Students = Cheap windows 7

dovey · 22 Oct 2009 at 11:57

I might have to download one of the upgrade disks if they appear seen as my pc has bricked itself after the install.

How does the custom install work exactly? As far as I can see if you have a 32 bit os then you are screwed as there is no option to create an .iso image to burn it to a dvd. I'm left with 3gb of uselessness!

cactusweasel · 22 Oct 2009 at 11:57

I ordered the student version as well, what a ball ache this is turning out to be - although i've read that windows 7 has a build in image backup/restore feature, so you could always create a recovery image of a fresh install and use that instead when you need to start clean, instead of having to muck around with installing your previous os then upgrading.

Another question to through into the mix, does anyone know if an upgrade 64 bit key will work on a 32 bit upgrade instead? My vista ultimate oem key did it fine so i'm kinda hoping it will.

stoofa · 22 Oct 2009 at 11:58

Fat Dog said:
Bugger. OK, now we have to find a workaround. What someone needs to do now is install W7 Pro/HP (whichever student edition you bought), don't activate, then run this downloaded .exe file and see what happens.

If I can get the ****** thing downloaded I can try it here at work.
Just can't get the download manager downloaded, so can't get the files from Digital River

jaybee · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:00

ghost101 said:
Does the "full" media include upgrade versions?

Upgrade discs for Vista were full media discs but the serial key was just for upgrades and would not work for any other type of install.

A workaround for this was that you could upgrade an unactivated version of Vista. So what people did was, use the upgrade disc media (full) to install an unactivated version of Vista and then upgrade that using the disc and then activate. This would work fine since you were activating an upgrade.

This is exactly what I did for current install, as this is the closest to a clean install you could get on Vista.

Install Trial Vista Home Premium -> upgrade this to Vista Home Premium -> then use serial key to activate.

However for Windows 7, clean installs can actually be done from upgrade media. So I doubt the retail/upgrade discs will be identical like they were for Vista. So the question is whether, you can upgrade using retail discs.

Hey matey, can you explain that again slowly as I'm finding it hard to understand that.... probably me being dumb!

I want to get it though and I think I'm nearly there...

smilingcrow · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:00

cactusweasel said:
Another question to through into the mix, does anyone know if an upgrade 64 bit key will work on a 32 bit upgrade instead? My vista ultimate oem key did it fine so i'm kinda hoping it will.

Both versions use the same key probably because it makes it easy for MS to stop people from using both simultaneously.

jaybee · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:00

dovey said:
I might have to download one of the upgrade disks if they appear seen as my pc has bricked itself after the install.

How does the custom install work exactly? As far as I can see if you have a 32 bit os then you are screwed as there is no option to create an .iso image to burn it to a dvd. I'm left with 3gb of uselessness!

See post above from me as to how to make ISO image from those files.

Big red · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:01

iv tried the retail disc with my wifes student key and it refuses to accept it

jaybee · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:03

ghost101 said:
Try upgrading your current installation of 7 Pro. When you are installing with actual media, there should be an option saying update/upgrade.

Then try key.

Fat Dog said:
Bugger. OK, now we have to find a workaround. What someone needs to do now is install W7 Pro/HP (whichever student edition you bought), don't activate, then run this downloaded .exe file and see what happens.

Argh!!! I'm confused lol

Why would you do the above?

Indy500 · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:06

Ah, gotta love MSDNAA. 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 Professional for free

Big red · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:07

tried again and the student key wont work with the retail software on fresh h drive , i will have to load from original h drive and the transfer to bigger h/drive

Fat Dog · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:08

Big red said:
iv tried the retail disc with my wifes student key and it refuses to accept it

Yes this was confirmed by stoofa earlier. The question now is can you upgrade a non activated version (either by physical media or this .exe file) successfully?

jaybee · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:10

Fat Dog said:
Yes this was confirmed by stoofa earlier. The question now is can you upgrade a non activated version (either by physical media or this .exe file) successfully?

Non activated version of what OS? And why would that be any more likely to work? (I'm not having a go, I'm just interested and confused)

boosfuk · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:12

Fat Dog said:
Bugger. OK, now we have to find a workaround. What someone needs to do now is install W7 Pro/HP (whichever student edition you bought), don't activate, then run this downloaded .exe file and see what happens.

Just tested this and it works fine, just like it did in Vista. You can do a custom install over an unactivated previous install that had no key entered. Obviously this breaks the EULA if you have no previous Windows license to upgrade from.

Fat Dog · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:15

jaybee said:
Non activated version of what OS? And why would that be any more likely to work? (I'm not having a go, I'm just interested and confused)

Non activated version of the OS you are trying to install... The standard workaround for installing an upgrade key of Vista was to install without activating first, then upgrade the installed, non activated version. The big question is does this still work with W7?

Fat Dog · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:16

boosfuk said:
Just tested this and it works fine, just like it did in Vista. You can do a custom install over an unactivated previous install that had no key entered. Obviously this breaks the EULA if you have no previous Windows license to upgrade from.

RESULT! Cheers mate.

stoofa · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:17

OK - I'm trying the following now:

Fresh install of 7 Pro from Retail Disk - did not enter a key.
Using Retail 7 disk I'm now performing an upgrade over the top of the fresh install and will see if it then allows me to use the Student/Upgrade Key.

Fat Dog · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:20

stoofa said:
OK - I'm trying the following now:

Fresh install of 7 Pro from Retail Disk - did not enter a key.
Using Retail 7 disk I'm now performing an upgrade over the top of the fresh install and will see if it then allows me to use the Student/Upgrade Key.

Almost guaranteed to work I'd say, given the above info.

titaniumx3 · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:23

So theres no way to go from XP 32bit to Win7 Pro 64bit? You can't even run the exe file this download comes with?

On the microsoft website it says in order to go from 32bit to 64bit, you have to custom install. If you can't even run the exe file, how would you do this?

Fat Dog · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:29

titaniumx3 said:
So theres no way to go from XP 32bit to Win7 Pro 64bit? You can't even run the exe file this download comes with?

On the microsoft website it says in order to go from 32bit to 64bit, you have to custom install. If you can't even run the exe file, how would you do this?

It's really easy mate. Forget running this .exe file. Download via torrent an Ultimate version, check it is legit (e.g. check its MD5), remove the ei.cfg file, and burn the image. You now have a retail, all versions, Windows 7 install disk. Install your version BUT DO NOT ACTIVATE. Upgrade the non activated OS you have just installed and use the supplied student key. Job done.

kidkhaos · 22 Oct 2009 at 12:37

just one question is the upgrade student version motherboard locked like the oem used to be?