Bootcamp with Windows 7 Upgrade disc only ?

silvershadow68 · Oct 14, 2009

Hello everyone,
recent convert from a PC to a Mac here.

When i was using my Pc, in the past, after reading a detailed report from
Paul Thurrots, site for windows, i used an upgrade disc only, to install the full Vista operating system from scratch, as opposed to say "upgrading from XP".

I have a pretty new laptop at home, and i will be getting a new Windows 7 Upgrade disc, after its released on the 22nd oct.
I was my intention (if this worked), to install it on my bootcamp partition on my macbook, instead of the Pc.

I had read thru the bootcamp notes, and it stated that you cannot use an upgrade disc to do this !!.

Is this the absolute truth with Macs, or can anyone advise me if they have ever used and upgrade disc, to install an operating system on your bootcamp partition, (without, ever having installed the full origonal full OS Disc) first

best regards

Tom

cwa107 · Oct 14, 2009

The upgrade editions will only upgrade an existing install of Windows XP or Vista. There is no way to do a true clean install, although I have seen guides (Vista-specific) that can help to workaround this. Unfortunately, the process is much more stringent for Boot Camp installs and will likely introduce a few hurdles to doing this kind of an end-run.

My advice? Pick up a $99 OEM version of 7 from NewEgg.com - it's $20 off if you buy it before the 20th, and you'll be good to go.

leopard-user1 · Oct 14, 2009

You beat me to it. I have never used (and probably will never use) Boot Camp. But I don't see why you can't just upgrade from an older Windows to Windows 7 inside that partition. But you can't install it from scratch.

However, I would like to know something. Will the Windows 7 RC still work after the full version comes out? I currently have it in a virtual machine (VirtualBox).

Attimus · Oct 14, 2009

I can tell you that the upgrade disc for win7 will only upgrade from vista

Check this link

cwa107 · Oct 14, 2009

leopard-user1 said:
You beat me to it. I have never used (and probably will never use) Boot Camp. But I don't see why you can't just upgrade from an older Windows to Windows 7 inside that partition. But you can't install it from scratch.

However, I would like to know something. Will the Windows 7 RC still work after the full version comes out? I currently have it in a virtual machine (VirtualBox).

Yes, that license is good until June.

vansmith · Oct 14, 2009

leopard-user1 said:
However, I would like to know something. Will the Windows 7 RC still work after the full version comes out? I currently have it in a virtual machine (VirtualBox).

As per this page: "Please plan ahead for when the RC expires. You'll get two weeks' notice, and then beginning on March 1, 2010, your PC will start shutting down every two hours. The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. To avoid interruption, you'll need to rebuild your test PC to replace the OS with a valid version of Windows, and reinstall all your programs and data before the software expires."

silvershadow68 · Oct 15, 2009

Attimus said:
I can tell you that the upgrade disc for win7 will only upgrade from vista

Check this link

Hi guys,
i am very aware about the "Official line " from Microsoft on this,
but as i said previously, they also said that you couldnt use an upgrade vista disc to perform a full install, but i have already done this using a
"upgrade only disc, by installing firstly without imputing the serial key,
then after the installation, then you insert the disc again, input the serial key this time, and upgrade to vista, this time "selecting Upgrade option", and this works perfectly.

This was using an official disc, and not a copy.

A suppose we can only hope this maybe still the case with Windows 7

harryb2448 · Oct 15, 2009

No we don't as that would be against the conditions of sale of the software.

Themuskr · Oct 16, 2009

Attimus said:
I can tell you that the upgrade disc for win7 will only upgrade from vista

Check this link

I upgraded from XP. you can you just have to choose the clean install option. it will see that you had windows xp on the partition beforehand and let you use the upgrade disk to install 7.

silvershadow68 · Oct 16, 2009

harryb2448 said:
No we don't as that would be against the conditions of sale of the software.

I didn't realize that the Microsoft policed these forums.

Whatever i choose to do with my copy of an official software release is my business. I am not advocating it, i was only stating it may or may not be available.

cwa107 · Oct 16, 2009

silvershadow68 said:
Whatever i choose to do with my copy of an official software release is my business.

Not really. When you purchase software, you are purchasing a license to use it - and that means for the specific terms under which it was sold. In this case, it's an upgrade for an existing OS.

Ever notice that End-User License Agreement that you agree to be bound to when you install the OS? That's what I'm referring to.

