Windows 7 Here it is folks...

Radenight

New Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Messages
4,504
Hey all!

Well after much arguing and frustration here is the guide on how to perform a Clean (or "custom" as Microsoft calls it) Install using the Upgrade Media with Windows 7. Enjoy!

Paul Thurrott is the one to thank for this:

Link Removed due to 404 Error
 
Agreed Drew! Sticky it is.. Yeah, he has two seperate guides, this one and the one specifically for Vista..
 
He is suggesting workarounds but fails to mention the easiest one. Apparently he doesn't want to be contacted, he doesn't provide his email address.

I doubt they will make this sticky since they gave me two infractions for posting information about these workarounds.

Link Removed
 
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There's a huge difference between workarounds that are programmed into Windows by Microsoft and workarounds that are just flat out hacks..

This "trick" is common knowledge for the most part.. All I'm doing here is posting knowledge that is already available in various other locations. This just means less time searching for those interested..
 

That's all I did. But you can see those infractions by my name for "posting knowledge that is already available"

Exact same end results: A clean / custom install was activated with an upgrade key.
 
tblount said:
Exact same end results: A clean / custom install was activated with an upgrade key.
Click to expand...

Those aren't the end results though my friend.. You are not using the Upgrade Key to activate a Clean Install.. To have this trick work with Windows Vista (for example) you had to install twice. The second install was in fact an Upgrade install. Which is the one you would activate using your Upgrade key. So you see, you aren't actually activating the clean install..

If you did use an Upgrade key to activate a Clean Install then a hack was used at some point in time.. Otherwise, an Upgrade key would NOT activate a Clean Install.. It just doesn't work that way through 'normal' methods..
 


Question: What do you think they are describing in the document?

Answer: How to ACTIVATE a clean install WITH and UPGADE key.

The title says that: Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media

First paragraph says: Sadly, Microsoft is still making it difficult to clean install Windows 7 with Upgrade media... But fear not, there is some good news.

BOTH method #2 and method #3 are NOT NEEDED at all if you have a full version key. They are ONLY needed to "workaround" and FORCE/TRICK/HACK windows 7 to activate with an UPGRADE key.
 
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Calm down.. This isn't going to turn into another ridiculous pointless argument thread.. The guide is posted for those who are interested. End of discussion.
 
Thanks for that Radenight,. I;ve been saying that all along.

Now I feel better.

tblount,. time for a valium
 
Off topic Radenight, but your avatar is the Pink Floyd album.

I;'m listening to Meddle,. the long version on a great program called Radio Get.

See how old i am
 
Post install cleanup.

Hi Radenight
Good one,too many superegos floating arround.
Followed all the pre release hysteria and was extemely thankfull for your pointers to Paul Thurrott's site,a magnificent workaround (call it what you will) but it works, and works well. Have now installed on two machines by fitting a new highspeed hard drive, clean format and used pauls method with upgrade media, both ran flawlessly. Have since used BCD to rewrite the MBR to boot to Win7
Question........what is the prefered/optimal way to remove all the old operating system files, Disk Cleanup will only remove or see one OS?

Keep up the good work.Link Removed
regards
John M
(I started with both machines having Vista as the prime OS with Win7 RC 7100 loaded for evaluation)
 
Hi Reghakr
thanks for that , will have a look and try it out.
John M
 
Hi reghakr
Downloaded GParted but cannot isolate the area containing the Windows .old files when booting into GParted. Maybe I am barking up the wrong tree, only need to delete all the old OS.
Would appreciate your input.
Regards
John M
Edit.......On the primary drive (C:\) there is a partition of some 32gig from memory, listed as unallocated, not sure why it is there, any ideas?
Although this is a laptop, it came with a full OS on a DVD, so this does not appear to be a recovery partition.
 
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Hi Drew
I take it you mean delete the file from within Windows Explorer?
Regards
John M
 
Yes John, but as Drew stated you have to be in Safe Mode

Hit the F8 key on startup, that will get you in.
 
If all the above doesn't work see the info in post #26 of this thread

link Link Removed

It explains how to use a Linux live CD to delete files Windows won't let you delete from within windows.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys, will have a look at all the options.
I downloaded the Linux SystemRescueCD from here, SystemRescueCd and booted into that and found it has a section used purely for file manipulation ala Windows Explorer, all a major learning curve for me.
Thanks again for all the help.

Regards
John M
 
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