Upgrading from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7

[Mlgkillahz]

Hey guys, I am looking to upgrading from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 but the thing is on Best Buy, there's like two of the same, one being 'Windows 7 Ultimate' and the other being 'Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade'? I'm slightly confused to which to get, I just wanna upgrade from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate. The one without the upgrade costs about 100 more bucks and the one without is 100 bucks cheaper.

[endersblade]

The upgrade will take your Vista install, and upgrade it to Win 7. The other one is a complete version of windows. So if all you're looking to do is upgrade, than get the upgrade.

Just remember though, if you ever need to re-install windows, you have to install Vista and then the Win 7 Upgrade on top of it again.

[Mlgkillahz]

Thanks for the additional info! So I just take the upgrade then? I mean the installation for Windows 7 should go smooth right? I would hate to find my Vista discs.

[Dirgon]

You won't need your vista discs right now to use a Windows 7 Upgrade version. However as endersblade said, if your hard drive ever goes down, you WILL need to first reinstall Windows Vista before you can install Windows 7 so don't lose your Vista discs. To avoid this, buy a non upgrade version, but you will pay more money.

Are you a college student? If you are, look into The Ultimate Steal. $65 for Windows 7 Professional upgrade. (Used to be $30, looks like they upped it)

[Crispy]

you dont need the vista discs to install a windows 7 upgrade, everything is on there. sure, it requires a little trick, but some google work will easily get you there. (in my country at least, students can only get upgrade versions, so it's a commonly used trick)

[noteworthynerd]

Why are you upgrading? Vista is a fine OS now that all of the bugs have been patched... Sure, I'd recommend Windows 7 to someone who is building a new comp, but there's no reason to replace Vista if you already have it, unless it is 32 bit and you want 64...

[Mlgkillahz]

Why are you upgrading? Vista is a fine OS now that all of the bugs have been patched... Sure, I'd recommend Windows 7 to someone who is building a new comp, but there's no reason to replace Vista if you already have it, unless it is 32 bit and you want 64...

Hmm 32 bit to 64 bit? Don't I need to wipe my Harddrive

[Dirgon]

Hmm 32 bit to 64 bit? Don't I need to wipe my Harddrive

Yes, unless MS has changed this. When I upgraded from 32bit to 64bit it required a full hard drive wipe and couldn't import my settings and data.

Edit: You'd be crazy not go to to 64-bit. 3GB RAM limitation in 32-bit isn't nearly enough for a modern computer.

[Mlgkillahz]

Yes, unless MS has changed this. When I upgraded from 32bit to 64bit it required a full hard drive wipe and couldn't import my settings and data.

Edit: You'd be crazy not go to to 64-bit. 3GB RAM limitation in 32-bit isn't nearly enough for a modern computer.

I don't really have important files on this computer so I might as well go from 32 to 64 for an upgrade I guess.

[noteworthynerd]

You may wanna consider asking friends/family for help if you don't know the difference between 32 and 64 bits... Reinstalling Windows isn't that difficult, in fact it's one of the first things I did in my IT career, but it is possible to mess it up.

Btw, you didn't really answer my question: Why are you upgrading from Vista to 7? Since it's apparently not because you wanted to go 64 bit, I'm guessing it's because you're caving into people out there who proclaim how bad Vista is. Those people are wrong, the truth is: there's nothing wrong with Vista now, it and 7 are basically the exact same OS.

[Wakwazu]

I would suggest you save your self a hundred dollars and not buy ultimate.

Most people, including PC Gamers, only need home premium.

If you insist on getting professional that's fine but Windows Ultimate is a rip off.

The only unique features it has is a language pack and a built in encryption system.

Unless you are a linguist as a hobby or smuggling cyber secrets Ultimate is a waste of money.

Edit: Actually, save ALL of your money and listen to Noteworthynerd. Vista isn't bad. It had a rough launch and now it can do everything 7 can.

[Mlgkillahz]

Oh, I actually have more than 8 gigs of RAM on this computer, which I snatched from one of the computer my friends gave me for free which had Hyperx Kingstons 2 x 4 GB RAM, but I didn't need 'em so I just had to add it to this old build. I just didn't know that you could go from 32 to 64, I thought you had to correspond the OS but I learned something new. Also I just wanted to make use of this 2nd computer.

[noteworthynerd]

If you have 8GB and your computer is actually using it, then you have 64-bit now... Right click on My Computer and hit properties, it will tell you which you have now.

[Mlgkillahz]

Not on this computer, no. My other computer does. I was talking about the 'abandoned' computer that I have and just randomly added parts to it, which where the RAMs. I got all the info I need, thanks though!

[El_Diabl0]

As far as I know you can do a fresh install of Windows 7 even if you buy the upgrade version. They will never be able to control whether you actually own a Windows Vista license, it's a matter of conscience, really. But props for Microsoft because why should someone who buys every single version of Windows have a worse experience than someone who gets a laptop with a pre-installed OS.

What it means is, you wont ever need to have Windows Vista installed before you can install your copy of Windows 7 and you shouldn't need the Vista serial either unless you need to get support from Microsoft.

[noteworthynerd]

El_Diabl0: You have to have a full version of Windows installed on the computer before you use the 7 upgrade disk, you can't activate a clean install applied using the upgrade disk, so you'll only be able to use the computer for 30 days...

http://news.cnet.com/windows-7-upgrade-dos-and-don-ts

There are ways around it, but I won't be discussing them because they're illegal (and therefore against forum rules).

[DarkXale]

You have to have a full version of Windows installed on the computer before you use the 7 upgrade disk

No. But the must be computer must have authenticated with Microsoft with a previous version of Windows or it will not pass validation.

[noteworthynerd]

The article I linked proves what I said, that's why I linked it lol. You have to have an authenticated version of Windows installed prior to using the Windows 7 upgrade disk. How would the upgrade disk know if the computer, once upon a time, had a valid Windows OS on it?

The upgrade version of Windows 7 (as opposed to the higher-price full version) lets one move from any properly licensed version of Windows XP or Windows Vista to Windows 7 on that same computer.

Sure, you may be able to call Microsoft and read them the CD Key from the previous version of Windows, but that's a special circumstance. Generally speaking, the computer has to have a full version of Windows already installed to use the 7 upgrade disk.

[El_Diabl0]

El_Diabl0: You have to have a full version of Windows installed on the computer before you use the 7 upgrade disk, you can't activate a clean install applied using the upgrade disk, so you'll only be able to use the computer for 30 days...

http://news.cnet.com/windows-7-upgrade-dos-and-don-ts

There are ways around it, but I won't be discussing them because they're illegal (and therefore against forum rules).

I've already installed a copy of the upgrade version of Windows 7 Home Premium using the Upgrade DVD without having Vista previously installed and was able to activate it.

I was installing it on a laptop which had Vista previously installed but I completely removed it before installing Win7