Upgrade to Windows 7 with a Clean Install

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2009/10/23/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-the-answer.aspx' target='_blank'>http://community.winsupersite.com/b...the-answer.aspx</a><br /><br /></div><p>"I was so hoping to have better news to share, but with all the conflicting reports and my own troubles testing this while on the road, it's been a messy 24 hours. However, after staying up late last night and working through a few different scenarios, I think I do have a (fairly) simple way to clean install Windows 7 with Upgrade media."</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//dht/auto/1256339133.usr20447.png" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>So you bought Microsoft's pledge and decided that Windows 7 is the answer to all your life's problems.&nbsp; Paul Thurrott of the SuperSite for Windows has a treat for you.&nbsp; After much work, he has found a way to use the Windows 7 upgrade media to make a clean install.&nbsp; Traditionally, upgrade media requires that you have an existing copy of Windows on your computer, however, upgrades do not always go smoothly.&nbsp; While Microsoft has improved on this process, lots of techies recommend clean installs, meaning you install the OS on an empty hard drive.&nbsp; With Thurrott's tip, you can now do an "upgrade" without fear!&nbsp; The only suggestion I can make beyond this is that you keep in mind that this is probably not an officially supported method of upgrading your PC, so have that geek friend on speed dial if you want to try this.</p>

[Bob12]

I bought the family pack of Windows 7 and one of the computers I was upgrading had Vista Ultimate on it. Certainly not a "blank HD, unused PC", but the upgrade disk forced a custom install since I was going from Ultimate to Home Premium. It worked without a hitch. Of course, I have to reinstall all my software since the install of 7 did wipe the hard drive, but all my datafiles were on a second hard drive which wasn't touched, so reinstalling the programs shouldn't be that much of an issue.

[Hooch Tan]

I'm glad to hear your "upgrade" worked! For those of you who are not sure about whether you can do a simple upgrade or will need a clean install, Microsoft has published an upgrade chart.

http://lifehacker.com/5331764/microsoft-releases-windows-7-upgrade-chart

In general, if you're upgrading to the same "version" of Windows 7 that you had with Vista, or upgrading to Windows 7 Ultimate, you're in luck. However, any other type, like changing from 32 to 64-bit, or are coming from Windows XP, you'll need to do a custom install.