Windows 7 - Windows XP to Windows 7 via Windows Vista

Asked By John Navas

29-Sep-09 07:43 PM

Since there is no In Place upgrade of Windows XP to Windows 7, I am
thinking of upgrading Windows XP to Windows Vista and then Windows Vista
to Windows 7, in part because Newegg has a good deal on Windows Vista
with a Windows 7 coupon:

Does anyone know for sure if this System Builders OEM product will
perform an In Place upgrade of Windows XP?  Or will it only do a Clean
Install?  Thanks.

--
Best regards,

29-Sep-09 08:09 PM

Ugh! Doing a double upgrade is not only extra work, but just looking
for trouble.




OEM versions do clean installations only, never upgrades.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

29-Sep-09 08:48 PM

An OEM DVD cannot be used to perform an upgrade of an earlier OS, as it
was specifically designed to be installed _only_ upon an empty hard drive.


--

Bruce Chambers

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29-Sep-09 11:53 PM

You will end up in a VERY dirty harddisk.
Just get Vista Full Install OEM.
Clean instll warrants better life in the future.
Both from Theoretical knowledge (mine)  and Practical problems (other people
whom I have read plenty over the years) upgrade is always dirtier and less
efficient than clean install.
People who converted for example FAT32 into NTFS many years ago when if you
remember we were going from Win95/98/NT/2000 to WinXP, were not doing the
right thing if it was done on an already heavily used/full harddisk.
You have todo these things on a new or slightly use machine, or do the clean
install.

Don';t go thru 100 upgrades.
Do a single full install.
Why is it difficult to get Win7 OEM full install?
ZipZoomFly or NewEgg are good sources of OEM.
ZipZoomFly sold me WinXP OEM full install Professional, years ago and what
was the qualifier?
I just bought a little $20 piece of memory and it was ENOUGH to qualify as
an OEM Builder.
You do not have to buy a whole new computer, all you need is any piece of
fundamental hardware, e.g. a harddisk, memory and such (not powersupply or
screws!).

But I am talking from a many years ago experience, MAYBE rules have changed?
Still there must be OEM vednors who do not enforce stiff OEM requirements
like "you have to spend $1000 before we give yoiu OEM Windows"

29-Sep-09 11:57 PM

OEM is a full/clran install.  it is never an upgrade, because if it were an
upgrade then how can you call it "OEM"??
Look, it defies common sense.

OEM means you assemble something from parts, it is virgin, its harddisk is
empty, here comes OEM Windows and fills it.
How can you upgrade an empty/new machine???
Unless you cheat and buy OEM for a used machine with already existing
Windows, but many OEM sellers dont care to stress you out checking whether
you qualify or not.
They will sell OEM.
If Microsoft understood this they'd probably generate more revenues, byt
cutting off nonsense with OEM/non-OEM distinction; because if I really need
new OS, I always get OEM even if I install it onto exiusting machine.
I just buy some cheap hardware in addition and tell seller, look guys I am
an OEM builder, I buy hardware along with Windows!

So get OEM Full Install and dont even think of double upgrade from XP via
Vista.  it will end up in problems.
Do only clean insatll

30-Sep-09 04:26 AM

Clean installs are generally better than upgrades; two upgrades sounds
very messy...

Buy a new hard drive and do a clean Win7 install onto it.

You can then always revert to the previous OS install without too much pain.

When happy with the new OS you can copy any needed data from the old
hard drive.

Guy

30-Sep-09 10:31 AM

Hi, John.

(Long time no see - or read.  But I have been cleaning out some old messages
from my archives and reread some from you that helped me solve a problem
about 10 years ago.  Thanks, again.  ;<)  )

I agree with the other posters that a double-upgrade - even if possible with
that NewEgg package - would be more trouble than it is worth.  I have done very
few upgrades, almost always clean installs (all the way from TRS-80 Level I
BASIC in 1977 to Win7 Ultimate x64).  I have heard that Win7 upgrades are
smoother than earlier transitions, but I still would skip the Vista step.