Not long ago, this forum leaned toward protecting the terms of EULAs, although since they remain untested in the courts, we have relaxed this policy. Even still, we do not endorse breaking EULAs and we prefer that people refrain from discussing the specifics of doing so.

Of course, our long-time members are more sensitive toward this issue since it was so heavily policed in the past.

silvershadow68 · Oct 16, 2009

cwa107 said:
Not really. When you purchase software, you are purchasing a license to use it - and that means for the specific terms under which it was sold. In this case, it's an upgrade for an existing OS.

Ever notice that End-User License Agreement that you agree to be bound to when you install the OS? That's what I'm referring to.

Not long ago, this forum leaned toward protecting the terms of EULAs, although since they remain untested in the courts, we have relaxed this policy. Even still, we do not endorse breaking EULAs and we prefer that people refrain from discussing the specifics of doing so.

Of course, our long-time members are more sensitive toward this issue since it was so heavily policed in the past.

Ok, no problems.
As i said, in no way am i advocating any member to break the law,
This is a personal choice, that i had made

best regards

chscag · Oct 16, 2009

To silvershadow68:

You may be jumping the gun a bit too soon. When Vista was first published it was a little known fact that the upgrade version of Home Premium could "upgrade" over itself. The column you pointed out and several others quickly became popular. And, since Microsoft themselves were fully aware of it and did nothing to thwart the procedure, that said a lot....

We do not yet know whether Win 7 will behave the same way. In any event, what hasn't been pointed out to you by anyone here is the reason an upgrade can't be used is because your Mac like all other current Macs do not employ a hardware ejection system for the SuperDrive. In other words, you have no way to remove your Win 7 upgrade DVD and pop in your Vista DVD to show that you are using a legal upgrade. After Windows is installed, the software ejection will once again work - it's during the installation process that it doesn't work.

I also purchased the Win 7 upgrade. However, I intend to install it over my XP installation. And yes, contrary to what you may have read or heard, you can upgrade over XP. However, what will happen is Win 7 will remove all XP data and do a clean install of itself - but, you will not have to "prove" you're using the upgrade legally since XP will be present when you run the Win 7 install program.

Hope this clears up some of the confusion.

Regards.

silvershadow68 · Oct 16, 2009

chscag said:
To silvershadow68:

You may be jumping the gun a bit too soon. When Vista was first published it was a little known fact that the upgrade version of Home Premium could "upgrade" over itself. The column you pointed out and several others quickly became popular. And, since Microsoft themselves were fully aware of it and did nothing to thwart the procedure, that said a lot....

We do not yet know whether Win 7 will behave the same way. In any event, what hasn't been pointed out to you by anyone here is the reason an upgrade can't be used is because your Mac like all other current Macs do not employ a hardware ejection system for the SuperDrive. In other words, you have no way to remove your Win 7 upgrade DVD and pop in your Vista DVD to show that you are using a legal upgrade. After Windows is installed, the software ejection will once again work - it's during the installation process that it doesn't work.

I also purchased the Win 7 upgrade. However, I intend to install it over my XP installation. And yes, contrary to what you may have read or heard, you can upgrade over XP. However, what will happen is Win 7 will remove all XP data and do a clean install of itself - but, you will not have to "prove" you're using the upgrade legally since XP will be present when you run the Win 7 install program.

Hope this clears up some of the confusion.

Regards.

Thank you,

that has cleared alot up

many many thanks

Calistoga · Oct 17, 2009

chscag said:
In any event, what hasn't been pointed out to you by anyone here is the reason an upgrade can't be used is because your Mac like all other current Macs do not employ a hardware ejection system for the SuperDrive. In other words, you have no way to remove your Win 7 upgrade DVD and pop in your Vista DVD to show that you are using a legal upgrade. After Windows is installed, the software ejection will once again work - it's during the installation process that it doesn't work.

I also purchased the Win 7 upgrade. However, I intend to install it over my XP installation. And yes, contrary to what you may have read or heard, you can upgrade over XP. However, what will happen is Win 7 will remove all XP data and do a clean install of itself - but, you will not have to "prove" you're using the upgrade legally since XP will be present when you run the Win 7 install program.

Hope this clears up some of the confusion.

I have also been listening to Windows Weekly with Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott. I have not listened to the latest podcast, but in all the previous ones they are not sure if you can do a clean install with the Windows 7 upgrade CD. Yesterday, I was thinking about canceling my order for the Windows 7 Professional upgrade. After reading your post, I changed my mind and will not cancel my order.

I'm still a little unclear on how you are going to install Windows 7 upgrade running Windows XP Pro in Apple's BC.

