moving from vista on hdd to w7onssd help please

G-Dubs · 9 Jan 2011 at 17:19

The current os is vista retail on a samsung hdd. I've bought w7 upgrade version and a ssd and want to install it on that, using the old hdd as a backup drive. what is the best way to go about this, bearing in mind activations etc.

Is the w7 upgrade version a full copy of w7 that merely requires that you have a vista liscence key? in other words can i install the 7 onto the ssd and then delete the vista off the hdd? or do I need to de-install the vista first? (if I have to do this then the w7 upgrade needs to be a full version as there will be nothing installed to upgrade from will there?)

HamZilla · 9 Jan 2011 at 21:30

G-Dubs said:
Is the w7 upgrade version a full copy of w7 that merely requires that you have a vista liscence key?

Yes its a full copy of Windows 7.

G-Dubs said:
in other words can i install the 7 onto the ssd and then delete the vista off the hdd?

Yes you can install Win 7 onto the ssd and then delete Vista on the hdd.

G-Dubs said:
or do I need to de-install the vista first?

No, you don't need to de-install Vista first, although I think you will have a Dual Boot setup (able to choose whether to boot into Win 7 or Vista each time your PC boots) until you remove Vista

freddie64 · 9 Jan 2011 at 22:03

What i would do is

Backup data from vista drive.

Connect your SSD and unplug your vista drive (and any other hard drive).

Clean install of w7 on SSD (but do not enter your code yet). Once complete, install again, but select upgrade and enter your code.

Connect your vista drive and format it.

G-Dubs · 11 Jan 2011 at 11:57

freddie64 said:
What i would do is

Clean install of w7 on SSD (but do not enter your code yet). Once complete, install again, but select upgrade and enter your code.

.

Why this bit? Why not just install and enter code?

SiriusB · 11 Jan 2011 at 12:45

The Upgrade versions check for a previous OS. So you trick it by installing Windows 7 with no key [so it's in trial mode]. Then you "upgrade" it, this time using the key. This is how MS recommends you do it as they are aware not everyone keeps their install media from previous OS.

There is also a registry tweak you can use to avoid the second install - LOADS of info on the web.