(Note: If you are running Windows XP or Vista legally, this article does not apply to you.)
I’m not going to pretend for a moment that there’s more than a few of you out there running Windows XP illegally. You’ve seen the very nice $50 price tag of Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade and said, "Okay, I can afford that, but can I upgrade a pirated copy of XP to Win 7?"
Answer: No. When you hit the WGA, the upgrade won’t work.
However.. I can tell you how to get Windows 7 for significantly less than the full-version $200 price tag.
Here’s how it’s done:
- Buy a copy of Windows Vista Home Basic "System Builders" Edition from NewEgg. Cost is $84.99 with free shipping. This is a qualifying product for the Windows 7 Upgrade.
- Pre-order your Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $49.99. Remember, this price only lasts until July 11, 2009. After that it’s $119 for the upgrade and $200 for the full version.
Your total cost will be $134.98. Shipping will be free on both products. This is significantly cheaper than the full $200 price tag for the full-version Win 7 price. Granted, you’ll never use the license of Windows Vista you purchased, but it does take $65 off what you would have spent for the full-version Win 7 otherwise. This is an easy, and moreover legal, way to save cash on the purchase of the OS.
Why go legal with Windows?
There’s really only one reason. It’s for Windows Update.
Windows Update started with Windows 98 which was over 10 years ago, however the Windows Genuine Advantage validation check didn’t occur until 2006.
If you are running Windows illegally, you basically can’t use WU at all and that’s a problem. Whenever critical updates are sent thru the WU system, you won’t be able to install it. Not easily, anyway.
The common comeback to that is, "Well, I don’t have to use WU. I could install the patches manually." Yes, you could. But you know full well that’s decidedly inconvenient and a pain to get done.
If you don’t feel like paying for Windows, just use Linux. But if you do use Windows, the one-time license cost is worth the price for the updates.
Most people take WU for granted, but it is vital to make sure critical updates are applied without any hassle.
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lol…I will not pay for any ver of Windows, unless I feel it is price worthy. By “price worthy”, I mean like $50 for Windows 7 Ultimate…full ver. About 99% of the software on all my computers is pirated…why?…because I can’t afford them. If Microsoft (and others) lowered their prices, maybe they would sell a few copies.
If you can’t afford software, use Linux.
If you can’t afford some software then you save up until you can, otherwise you can’t have it. Just because you want something doesn’t mean you can pirate it.
Just cause Microsoft is a multi-million dollar company doesn’t mean it’s right that they spike the prices of everything they make and $#!7 on the little guy in the process…some of us CAN’T save up that money. Gotta love America…
They didn’t. The full price of Windows 7 Home Premium is $25 less than Vista was. The upgrade price is the cheapest Windows since Windows 95 Upgrade. People who buy new computers with Vista now will get an upgrade to Windows 7 for free.
Oh yeah. Totally unfair. Where’s my torch and pitchfork, I gotta storm Microsoft’s offices..
Still, upgrade is 50$. That means the License Key is basically 150$. >< for a stupid number.
If I’d like to have the product you produce or the service/work you provide but I don’t like the price you won’t mind if I steal your work or just don’t pay you then? Cool, I can really save some money. Sorry about that whole thing with you not being able to eat or pay your bills. I need free stuff you know.
WTF?
Maybe you should go steal a Ferrari.. just b/c it’s too expensive to buy one.
clearly you haven’t heard of windizupdate.
Windizupdate is absolute junk. The ‘about’ page states it’s for users of Firefox 0.9.3. That’s antiquated beyond belief and absolute garbage to use.
each to their own I guess, but still it’s gotta be better to at least have some updates installed than having none at all.
ppl, do any of you realize that in India, less than 10% (estimate) of ALL software is legal? India is fast becoming a software giant and this would not have been possible had it not been for software piracy. I mean, guys here used hacked versions of Windoze to run hacked versions of Visual Basic and other programming languages and then get high paying jobs at Microsoft and rant about software piracy.
Quotes “If you are running Windows illegally, you basically can’t use WU at all” and “Whenever critical updates are sent thru the WU system, you won’t be able to install it. Not easily, anyway”. The fact is that you can do both of these things quite easily.To get round the wga check all you need to do is modify your hosts file and add a certain entry. This re-routes any calls for a validation check back to your own p.c. It gets past any wga check and allows windows update to work without any problem. This is for xp pro volume licence versions. This method has been around for a few years now and still works.
If it was me I wouldn’t even posted this. Those people who decide to break the law and pirate software deserves to pay more.
That’s your opinion, but I think it’s more a survival of the fittest thing. I understand that people who develop software need to get payed for it, just like the rest of us, but I feel it’s just unjust to charge for certain things. I can understand paying for things like; Photoshop, FL Studio, and other luxury programs (albeit $300 for photo-editing software is a rip off…) but for something like an operating system, or virus protection it’s just not fair. Why should we have to PAY to use what we’ve already spent tons of money building? And then even more keeping other people from ILLEGALLY hacking it or destroying it?
