Please help! Replace dodgy windows 7 with vista with a view to upgrading to 7 again!

claypigeon101 · 17 Aug 2010 at 23:10

Hey guys, posted messages earlier in the Hardware section but I've bought a second hand computer with Vista Enterprise 64 bit on it and i want to reset this, the guy before me installed it from a mass license with work so ive got no hope of getting the disc.

I have what i think is an OEM version of Vista on a disc that came with an off the shelf PC from Aldi, if i install this and wipe 7 off my new machine completely can i then buy the student upgrade to 7 professional and it will all be hunky dory?

Will i have any problems with that? still using my vista PC that the CD came with, have the product key on the back of the case.

will it work?
thanks

claypigeon101 · 18 Aug 2010 at 16:27

OK guys just to put everything straight, the up-to-date truth is that Eric Ligman from Microsoft posted this statement to clarify this issue.

'If you've owned a computer or laptop since 2001 that had a genuine version of XP (or Vista), then you are legally entitled to buy the Windows 7 upgrade and use this workaround method for activation on a blank hard drive.'

So OEM or not, if you have owned XP or Vista at all that wasn't pirated, cracked, anything else illegal, you are A-OK to have Windows 7 Upgrade.

I'm going to format my drives and clean install Windows 7 Upgrade, and do one of the workarounds, probably the Registry one.

Any thoughts?

claypigeon101 · 18 Aug 2010 at 17:54

Ok,
well all i know is

'If you've owned a computer or laptop since 2001 that had a genuine version of XP (or Vista), then you are legally entitled to buy the Windows 7 upgrade and use this workaround method for activation on a blank hard drive.'

is a direct quote from the microsoft man, he doesnt specify which versions are genuine, he just says 'genuine'.

if he is the layman's translation of the microsoft copyright rules and therefore applicable laws, then that statement is good enough for me.

claypigeon101 · 18 Aug 2010 at 18:14

Yeah fair enough, well I am not sure exactly what I'm going to do anyway, will more than likely give it a try.

claypigeon101 · 18 Aug 2010 at 23:26

K guys everyone needs to chill, seriously,

I'm not murdering someone here I merely said I'd prefer to do what thousands of other people have done and cheat it if I can to save myself some cash.

If you want to make it 100% legit then you do that but I am not going to lose any sleep if my upgrade cheat works and the computer tells itself its fine. So kindly bog off and stop preaching to me in such a selfrighteous way, i havent been arsey at all about any of this im just asking questions. I havent even done anything to it anyway. Im sure none of you are perfect.

To be honest, buying any version of the atrocious Operating System some years back called WINDOWS VISTA should mean that Microsoft GIVE YOU a copy of windows 7 as a way of saying sorry that vista was so bloody terrible. Who's with me on that??!

claypigeon101 · 18 Aug 2010 at 23:30

Camarilla said:
Considering my initial post has done the opposite of help, as I mistakenly thought the PC's current Vista license was a legit OEM one, hopefully this one will go some way to making it better. This is a post by the same Microsoft employee, going into more detail regarding this, and these are some pertinent points:

Again, sorry for my previous post, I was wrong and hopefully this one has been more helpful.

yeah that is clearer now, these guys accusing me of DISTORTING the words of a Microsoft employee is BS i am simply taking exactly what he stated and applying it to my situation, not presuming anything more or less, so chill darn it.

The key word is QUALIFYING software license

i know now that an OEM version is NOT a qualifying version, but the guy didnt say that before.

anyway thanks for all your advice, im going to do what i want.

claypigeon101 · 18 Aug 2010 at 23:46

kylew said:
Wow, all this arguing. If microsoft willingly let people activate OEM copies of windows on a second PC, then there you have it, you can't complain. It really doesn't matter.

cheers mate. haha look you can do whatever you want on your computer,
im not going to tell you you should cheat the upgrade because i personally think that MS gets too much money in this country, because you can do what you want.

just dont tell me that i am wrong and bad for doing things that thousands of people do and MS are well aware of it.

loves

claypigeon101 · 19 Aug 2010 at 00:03

Hey FoxEye, when looking at buying the new student upgrade versions of 7 on the student software sites it says they have been altered by MS so you cant cheat them any more, when did you buy your student copy was it within the past couple of months? cos otherwise they might have changed it so you actually cant cheat them and i will not be happy.

claypigeon101 · 19 Aug 2010 at 00:09

kylew said:
Windows 7 is basically Windows Vista with a new suit on. Vista was never that bad, it was just installed on PCs that barely handled Windows XP, so it got the repuation of being slow and bloated when it actually wasn't. The only reason 7 looks so much better is because the baseline of minimum PC specs has gone up a lot in the time between Vista's and 7's releases.

nah vista was awful. it constantly crashed out of the box on several of mine and my friends' PCs, OEM or otherwise

claypigeon101 · 19 Aug 2010 at 00:19

so does this mean my dream is ruined

i actually cant clean install from the upgrade windows 7,

and furthermore i cant actually put my OEM vista onto my new blank machine because the actual license key wont let me upgrade?

claypigeon101 · 24 Aug 2010 at 18:02

Wow, loads of excellent posts on this since I last checked hehe,
I respect and understand exactly where all you 'pay for it' guys are coming from, and the same to the 'get away with it if you can' guys, but i have to say solely because of my monetary situation I am still the latter.

I have one question for you, i need to know, with regards to my installing this OEM version of Vista on a second PC whilst the first one is still running, if they both run at the same time and connect to the net and update etc does anything happen? or do both PCs with the same OEM OS run just fine, without a hint as to them running off the same product key?
And also, if i do cheat and install this OEM Vista on my second PC, will I be able to use the windows 7 upgrade version? Do upgrades install ok on OEM versions, and could it 'know' that the OEM has been used on 2 different PCs?
Putting the whole legality and copyright stuff aside, do you know if it will technically work or not?

My friend works in a PC factory of some sort so he is looking into getting me 64bit 7 Pro full retail version for a bit of discount, if he can i will go for that, im sure that will please you 'pay for it guys'

understandably.
Cheers

claypigeon101 · 24 Aug 2010 at 18:08

nkata said:
My first OS was MSDos 5, I bought windows 3.1, I bought windows 95 OEM, I upgraded to windows 98SE, I bought windows XP Professional full retail, I have now bought Windows 7 ultimate full retail. This is over 20 years, spread over that time, it is not a huge amount of money.

andy

You are absolutely right mate, I completely agree, however I simply don't have £120 or £160 or whatever it is for the retail version.

I am doing my motorcycle theory test and then the cost of practical on top, then fixing up my other bikes in the garden atm to sell and buy a new one to replace those 3, playing gigs and music teaching covers it for now but forking out all that cash for an OS is at the bottom of my to do list.