Problems with upgrading Windows RC to 7

Hey Guys,

I bought my Macbook pro(15",2.66 GHz, 4GB RAM) last year when the new models came out. Since I did not have a Windows XP or Vista Install Disc with me, I decided to download the Windows 7 RC (Beta) and install it on bootcamp since it was free.

Now as you may know, Windows 7 RC shuts down every 2 hours starting March 1st and will ultimately expire on June 1st.

So a few days back I bought the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $120. I asked the salesman at the store and he said I can upgrade RC to Home Premium. Now I insert the disc (64 bit version) while on the Bootcamp partition and...surprise!...it does not read the disc and my computer freezes. I even tried with the 32 bit disc but to no avail.

I found out that the Windows 7 disc doesn't run in certain machines. I also found out that I need to have a valid copy of Vista/XP (not just the RC/beta version) to upgrade my bootcamp to Windows 7.

So do I really need to buy an XP or a Vista version before I can upgrade to Windows 7? Is there a workaround to this problem?

Yes, you will need XP or Vista to use the upgrade version of Win 7.

The workaround would be to take it back to the salesman that doesn't have a clue what they're talking about and get a full version of Win 7.

You will not be able to upgrade your existing install of Win 7 beta to the full release. MS has said all along that it will require a clean install. (As far as I know it does, unless someone has come out with a work around I haven't seen. Haven't looked for one though either.)

To the OP:

How to upgrade Windows 7 RC to RTM.

How to use upgrade version of Windows 7 to do a clean install.

Regards.