…Fortunately there’s freeware : D.
In the UK it is £49.99- just over $80- instead of £31. Whose robbing who?
Yeah Anarchy Rules! Steal everything! No, seriously, if we are going to talk about price-gouging, then let’s talk about the worst auto manufacturer in Germany- BMW. Over-priced imported junk. That is where a bunch of people are getting ripped off. I realize that as I post this, I may be the only one in the forum who is still PAYING for movies and music. But I think it is the right thing to do, since the laws in America protect intellectual property including music AND software. Not fair you say? If you think someone is overcharging for their product, then STOP USING IT. That’s why I quit smoking. I used to like it, but I didn’t think it was fair to charge $8 a pack. So instead of robbing a convenience store, I quit.
Rich is right…….
Rich Menga says:
If you can’t afford software, use Linux
to help solve problem of microsoft’s prices, first-create a equally useable software company- in short- competition!!. Microsoft needs to feel the heat of a TRUE rival company.!! Then microsoft needs introduction the
the concept of the “magic number” priceing point. Such as -mentioned earlier on – $49.99 instead of $50.00 for
the Windows 7 ultimate version. This would start changes long overdue in software pricing policies.
It’s on it’s way – it’s called Google Chrome OS
i’m not sure google’s “os” is compareable to windows (or even Mac OS), as i’m not that familiar with it’s abilities and requirements. To make m.s. feel pressure, you need full and equal competition. The products must be very
similar and usabe on the same machines.
Google it then and you’ll become familiar
“it’s coming soon” on google chrome os ??? after googling it,i must say , to many if’ys . the system does’nt exist,
and to get the full system, as pointed to , requires too much time and money to make. and , not counting the size and demands of the final product , will it load a easily as windows did with win98??, i doubt it!!
OK, seriously dudes. I built my first computer at 14. It cost me £900 which at that time was around $1400. I saved up this money with no actual job, £5 a week pocket money, and doing crappy jobs like washing neighbour’s cars. it took a year and a half, BUT even though I went through all this, I still purchased a legal copy of windows. so don’t bull**** about not being able to afford it. Just get off your fat hacker arses and do some extra work.
So if you have an illegal copy of XP Pro and you decide to buy the Win 7 Home Premium upgrade, can you get a legal copy of XP (Pro or Home) and install the Win 7 upgrade from there? or do you have to get a legal copy of Vista only? Can it be Vista Home Basic? or does it have to be Vista Home Premium to upgrade and install Win 7 Home Premium upgrade?
What about buying a retail unopened version of Vista Home Basic from ebay? it’s cheaper!
Answers to each of your questions:
1. Yes, but it must be a purchased XP license. You may also have to perform a from-scratch install.
2. Vista will work also. And it’s cheaper to buy than XP currently.
3. Yes, Vista Home Basic is a qualifying product for the Win 7 upgrade.
4. No it does not have to be Vista Home Premium.
5. If the license of Vista has never been used, it does qualify for the upgrade. However I’d steer clear of buying licenses of operating systems from eBay. Just because it’s cheaper doesn’t mean it’s legitimate.
Microsoft are pirates, it is not about the software but the fact that their ideas on ownership are morally wrong. If you buy a book it is fine to lend it to a friend to read or lend someone your car, but heaven forbid you lend someone your software. Our freedom is compromised. I will never buy a Microsoft product. I use Ubuntu everything is free, as it should be, and I gladly share what I know and donate to those doing good work. So Microsoft can go and find some other idiot to lie to.
You used some seriously crappy examples there.
If you lend a book to a friend, the book is out of your possession until you get it back. If you lend someone your car, it is out of your possession until you get it back.
If you lend someone software, you’re not lending. You’re giving a copy of it. Totally different scenario. Your friend has a copy, you have a copy. No lending involved. Both of you are using the same product at the same time but was only paid for once. That’s theft, plain and simple.
People who claim to SHARE the same product using the same time is not stealing you fools!
If the person were to sell the product then that would be wrong to make any form of profit from something they never made or worked with. If you actually did your research online you will find many professors who infact state that file sharing is a form of advertisment and does not harm the industry. You will also find that it has helped industries like music.
If people wont pay for a legal copy because of the price, fair enough! Don’t bash them because them because you paid for it or would pay for it. I think we have more serious things to be worried about like serial killers and war mongers. Also if a company thrives on so much profit, they shouldn’t complain either as it is a win-win situation.
I was fortunate enough to purchase a legal copy due to the discount, but my brother can’t afford it! He is not going to get it illegal though, he is sticking with XP for now. Last thing though, if you are not going to pay for something anyway, where is the harm in having it? sure you could argue this all day, but the company is not going to profit from that person.
Now go out and do some real life saving stuff, go give a tree a hug at least!