When you do the install can you write up some step by steps? A video would be cool, but I think I would be asking too much.

Thanks!

chscag · Oct 17, 2009

I have also been listening to Windows Weekly with Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott. I have not listened to the latest podcast, but in all the previous ones they are not sure if you can do a clean install with the Windows 7 upgrade CD. Yesterday, I was thinking about canceling my order for the Windows 7 Professional upgrade. After reading your post, I changed my mind and will not cancel my order.

I'm still a little unclear on how you are going to install Windows 7 upgrade running Windows XP Pro in Apple's BC.

When you do the install can you write up some step by steps? A video would be cool, but I think I would be asking too much.

Nice to know Leo is still around.

I sure miss their old TV show, it was one of my favorites!

As far as using the Win 7 upgrade DVD: One of two things I'll try:

1. Clean install first with the upgrade DVD. No activation. No specific settings.

2. Install it again over itself and hope that it "sees" itself as an eligible upgrade in the same manner as Vista Home Premium did. If it does, great. I'll activate it and do my settings.

If the above doesn't work......

1. Install my full copy of XP Home SP2.

2. While XP is running, insert Win 7 upgrade DVD and do an upgrade install.

I know this works because a good friend of mine who is a beta tester for MS and Apple says it works. The only problem here is that Win 7 will move all the XP files and data to a folder (Old Win or something like that) and install itself clean. But it will recognize the presence of XP and accept it as an eligible upgrade.

Either way, it should work. And, you are not violating the MS EULA as long as you do have a licensed copy of XP or Vista on hand and NOT installed on any other machine.

I'll keep the forum posted on how it went - sometime after October 22nd. Still have my regular work to do first.

Regards.

Calistoga · Oct 21, 2009

chscag said:
Nice to know Leo is still around. I sure miss their old TV show, it was one of my favorites!

As far as using the Win 7 upgrade DVD: One of two things I'll try:

1. Clean install first with the upgrade DVD. No activation. No specific settings.

2. Install it again over itself and hope that it "sees" itself as an eligible upgrade in the same manner as Vista Home Premium did. If it does, great. I'll activate it and do my settings.

chscag: I will be waiting with great interest. I like Plan A, but I realize that one should always have a Plan B.

Leo has partnered with a company called MediaFly, where you will be able to watch live video streams of his shows on the Roku Player, iPhone, Popcorn Player, PalmPre, and other platforms or devices.

Good luck with the Windows 7 upgrade.

Keep us posted.

mcharley94 · Oct 22, 2009

Maybe I am being obtuse here, and if so I apologies, but I sure would apreciate it if someone could enlighten me.

I am running a licensed version of Vista (32 bit) using boot camp on my MBP and now wish to upgrade to Windows 7 (64 bit), which I just purchased today.

Of course the upgrade being 64 bit will not run from within a 32 bit OS, which I assume leaves me with booting from the Upgrade installation disc. Now I could accomplish this blindfolded on an IBM compatible, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to do this on my MBP and can't seem to find the answer by doing a Google search, hence my resorting to ask for help here, and rather than create a new thread I felt this thread seemed to be an appropriate place to do so.

Any help would be appreciated.

TY

cwa107 · Oct 22, 2009

Turn the machine off, turn it back on again and immediately hold the Option key. Once you start seeing the list of bootable partitions, pop the disc in and it too should appear. Double-click on it and away you go.

mcharley94 · Oct 22, 2009

See, now I just learned something new, and falling just short of thinking to insert the disc AFTER the option to choose which OS I wanted to boot was on the screen this is exactly how I thought it would work. I instead just assumed that the MBP would recognize that there was a bootable disc in the DVD drive already. I would have never thought to insert it when needed

TY cwa107, Windows 7 is installing as we speak, and just to be safe, because I had just recently utilized boot camp having installed Vista not even a month ago and had not installed all that many other programs yet I decided to perform a complete reformat of the bootcamp drive and do a fresh install of the new OS. I sure hope that was a wise decision.....We shall see.

TY again, I was hoping that there was a simple resolution to my question ;D

Bootcamp with Windows 7 Upgrade disc only ?

silvershadow68

cwa107

leopard-user1

Attimus

cwa107

vansmith

Senior Member

silvershadow68

harryb2448

Themuskr

silvershadow68

cwa107

silvershadow68

chscag

Well-known member

silvershadow68

Calistoga

chscag

Well-known member

Calistoga

mcharley94

cwa107

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