my wife got a Student discount Win7, has XP..a few questions

[passn_thru2]

Student discount Win7 upgrade Disc. my wife is going to school and got it for a class

the white MS pocket envelope cover says... Win7 Pro 32-bit English DisK Kit D

Win7 disc says... BACKUP DISC NOT FOR RESALE includes SP1 32 bit

in the MS site instruction download it says to use the 'Custom' installation, but there is an 'Upgrade option'
that says Upgrade to a newer version of Windows and keep your files, settings and programs.


in the install where you don't 'have to do a total ReDo of everything on C:\ she has XP Home 32-bit

i have googled this but didn't find anything consistent, mostly people asking questions about problems after buying this on Ebay. i guess you get the Key from the School with a password the school gives you..

is there any chance i can do it the easy way...?

i built the computer for her when she went back to college.

Pink RaidMax case
Intel C2d e5700
ocz HPC Reaper DDR2 1066 4Gb
Gigabyte Mother board GA__UD3P
400wt PSU
nVidia 8800 gts
WD 600 Gb HD

thanks...

[jdeb]

There is no easy way, only the custom installation. Make sure you back up all your data prior to installation or you will lose it as you will be performing a clean installation which formats the hard drive.

If you have an external hard drive then I would recommend that you download and install Windows easy transfer to make the backup easier.

You will also have to re-install all your programs as well. Easy transfer will provide a list to help you gather.

[passn_thru2]

i just found out the specifics of the situation.

the Disc is a Backup...

she bought the program and downloaded it from the internet 2 months ago into her Documents. it is 4.69 Gb. she got the Disc for extra as a backup. she said it was an "Update". but i don't know. she isn't sure

she didn't tell me this till a few minutes ago.

i found the Win7 folder, i clicked explore.. i got "ExpandedSetUp" with the following folders

boot
efi
sources
support
upgrade
autorun
bootmgr
setup

It seems there were a lot of problems with this product.. with the download not accepting the key after wiping the hard drive. i need to find some more current info, it's late... later

thanks..

[glc]

You can't upgrade from XP to 7 without a wipe. You would have to upgrade from XP to Vista then to 7 to avoid wiping, and I think there's too much potential there for a mess.

I also don't think you can "upgrade" from XP Home to 7 Pro. That may be the reason for some of the issues with that product.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by passn_thru2 i just found out the specifics of the situation. the Disc is a Backup... she bought the program and downloaded it from the internet 2 months ago into her Documents. it is 4.69 Gb. she got the Disc for extra as a backup. she said it was an "Update". but i don't know. she isn't sure she didn't tell me this till a few minutes ago. i found the Win7 folder, i clicked explore.. i got "ExpandedSetUp" with the following folders boot efi sources support upgrade autorun bootmgr setup It seems there were a lot of problems with this product.. with the download not accepting the key after wiping the hard drive. i need to find some more current info, it's late... later thanks..

Either way, post #2 still stands. Custom install only.

[passn_thru2]

Thanks...

i realize i have to do a custom redo, i discovered that the RapidShare downloader that MS was using caused problems with valid keys not working. that was a few years ago and it seems they got it fixed.

i just didn't want to wipe the HD then not have the key work and have to put XP back in. i read that it happened a lot.

my wife got a ClickFree back up unit, we used that to back up everything. i have a Docking Station and a good HD, i will try the Microsoft easy transfer program first.

i want to try a program called 'Knoppix 6.7' on the HD first to see if i can get anything else off it before i format it. the HD crashed trying a Dual Boot system.. it worked for a while when i had Vista.

thanks for your help.

[passn_thru2]

there is one more question...

the MS East Transfer page/s isn't real clear wether i put the Easy Transfer in the external hard drive or the XP computer.. actually one web page said the Hard Drive and another said the XP side.

do i put it in both..?? or which one..?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by passn_thru2 there is one more question... the MS East Transfer page/s isn't real clear wether i put the Easy Transfer in the external hard drive or the XP computer.. actually one web page said the Hard Drive and another said the XP side. do i put it in both..?? or which one..?

You install easy transfer on the xp drive, run the program and direct the files to an external disc or drive. Install Windows 7 and run easy transfer. You will find it under accessories/system tools and pull the transfer from the external disc or drive you used with xp.

[passn_thru2]

great... Thanks Again

[nickgr5]

Originally Posted by passn_thru2 i want to try a program called 'Knoppix 6.7' on the HD first to see if i can get anything else off it before i format it. the HD crashed trying a Dual Boot system.. it worked for a while when i had Vista.

By the way Knoppix isn't just a program, it's a whole Linux-based operating system. If you really want to use Linux along with Windows, why don't you move to a more friendly distribution like Ubuntu, openSUSE, Fedora or Mint instead? There's also an application for Windows called wubi, which will help you install Ubuntu along with Windows. You will just have to select adjust a few parameters (like HDD space, version, gui etc.) and it will do the rest (including partitioning) for you.