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How to upgrade from xp to 7 when xp won't install on new motherboard?

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Brando

Brando

Member
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Joined
Jan 9, 2006
From what I understand when you use a windows 7 upgrade disc it detects automatically that you have an older version of windows and writes over it. I did this with an old xp disc I've had forever which let me upgrade to 7 for $10 with a complete over write of the disk and no annoyances like you would get when patching vista to 7 because it's not actually upgrading, it's just basically paving it over. It was perfect. Unfortunately my new motherboard (asus p8z77 v pro) doesn't seem to like xp and won't go past the part where the xp disk loads drivers. If I can't put xp on the new ssd I just ordered, how do I upgrade from it with my win 7 upgrade disk? Won't it just say "you must have an older version of windows installed to upgrade go buy windows 7 for $250 and get out of my face"? Rut row. Hope I'm just misinformed about this.
 
Regarding your Windows XP problem:

You need to either go into BIOS and switch from AHCI to IDE mode to install Windows XP or preferably edit Windows XP installation to include AHCI drivers which is probably why you can't install Windows XP.


The thing to do would be to partition your hard drive, install Windows XP on one partition and install Windows 7 on another partition. Make it a dual boot.

You probably don't want to be installing Windows in IDE mode. AHCI is what you want but you need to add those drivers first.
 
c627627 said:
Regarding your Windows XP problem:

You need to either go into BIOS and switch from AHCI to IDE mode to install Windows XP or preferably edit Windows XP installation to include AHCI drivers which is probably why you can't install Windows XP.


The thing to do would be to partition your hard drive, install Windows XP on one partition and install Windows 7 on another partition. Make it a dual boot.

You probably don't want to be installing Windows in IDE mode. AHCI is what you want but you need to add those drivers first.
Click to expand...

Is it possible to burn a custom windows dvd with lots of new drivers on it (all on one disc) so i don't have to mess with floppies?

EDIT: I found the nlite website and am looking into it. Heard of it before and not sure why I didn't think of it before. Thanks dude.
 
Last edited:
Ok I forgot one important part. Where do I find the generic drivers? I assumed there would be something to click on and download them but I guess I have to have them on my hd and point nlite at them? I found the driver folder in my win 7 system 32 folder and highlighted them all but nlite gave me a warning about only using drivers appropriate for this particular os.
 
Last edited:
Define 'generic drivers'.

Drivers for hardware are on manufacturer web sites; if it's video drivers you go to ATI or nVidia web sites.
 
Remember to try to connect SSD to existing Windows Vista or Windows 7 and have them partition/format SSDs.

Windows XP does not correctly align partitions so install Windows XP *after* formatting / partitioning the drive under another Windows 7/Vista computer.
 
c627627 said:
Define 'generic drivers'.

Drivers for hardware are on manufacturer web sites; if it's video drivers you go to ATI or nVidia web sites.
Click to expand...

I just meant one size fits all drivers that let xp install on any system without locking up like ahci and maybe usb 3.0. Not drivers that are made specifically for one motherboard that would require me to make a new disk each time. I think I may be ok though. I talked to my brother in law that upgrades xp to 7 all the time at work and he says they usually just start with the 7 disk and at some point it asks you to insert the xp disk to prove you own it. If that's true then I apologize for wasting your time.
 
I'm pretty sure the upgrade disk can do fresh installs. If not, just grab an official ISO download of Windows 7, burn it to a disk, and use the key.
 
Yes upgrade for 7 should just be boot from 7 disk, format (important as it properly sets the partition with an offset), install trial version. Restart and install again in upgrade mode with upgrade key.

If you already have XP installed in IDE mode, you can set to AHCI mode boot from USB/DVD it will still see the XP partition and should work fine and will let you format the drive during the windows 7 installation process. (Pro and Ultimate also create a 100-200MB partition which is used in case you enable EFS)

I personally aways use RAID mode not AHCI as single drives will still work as in AHCI but I have the option to add arrays as needed.
 
I never got a prompt to put the xp disc in for verification and neither cd key worked so I tried just installing the win 7 update over the first win 7 update install and it worked. Lol microsoft didn't put up much of a fight on that one.
 
yodap said:
It looks like you got 'er done with option 3 but I'll post this anyway.
Paul Thurrott's guide to clean install with upgrade media.

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-128512
Click to expand...

I didn't have to do any of that. I think I got lucky. I did a custom install, shut down, and did another custom install. Of course now I'm probably jinxing myself and will get a failed activation message but so far so good. On the first install I skipped the activation and unchecked the "validate automatically when online" box the just restarted from the desktop and booted from dvd again. On the second install I typed in the activation key when I was supposed to and left the auto validation checked. The second time instead of telling me activation failed it just let me through like the key was good and it had detected an previous install. Weird.
 
Looks like your good. At any rate you have 30 days to activate.
Right click Computer/Properties and it will let you know. If not activated you have 30 days to do so. You can extend that another 30 easily. Last but not least, the phone activation that never fails.:thup:
 
brando sounds exactly right. I hope they do the same for win8. Will make another epic sale event lol

(Didnt do it for Vista sales sucked easy work around for $33 windows 7? Record sales!!!)
 
For the benefit of others reasing this:

How to use Windows Vista Upgrade DVD to perform a clean install


1. Boot from the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD and start the setup program.

2. When prompted to enter your product key, DO NOT enter it. Click on "Next" and proceed with setup. This will install Windows Vista as a 30-day trial.

3. Once setup has been completed and you have been brought to the desktop for the first time, run the install program AGAIN, only this time from within Windows Vista.

4. This time, type in your product key when prompted.

5. When asked whether to perform an Upgrade or Custom (advanced) install, select Custom (advanced) to perform a clean install of Vista. Yes, this means that you will have to install Vista for a second time.

6. Once setup has completed for the second time, you should be able to activate Windows Vista normally.

You can also delete the Windows.old directory which contains information from the first Vista install.

This means that any retail upgrade DVD can be used as a fully functioning full retail copy of Windows Vista.
 
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