[O/C] It's Oct 22, 2009 in the United States, Windows 7 is officially out!

[hokiealumnus]

Install update: A member over @ TRP just installed a Win 7 Update from scratch with no verification required aside form the key. The only other OS on that system was a copy of Win 7 RC. He's going to update with how activation goes. Also asked him if it's Pro or Home Premium. Will let you know more as I learn it.

 

[Trombe]

Linus Torvalds Approves !!

http://picasaweb.google.com/cschlaeger/JapanLinuxSymposium#5395358413061926434

 

[hokiealumnus]

So I (and he) have no idea what's going on. Maybe they put the wrong disc in there? It never even asked or looked for any previous version of windows, much less a disc. Just installed on a blank HDD (and activated) like a normal OEM/Retail disc. The only other OS he had on there was Win7 RC, on a different HDD. IIRC, his was a pre-purchase from Newegg.

 

[nightelph]

My big worry is the vista to 7 upgrade will go hay-wire some how.

bought vista with the free win 7 upgrade thing so vista has to be installed first... When I go to upgrade to 7 will all my settings be saved?

OR

should I do a big save of all my information on external drives/DVDs etc... and then do a clean install of vista then a clean upgrade to 7?

While no OS will ever be perfect (mostly do to the vast amount of personal prefrences...) I am looking forward to the "improvements" that 7 has.

None the less i am a bit tentative. I tried the RC version of 7 and had driver problems up the wazoo....being the RC I did not worry much but, it is hard to not be a bit concerned.

Clean install is always better, but the 'In-Place Upgrade' available to Vista users is supposed to be pretty slick. I was at a Windows7 conference in San Francisco Tuesday and the guy from MS wouldn't shut up about it.


P.S. I have four Win7 machines running in my house now.


This may be useful to some:

 

[SteveLord]

I would run the Easy File and Settings wizard if you're on Vista or another version of Win7. It worked great for me going from RC>RTM. I was able to retain my messy desktop!

 

[SteveLord]

My wife had her Premium from Amazon ship today. I am downloading 7 Enterprise since I'm low on cash. The 90 day trial will give me some time to keep an eye out for further deals.

 

[OnDborder]

So I (and he) have no idea what's going on. Maybe they put the wrong disc in there? It never even asked or looked for any previous version of windows, much less a disc. Just installed on a blank HDD (and activated) like a normal OEM/Retail disc. The only other OS he had on there was Win7 RC, on a different HDD. IIRC, his was a pre-purchase from Newegg.

Really? This is good.
And this is a copy of Home Premium Upgrade?

 

[umarrehman187]

errm guys i downloaded the win 7 ultimate while back the oem version an its been activated for ages iis the version 7600...tell me what you versions are by goin on run then writing winver??????

 

[Audioaficionado]

All RTM are 7600.

 

[Theocnoob]

I will say W7 is reasonably priced at retail. Just over $100 for the basic version.

 

[usp8riot]

So I (and he) have no idea what's going on. Maybe they put the wrong disc in there? It never even asked or looked for any previous version of windows, much less a disc. Just installed on a blank HDD (and activated) like a normal OEM/Retail disc. The only other OS he had on there was Win7 RC, on a different HDD. IIRC, his was a pre-purchase from Newegg.

I pre-purchased Home Premium Upgrade from Newegg also and have the same experience. I just had a copy of the Enterprise trial version on my C: drive and that's it. Then the first time I installed incorrectly and formatted my C: drive so the second installation couldn't have seen any Windows at all. It didn't ask for a Windows CD/DVD upon installing. I kept waiting for the point where it asked me for one.

I was afraid I'd have to install Vista to install 7 or at least insert my old Windows CD but I was pleasantly surprised. Thank you MS for such an easy upgrade process. Either that or I somehow got retail, which I doubt.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Huh...looks like it is not a fluke. How to Clean Install From Windows 7 Upgrade Media. To save you from the click, here's the text:

One of the biggest unanswered questions about Windows 7 is whether you can perform a clean install using the upgrade edition of the operating system.

With legacy versions of Windows you needed to ‘show’ it an install CD from your older version of Windows. The problem here is that Microsoft allowed OEM PC makers to customise these discs, sometimes to the point where they were not recognisable as upgrade media by the installer, even though you had a legitimate copy.