You’re joking, right? In case you are not, a professor’s opinion about piracy and copyright laws is not, in fact the law. Because some (un-named, non-credible) resource says that a companies’ intent to sell a product should be stolen and distributed free of charge because it’s like advertising is ridiculous. These companies already pay for advertising, and they pay alot for it. They don’t need to have people steal their product and give it away so that consumers know it’s out there. Sometimes I disagree with the laws regarding speed limits, so I go faster, and if caught, have to pay the fine. I don’t pretend that it’s not ILLEGAL. If you are not going to pay for something, you SHOULDN’T HAVE IT. Unless it’s free. Musicians who choose to give away their work is a great thing, but if others choose to sell it, then taking it without paying for it is THEFT. If you are more concerned with the ‘more serious things like serial killers and war mongers’ right now, then why are you on this thread?
Why am I on this thread? Well I am not the law either, I don’t have resources to go chase a criminal and lock them up legally do I?
I think overcharging for CD, DVD and Blu-Ray is stealing! You could say well don’t buy it… so if someone then downloads it, then what?
I do not see the music sector or microsoft shutting down… infact the profit is so high, it’s unreal, it’s unfair, look at the starving people with no food.
Well I am no longer replying here, not because I feel defeated etc… but because I am sad, people can not see it, if you can great! if not, then you are living a lie.
Have a nice day!
Same old tired arguments. If you want FREE then definitely use Linux, most productivity applications are available, not everyone wants to play the latest games. Another alternative would be to put the hours in and write your own software, there are “free” compilers etc out there. Then, after you have spent many many hours writing the next great application see if you are still happy to give it away for nothing. My biggest gripe against Microsoft is not the cost of their products but their unrelenting effort to stifle innovation with “software patents”.
Sorry hit enter at the wrong time.
The product key UNLOCKS the additional features that are already included
So paying an additional 260 dollars for a key to unlock additional features INCLUDED with other operating systems (multi language support in OSX is included on their $29 price point for snow leopard upgrades and so is their version of bitlocker which is called File Vault) is absolutely stupid and Microsoft deserves to lose this additional funds just for being GREEDY.
So to recap
Features that are there cost you more to use due to a license key
These same features are FREE from other software makers
Pricing for Windows 7 is way way too high in comparison to other software makers
Microsoft gets away with this because they are greedy thieves themselves (pirates of silicone valley was pretty close to reality)
Did you ever stop to think that maybe Microsoft did this so that home users didn’t have to pay for features they never needed? Why build a product with such a wide range of features that home users would never touch and inflate the price? Let the businesses pay for the extra functionality…. Oops that what they did. Whats wrong about that?
Making a one price fits all leaves home users sharing the costs for extra features with businesses that Microsoft worked on to add to it.
On a side note, I love how many people earlier in these posts flame Microsoft . There are literally hundreds of very useful and free operating systems out there. People love to make excuses in order to validate that pirating is OK. Dont like Microsoft? Then dont buy. Simple as that.
Its incredible the excuses people use to make illegal use of a companies product ok in their mind.
Microsoft have (finally) come up with an excellent product that adds extra value over free stuff. Go build your own OS from scratch and see how much that costs you.
If you don’t want to pay for it you have NO right to it.
There are plenty of free options. Don’t like these? Suffer in your jocks.
What microsoft profits or anyone else profits has nothing to do with what you deserve. And you don’t deserve their operating system for free.
Yea- you do that. I’ll switch to Ubuntu… ohh wait I did. It was a year ago or so and I didn’t look back. Now I only help OTHERs switch… but I don’t force them to see the way I show em the way by giving em both operating systems (ms windows 7 & ubuntu usually). MS Windows started sucking a long time ago and I can’t believe I put up with it for as long as I did. I liked Linux at first then for allot of different reasons then I hated it cause it drove me nuts cause of a few little things and now I’ve gotten over those few little hickups and compared to switching from 98 to xp or xp to vista it was all pretty easy comparatively speaking looking back. Just don’t mess around with stuff that doesn’t work- buy NEW hardware if your hardware/peripheral doesn’t work just like you would in MS Windows and switch apps to something that does work on Linux. If you try and keep using what you know or hack solutions then your going to reduce the quality of your experience on Linux and you’ll probably be doomed to failure. Otherwise you’ll love Linux. And if you have some niche need that doesn’t work with Linux just go away… although allot of niches actually are filled nicely in Linux if you get someone with experience / spend the cash on someone who knows what they are doing to get it to work and with the right applications and versions even when those were ms windows apps (music for instance, and some others but you have to know what your doing).
“If you can’t afford software, use Linux.”
Why do people think Linux users are cheap is beyond me.
Ubuntu 10.04 is free, this is what is on the laptop I’m using. Keep in mind it came with vista pre-installed, and I had a free upgrade to windows 7 I don’t use any of them (I don’t want them). I would love for microsoft to reimburse me for the OS I’m forced to buy, and since I cant get a laptop without windows on it (oh sure you could go to some weird site like “Dell”, pay more then you would with windows on it, so il stick to what I just said). I have 2, windows 7 CDs, 2 vista, 3 Xp CDs and one ME someplace, that I never used. Id be more then glad if microsoft donated the money I was forced to pay to them, to Linux.
dumb ass