WinXP disk + Win7 Upgrade or Win7 disk

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I just bought my first Mac. I must load Windows onto the Mac to use my current expensive Adobe software and Quickbooks. I have a XP disk from my old computer but I would like to upgrade to Win7. My questions is: Can I load the XP disk and then buy the Win7 upgrade and load that? Or do I have to buy the full version of Win7 and load that and forget the XP disk altogether. The price difference between the upgrade and full version of Windows is $100.00+ so I would prefer to do the two disk step if it will work.
 
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Depends...

...is your old XP disk a retail copy, or just a reinstall disk for fixing the OS on that one computer?

If it's just a reinstall disk it's likely it wouldn't even work on your Mac (or any other computer that wasn't the exact make & model of your old PC, for that matter) - and, besides, you shouldn't use it even if it works if it's a reinstall disk; as it would only be licensed for that one machine & using it to install XP on another machine (even if only to subsequently upgrade Windows to 7) would technically count as software piracy.

If it is a retail copy - and your old machine no longer works, or at very least no-longer has that OS installed on it - then it will be possible to (& legal to) install XP on your Mac with that disk. Although installing 7 via upgrading XP will be significantly more time consuming, as you'll almost be doing two full installs, one after the other - but, so long as the upgrade disk doesn't specify that it'll only upgrade from Vista then I can't see why it wouldn't work...

Remember, as far as Windows is concerned a Mac is just another PC; albeit one that needs some fancy drivers. That, in fact, is the only thing I'd warn of; complete the installation of XP before you upgrade to 7 - i.e. run the BootCamp Assistant App on your OS X install disk (which I believe is just called "Bootcamp.exe") & then go to Windows Update & download every Service Pack & patch your particular XP disk might be missing. Only then begin the Windows 7 upgrade process.

Good luck ;)
 
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Thank you so much for your thoughtful answer. The XP is a retail disk but it sounds like it is probably worth the extra $100.00 to buy the full version of the Win7 to avoid any potential problems. Also, I am transferring from the old machine but it still works. Thanks again for your thorough advice!
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MBP 13, 2.4, 8GB, 120GB SSD OCZ
You might want to consider getting the OEM version of Windows7. $109 when I bought it last year to install on my MBP 13 via Parallel. But you can only use it on one computer with an OEM.
 
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Thank you so much for your thoughtful answer. The XP is a retail disk but it sounds like it is probably worth the extra $100.00 to buy the full version of the Win7 to avoid any potential problems. Also, I am transferring from the old machine but it still works. Thanks again for your thorough advice!
That's quite alright, it's what the forum (and its members, including myself) is here for, you're very welcome :)

Also:
You might want to consider getting the OEM version of Windows7. $109 when I bought it last year to install on my MBP 13 via Parallel. But you can only use it on one computer with an OEM.
Is a good idea. You might have to poke about a bit to find one of these disks though; eBay's probably your best bet. As they're not generally sold publicly, being "Original Equipment Manufacturer" disks.

However, as your machine has never had Windows on it, it's the equivalent to building your own PC from parts & installing Windows on that, so you're well within your rights to use an OEM licence.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MBP 13, 2.4, 8GB, 120GB SSD OCZ
That's quite alright, it's what the forum (and its members, including myself) is here for, you're very welcome :)

Also:Is a good idea. You might have to poke about a bit to find one of these disks though; eBay's probably your best bet. As they're not generally sold publicly, being "Original Equipment Manufacturer" disks.

However, as your machine has never had Windows on it, it's the equivalent to building your own PC from parts & installing Windows on that, so you're well within your rights to use an OEM licence.

I bought mine at CompUsa. I had trepidation about the MS rights (scary legal packaging by the people at MS, makes you want to return it and get your money back) but it wasn't an issue, and pretty easy to installed via Parallel. I didn't use Bootcamp.
 

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