Windows 7 For a Student?

hikikomori · 9 Jan 2011 at 22:04

About to build a new PC and looking for a 64Bit Windows 7. I'm confused because, as a student (with supposed discount), two things are apparent:

1. It isn't very cheap. We knew that anyway but £100+ for a student? WTF.

and,

2. All I can find are upgrade packages.

Will the latter work? I mean, I'm not installing 'from' anything, so does that make the installation process null and void?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Help appreciated!

Semple · 9 Jan 2011 at 22:08

Unless you have vista to upgrade from then you'll need the full installation.

I think home premium is cheapest you can get... http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-124-MS

and FYI student discount only works in certain places.

tom_e · 9 Jan 2011 at 22:21

Are you studying a computer based subject if so you may have access to MSDN:AA through your uni which will give you Win 7

Alpherah · 9 Jan 2011 at 22:22

./me hugs his "release" student offer of having to pay £30 for the full retail version!

UberTiger · 9 Jan 2011 at 22:47

www.theultimatesteal.co.uk is the site you want.

It currently redirects you to here

Don't worry, it is official and MS, but they use digital river as the distribution service for this deal.

Hmm...looks like they've put the prices up. I know they had Win 7 on it for a while less than that. Can't remember what the exact price was, I'm sure office was about £5-£10 cheaper last time I looked too.

They do fluctuate the price so if you can borrow a disk off a mate just install it on a trial basis and use the re-arm technique to use it for up to 3 months for free (google it). Then when it gets cheap again you can pick it up. Or just go ahead and get Pro Upgrade for £71 now through the Ultimate steal.

Hope that helps.

hikikomori · 10 Jan 2011 at 00:15

Cheers. I'll have a look into the re-arming thing, too.

The cheapest Windows 7 I can find are upgrade versions. Does that mean they can't be installed onto custom PC's without operating systems?

haz_pro · 10 Jan 2011 at 00:22

hikikomori said:
Cheers. I'll have a look into the re-arming thing, too.

The cheapest Windows 7 I can find are upgrade versions. Does that mean they can't be installed onto custom PC's without operating systems?

It should be okay, my friend installed a upgrade pro windows 7 he got from msdnaa for free on his brand new pc with no OS.

hikikomori · 10 Jan 2011 at 00:40

oh ****, really? a friend of mine told me that earlier but i wasn't sure. did your friend build from scratch?

Calneon · 10 Jan 2011 at 00:49

I bought upgrade versions of 7 for my PC (I had Vista), my sister's PC (no other OS), and my sister's laptop (came with Vista). All worked fine and did a fresh install of each one, didn't need to provide the Vista key code at all or anything. I'd just say go with the upgrade one for £38.

"andy" · 10 Jan 2011 at 01:14

i got ultimate for free from uni and am not on a computer based subject. no one really told us about this so it may be worth checking with your uni

ferret face · 11 Jan 2011 at 14:22

I'm looking for this too and its listed as £70.99 as an upgrade only on that site you have linked.

Does anyone know where to get it cheaper??

Cheers

GrantJ · 11 Jan 2011 at 15:15

You can use the upgrade disk to do a clean install on a brand new HDD. You need to do a double install with the same disk. A bit messy.. but workable. (google for details).

I did it with the Win 7 Pro x64 upgrade disk last Sunday and it works perfectly fine (activated properly too).

T0M0 · 11 Jan 2011 at 18:21

I got Windows 7 free from MSDNAA. They have all the Windows OS's on there, all in 32 and 64 bit versions.

You have to be studying a form of computer related course though.

robinbredin · 11 Jan 2011 at 19:29

ferret face
I'm looking for this too and its listed as £70.99 as an upgrade only on that site you have linked.

Does anyone know where to get it cheaper??

Cheers

There are software company's out there who deal with "Software for Students".

ferret face · 12 Jan 2011 at 08:53

Thanks robinredin, thats most helpful!

Casdawer · 12 Jan 2011 at 11:42

cmndr_andi · 12 Jan 2011 at 12:06

Upgrade windows 7 works fine as a fresh install (it has to, as its not possible to do an "in place upgrade" from XP) - however if you use an upgrade license and you aren't actually upgrading from something (ie you're not upgrading from XP or Vista) then you are using it outside it's licensing - which isn't cricket.

If you have a retail copy of vista or XP that you are no longer using - then that should legally fine to use with a Win 7 upgrade version, as the retail licensing means it can be installed on any PC you own, so long as only one PC has it installed at a time. In contrast, OEM versions of windows are tied to the motherboard they are first installed on - hence if you want to use an upgrade copy of windows 7 and you only have OEM copies of windows - then legally you can only install win 7 upgrade on these machines.

.Ox. · 12 Jan 2011 at 12:34

tom_e said:
Are you studying a computer based subject if so you may have access to MSDN:AA through your uni which will give you Win 7

Taken full advantage of this.

Guess i should download everything and store it next year as it will be my final year.