With Windows Vista they changed this but you had to perform a workaround to get a clean install. Firstly you had to install Vista upgrade without entering a product key, and then you had to install it again performing an upgrade on the version you had already installed. This was time-consuming and many people didn’t like it… understandably.

With Windows 7 Microsoft have only released the upgrade versions for the first time today and have been keeping very tight-lipped on this subject. The good, nay, excellent news is that performing a clean install using upgrade media is now the same as performing a clean install.

Windows 7 will just install merrily on your hard disk with it’s upgrade product code and activate. You don’t need an XP or Vista disc, and you don’t need to install it over itself. This is excellent news and, while I haven’t yet tried this myself, reports are coming in from across the web that this is indeed the case.

Many people will now ask if it’s necessary to buy the full version of Windows 7. Quite simply now the answer is that it isn’t. This means an significant price cut for Windows 7 over previous versions, effective immediately.

So....why exactly is there any reason to purchase full or OEM versions? Guess they're counting on those that don't know what they're missing. I'm GLAD they did this, just surprised.

Thanks to Wizzard0003 from TRP for the link.

EDIT - On a side note, I have heard rumors (per Lvcoyote, saying he got it from Maximum PC) that if you install with a copy of XP or Vista present, it will send a key removal request back to MS and will no longer validate that key, saying it has been terminated if you try installing the old OS again.

 

[SteveLord]

Huh...looks like it is not a fluke. How to Clean Install From Windows 7 Upgrade Media. To save you from the click, here's the text:

So....why exactly is there any reason to purchase full or OEM versions? Guess they're counting on those that don't know what they're missing. I'm GLAD they did this, just surprised.

Thanks to Wizzard0003 from TRP for the link.

EDIT - On a side note, I have heard rumors (per Lvcoyote, saying he got it from Maximum PC) that if you install with a copy of XP or Vista present, it will send a key removal request back to MS and will no longer validate that key, saying it has been terminated if you try installing the old OS again.

Some are saying installing to a wiped hard drive works and some are saying it doesn't. This article is very gray as it does not mention anything about having an existing OS installed first.

I guess you have to install WITHOUT putting in the key at first???

 

[Nevrsumr22]

I'm getting closer to getting a new PC but not quite there yet. I'm thinking of getting a new hard drive and installing W7. Can anyone tell how it will run on my setup? Will it decrease performance?

AMD Socket 939 3200 @ 2.65
2 GB Ram

 

[SteveLord]

I'm getting closer to getting a new PC but not quite there yet. I'm thinking of getting a new hard drive and installing W7. Can anyone tell how it will run on my setup? Will it decrease performance?

AMD Socket 939 3200 @ 2.65
2 GB Ram

You should be fine on 32bit.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Some are saying installing to a wiped hard drive works and some are saying it doesn't. This article is very gray as it does not mention anything about having an existing OS installed first.

I guess you have to install WITHOUT putting in the key at first???

That's what you used to have to do with Vista...install without key/activation and then "upgrade" the install you just did.

The only one I can confirm used the upgrade disc on a clean HDD with no Vista or XP present came from TRP. Since he had the release candidate present on another HDD in the system, that clouds the issue. Perhaps the upgrade recognized the RC as a valid upgradable OS.

There are more people over there getting their discs today and over the next week or so. Lots are curious and I'll report as others try with different configurations.

 

[I.M.O.G.]

Houserat on here is trying something similar, as well as a couple other members.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=622515
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?p=6275395#post6275395 (around post 69)

 

[OnDborder]

EDIT - On a side note, I have heard rumors (per Lvcoyote, saying he got it from Maximum PC) that if you install with a copy of XP or Vista present, it will send a key removal request back to MS and will no longer validate that key, saying it has been terminated if you try installing the old OS again.

Not good. But just rumors for now?

 

[hokiealumnus]

Here's the text from Maximum PC (and a link):

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, don’t 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.

As mentioned in the previous step, many Vista users were able to use a workaround to get past this restriction by using the upgrade CD to perform a clean install without XP present. Legally you still aren’t allowed to use this version of Windows anymore, but if you ever chose to go back to the older OS instead, at least you would have that option. This is just one more reason (among many) to take the clean install approach.

 

[SteveLord]

Wow I never knew they disabled keys like that....