So as long as I use the disk partitioner on the Windows 7 Upgrade cd (vs using a 3rd party application), I should be able to clean install over my Windows 7 Professional that I previously updated from RC1? Originally I tried just doing a clean install of W7 but this wouldn't work because I have the upgrade version and not the full version (and didn't have XP or Vista installed). I just want to make sure this will work before I take the time to do it.
Hi. I'm running Windows 7 Pro 64bit which I bought through the student deal which means it is an upgrade.
So of course I did a clean Install! As a result, the product key wasn't accepted by Microsoft.
So I called Microsoft Support and after 30min of trying to understand each other, the technician had me go through the following steps. This validates your W7 upgrade key after a clean install.
To start off, click on Start and search "regedit". Run it as admin (right click - run as administrator) and follow these steps:
expand - HKEY_Local_MACHINE
expand - SOFTWARE
expand - Microsoft
expand - Windows
expand - CurrentVersion
expand - Setup
Click on: OOBE
Double click on: MediaBootInstall
Enter "0" as Value Data, check the base is haxadecimal and click "OK"
Then open the cmd-prompt - click on start and type "cmd" in search and run as admin (right click - run as administrator)
Type the following: Note there is a space before "slmgr" and another before "-rearm"
cscript.exe slmgr.vbs -rearm
Once the command is entered, press "ENTER", restart the computer and activate your valid key (Start - right click on computer - Properties).
Worked for me.