Windows 7 upgrade edition related questions

[win7q]

Hello,

I am currently using Windows XP Media Center Edition on my desktop PC which came pre-installed from the vendor. I dont have any license/serial number for this OS. The PC came with a recovery partition on the hard disk from which I can boot and reinstall Windows XP Media Center Edition, if necessary. I have now ordered Windows 7 Professional Upgrade.

1. Will the Windows 7 Pro Upgrade version get installed/activated properly, given that I dont have the XP license/serial number? (Clarification: I dont need to preserve any existing data/programs. I can wipe out the hard disk completely.)

2. Assuming the install/activation is possible if I start it from within XP, I am planning to upgrade my motherboard/processor/RAM sometime in the next few months. After this upgrade, I am guessing I would likely have to reinstall Windows 7 directly booting from the install-disk. Will the install/activation work now, if I dont have the license/serial number for XP?

Any alternate suggestions on doing the Windows 7 upgrade and the upcoming motherboard/processor upgrade with only a pre-installed XP with no serial number, would be greatly appreciated! Would it, for example, help in any way to do the motherboard/cpu upgrade before the windows 7 upgrade? Not sure how I would install XP first given that I may not be able to boot into the recovery partition after the motherboard upgrade.

If this is not going to work, I am going to have to cancel my Windows 7 Upgrade pre-order ASAP!

 

[13Gigatons]

The upgrade media can only be used from inside an already installed OS. It's not bootable with a bare drive.

Getting a new mobo/cpu it would probably be better to get the OEM version sold at newegg for the new machine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16832116758

 

[Trashman]

you can download a program such as majic jelly bean to find out your product key for XP.

 

[RebateMonger]

All Windows XP MCE software is OEM-only. That means that the EULA (license) that was agreed to the first time the PC was booted prohibits its transfer to a new PC. Under Microsoft's licensing rules, an upgraded motherboard means a new PC.

Technically, Microsoft "Upgrade" software requires a valid existing Windows license for the PC where the upgrade is done. So, from a licensing point of view, use of the Upgrade software under the circumstances you describe wouldn't meet Microsoft's licensing requirements.

I'm not saying that it's impossible to do. I'm saying that it wouldn't be in compliance with MS' licensing requirements.

 

[13Gigatons]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
All Windows XP MCE software is OEM-only. That means that the EULA (license) that was agreed to the first time the PC was booted prohibits its transfer to a new PC. Under Microsoft's licensing rules, an upgraded motherboard means a new PC.

Technically, Microsoft "Upgrade" software requires a valid existing Windows license for the PC where the upgrade is done. So, from a licensing point of view, use of the Upgrade software under the circumstances you describe wouldn't meet Microsoft's licensing requirements.

I'm not saying that it's impossible to do. I'm saying that it wouldn't be in compliance with MS' licensing requirements.

Haha...I'm sure everybody is so worried about staying complinent with Microsoft's EULA.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: 13Gigatons
Haha...I'm sure everybody is so worried about staying complinent with Microsoft's EULA.

It depends on who you are talking to. If it's in an office that gets audited, it'd likely be bad news.

 

[13Gigatons]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: 13Gigatons
Haha...I'm sure everybody is so worried about staying complinent with Microsoft's EULA.

It depends on who you are talking to. If it's in an office that gets audited, it'd likely be bad news.

That doesn't sound like the OP.

 

[Swampster]

Nobody has asked, so I will . . .

What kind of a commercially built system do you have that doesn't have a Product Key sticker somewhere on its exterior?

If you use Magic Jellybean to find the current Product Key for a factory installed operating system, you will likely find that it is not the same as the one on the outside of the case (usually).

In any case, you don't need to know what the XP Media Center key is anyway . . . it just needs to be currently installed and legally activated to qualify for an upgrade.

If, for example, you were to use a Dell XP Media CD to install the operating system on a HP computer, it would install just fine and not ask for a Product Key (meaning that the Dell OS would generate it as part of the install process), but when you went to activate it you would find that it came back as an unrecognized Key.

If you went to the section of the activation utility where you can enter a different Key and used the one from the sticker on the HP computer, everything would be accepted.

But . . . all that still begs the same question . . . what happened to the sticker that is supposed to be on the exterior of the case? If you bought it from a small local shop that assembles their own, go back to them and demand they give you one. If it is from a national manufacturer, then go to them with your problem and they should be able to resolve it for you.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I would do the upgrade on the existing hardware.

I've read posted here a theory that Win7's activation process, after upgrading from an existing OS, the MS server store that info about the upgrade license, so thereafter, if you need to, you can re-install Win7 onto a bare drive, and then when you put in your product key and activate, it pulls up the info about the original upgrade process, and activates your Windows, without having to first install XP back onto the drive.

And since it's a retail upgrade, you can then take that install and install it onto new hardware. So you would be compliant with MS's licensing and retail EULA as well.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
I've read posted here a theory that Win7's activation process, after upgrading from an existing OS, the MS server store that info about the upgrade license, so thereafter, if you need to, you can re-install Win7 onto a bare drive, and then when you put in your product key and activate, it pulls up the info about the original upgrade process, and activates your Windows, without having to first install XP back onto the drive.

Indeed, if Microsoft changes its Activation process that significantly, it could effectively change the rules and mechanics of moving an older-generation OEM license to a new PC.