home Premium for 99 euro and the upgrade version for 119.99 euro, so I'll go OEM here.

Best regards, Kodiak.

Yes, I have 5 HDDs. Each OS is in the primary partition on a separate drive.

Windows 7 found Windows 7 RC and Vista. After the boot screen I get a Windows driven screen that gives me 3 choices Windows 7, Windows 7 (RC), Vista. I am surprised it didn't find XP too. It did find XP on my wife'w computer.

Anyhow, for XP or boot from CD or DVD or if I manually want to boot from one of the other OS (e.g. Linux which is not currently on my system), I press the F8 key during the boot up. Then at the end of boot up, my BIOS gives me a list of the DVD drive and all of the HDDs. I use an arrow key to select the one with the OS I want to run and hit "return". I think many MBs have that function -- some use a different function key though. On mine, during boot up, the boot screen has a line saying to press F8 to get the list.