A year from now, you will have forgotten the money you saved with the
upgrade package, but you will remember the hassles.  It will take you -
what, a week? - to clean install Win7, then tweak the new OS and re-install
and re-tweak your apps.  But it might take a lot longer than a week to
smooth out the wrinkles from one upgrade, much less two.  And you will still
be carrying along the deadwood from WinXP.

Clean install!  Win7 is a whole new world from WinXP.  Don't fight it.
Enjoy!

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@grandecom.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

30-Sep-09 11:33 AM

You're welcome.  Thanks.  Nice to hear.


In Place upgrade is on the order of a couple of hours, four hours for
double upgrade, whereas Clean Install can literally take days to
complete and get right.

I have personally never had a serious problem with In Place upgrade of a
clean system (important caveat), and I can always blow it away with a
Clean Install if there are problems.

As for deadwood, even an In Place upgrade replaces all the OS files, and
disk space is dirt cheap, much less valuable than my time.

So while I respect the opinions expressed here, I am still leaning toward
at least trying a double upgrade, and since the least expensive way I have
found to get a Windows 7 Upgrade is to buy Windows Vista with a Windows
7 Upgrade coupon, I will probably go that route.

--
Best regards,

30-Sep-09 12:35 PM

I do not know if there is a difference in price in purchasing a Vista Upgrade
and getting the Win 7 upgrade for free when its released or in just waiting
and buying the Win 7 upgrade.
I actually think that doing in place upgrade from XP to Vista will at least
enable you to find out if there is any hardware on your system which does
not have operable Vista drivers since if you have some Vista driver issues
you will have the same driver issues with Win7.
Then when your Win7 upgrade comes you can make the choice of doing an
inplace Vista to Win7 upgrade or of doing a clean replacement upgrade from
Vista to Win 7.

30-Sep-09 05:15 PM

There is.


Sure, but I already know my system is Windows 7 capable.


Thanks for the suggestion.


--
Best regards,

30-Sep-09 05:34 PM

Hi, John.

I respect your experience and expertise - and it is your machine - so I will not
argue with you.  ;^}

But you keep saying IN PLACE upgrade, and I am not sure that is even an option
anymore.  I did a few in place upgrades in WinXP, but that was from WinXP to
WinXP.  Not from WinXP to Vista; that is an upgrade, but not an in place
upgrade.  The few times I tried an in place upgrade from Vista to Vista, I
hit a roadblock; it is NOT the same thing as a WinXP in place upgrade.

Since I have only one computer (with several hard drives divided into lots
of partitions), my experience is somewhat limited.  For example, I have not
even run WinXP in about 3 years, and have run Vista very little in the year
since I got the Win7 beta last October.  But my reading of the newsgroups
suggests that Bigguy and Curious may be on the right track:  Take the middle
road:  Just wait 3 weeks for the Win7 upgrade, then do a single upgrade from
WinXP to Win7.

Let us know what you finally choose - and how it works out for you.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@grandecom.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

30-Sep-09 05:54 PM

Here are the options:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/get/upgrade-your-pc-options.aspx
Note that In Place is available from XP to Vista as long as the versions
are compatible.


That would be a Clean Install, not actually an "upgrade".

--
Best regards,

30-Sep-09 07:05 PM

Yes an XP upgrade is a clean install but you do it on the partition
currently containing XP so that you satisfy the windows 7 Upgrade license
requirement of upgrading an existing XP system.  After the clean install you
will a folder on the system named Windows.Old that contains all of the files
from your XP system.  After you move any data files from the windows.old
folder to your Win7 system that you want then you delete the windows.old.
I have not seen any reports of users not being able to do inplace upgrades
from XP to Vista as long as the upgrade was to 32bit Vista.

01-Oct-09 05:51 AM

I installed Windows 7 64-bit on my secondary machine without a problem,
except for the webcam driver (Logictech Quickcam Express, I got free with
Verizon DSL once upon a time when I could get DSL).

I tried installing it on my main system from DVD, but it was no good.  It
did not recognize Intel RAID drives using ICH10R south bridge and lists
drives as individual drives rather than as a single volume.  I tried loading
the iaStor (Intel AHCI and RAID) drivers form setup, but it gives an error
it could not load the drivers.

It also does not load on Vista Setup booted from the DVD, either but Vista
Setup can detect (Intel) RAID volumes fine and has native support for
(Intel) AHCI, so loading the drivers is not a problem.  They can be installed
after Vista is finished installing.

I tried installing on a non-RAID drive but it stopped loading at a black
screen with  the version info in the lower right corner of the screen and
mouse cursor, which I could move.  Ctrl-Shift-Esc or Ctrl-Alt-Del did not
work.  I ended up installing on one of the drives that belong to a RAID
volume.  No RAID under Windows 7 and it works, but not the configuration I
wanted.  I redid the RAID volume, created two 465GB partitions and
reinstalled Windows VIsta (VI for 6) on the first partition and then
reinstalled all the drivers and then installed Windows 7 on a second
partition on the RAID volume from inside Vista.  This worked, had to use
Vista to work around Window 7 Setup not detecting RAID properly if you boot
up from the DVD and cannot load Intel SATA (AHCI, RAID) drivers.

Secondary machine also has RAID, but it uses a Nvidia chipset and I did not
run into any problems with it.


Primary System
Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit & Windows 7 RC
Intel Q9550 (Core 2 Quad, 2.83Ghz, overclocked to 3.4Ghz recently)
Gigabyte EP45-UD3LR (Intel P45 chipset, ICH10R south-bridge)
G.Skill 4GB (2GB x 2) 1066Mhz DDR2 SDRAM
Zotac Geforce GTX 295 (V2, single board)
Western Digital Caviar Green - WD10EADS - 1TB
Western Digital Caviar Green  -WD5000AADS  - 500GB x 3 - RAID 0 (2 drives
striped, 1 drive spare)
Plan to upgrade this to RAID 5 eventually, but need to do some prep work,
total will be 1.5TB minus overhead.
Gigabyte i-RAM 4GB RAMdisk

Secondary System
Windows 7 RC
AMD Athlon x2 4600+
Eitegroup Geforce6100SM-M
4GB (2GB x 2) 800Mhz DDR2
EVGA Geforce GTX 260
Western Digital Caviar Green - 80GB
Western Digital Caviar Green - 160GB x 2 (320 GB, RAID 0 - striped)

If they worked out the problem with RAID drives in setup then you do not need
VIsta to install Windows VII.

01-Oct-09 10:56 AM

I would think the original media should be enough, and that you could
install to a different partition if desired (dual boot).


For a Clean Install, I prefer to install to a new partition.


The issue is whether or not the OEM System Builders version will to an
In Place upgrade.

--
Best regards,

01-Oct-09 12:04 PM

No,  You can no longer do it that way and create a dual boot system.  You
have to do a replacement upgrade from XP to Win7 to prove that you are in
fact upgrading/replacing a previous version when using an upgrade license.
I have no idea if when using an OEM system builders edition of Win7 if you
can do an in place upgrade from Vista to Win7.  I certainly do not think you
can do an in place upgrade with it from XP since you can do that with a full
retail version.
I never consider purchasing an OEM system builder due to the restrictions
with the product and I would not be surprised  if a retail upgrade version
is not cheaper then a full install OEM system builder version.

01-Oct-09 12:56 PM

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade - Retail
$200: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116714

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 32-bit 1PK DSP OEI DVD English - OEM
Pre-Order special, offer ends 10/20
$135: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116756

I consider than a worthwhile saving.  YMMV.  ;)

--
Best regards,

02-Oct-09 12:22 AM

That version of Vista cannot perform an upgrade.  OEM disks are designed for
persons building computers for sale, not for users to upgrade their own
computers.