i built my own desktop and it is running vista, now i want to get windows 7 firstly will i need oem windows 7, and which do i buy the actual windows 7 home premium disc or the windows 7 home premium upgrade disc?

also will all my stuff on my pc stay on when i put windows 7 on?

i just want home premium, not botherd about the professional or business.

and will all my photos and music stay on or do i have to back it all up?

and which disc to buy full windows 7 or 7 upgrade?

right just been thinking, the upgrade disc is for if u have a previous version of windows on your machine, now ive got vista home premium 32-bit, if i buy the w7 home premium upgrade i can just upgrade to w7 straight away, my dad also has vista home premium 32-bit on his laptop would he be able to use the upgrade disc to upgrade to w7 home premium aswel?

can anybody answer my questions, dont want to buy cheap windows 7, down want the licences to be illeagle plus i only want home premium.

right just been thinking, the upgrade disc is for if u have a previous version of windows on your machine, now ive got vista home premium 32-bit, if i buy the w7 home premium upgrade i can just upgrade to w7 straight away, my dad also has vista home premium 32-bit on his laptop would he be able to use the upgrade disc to upgrade to w7 home premium aswel?

I can't say for sure about Home Premium although I guess its exactly the same upgrade process but I was running Vista Ultimate. All I did was insert the Windows 7 CD (or upgrade CD) and click upgrade. It took about 3 hours but afterwards all of my documents, programs and even emails in Outlook were unchanged.

I presume its the same for Home Premium, for me it was extremely simple and everything just worked afterwards.

Much nicer to buy the full version. Back up the stuff you want and do a clean install.

You are much better getting the full, and not the upgrade, backing up all your stuff, and starting from fresh with windows 7..

I say not to do the upgrade, because if ever you need to reinstall again, you will HAVE to put vista on before windows 7, so it's doubling the length of time to install.

You are much better getting the full, and not the upgrade, backing up all your stuff, and starting from fresh with windows 7..

I say not to do the upgrade, because if ever you need to reinstall again, you will HAVE to put vista on before windows 7, so it's doubling the length of time to install.

They've already got Vista installed though. As I said earlier for me it was just a case of putting in the Windows 7 CD and selecting upgrade. No other options, no errors. After about 3 hours it booted into Windows 7. That was 3 weeks ago and I've still not found anything wrong.

Maybe Microsoft have finally managed to write an upgrade routine that works!

They've already got Vista installed though. As I said earlier for me it was just a case of putting in the Windows 7 CD and selecting upgrade. No other options, no errors. After about 3 hours it booted into Windows 7. That was 3 weeks ago and I've still not found anything wrong.

Maybe Microsoft have finally managed to write an upgrade routine that works!

It'll depend on setup but yes they've definitely improved the upgrade process.

Personally I'm with Ghozer on this one, clean install all the way :)

As one who has updated Vista and also done a clean install of Win 7, I would
recommend a clean install every time. Upgrading from Vista caused problems time after time, nothing major but annoying. Since doing a "clean" install no problems at all.
Don't waste your money on upgrade, buy the complete OS. Back up your pics etc
on a disc or usb.

As one who has updated Vista and also done a clean install of Win 7, I would
recommend a clean install every time. Upgrading from Vista caused problems time after time, nothing major but annoying. Since doing a "clean" install no problems at all.
Don't waste your money on upgrade, buy the complete OS. Back up your pics etc
on a disc or usb.

Out of interest, what problems did you get?

As one who has updated Vista and also done a clean install of Win 7, I would
recommend a clean install every time. Upgrading from Vista caused problems time after time, nothing major but annoying. Since doing a "clean" install no problems at all.
Don't waste your money on upgrade, buy the complete OS. Back up your pics etc
on a disc or usb.

well seen as i found out i wont be able to buy the upgrade disc and use it on mine and mi dads computers i thought might aswel get full.

but do i get just windows 7 home premium or OEM windows 7 home premium?

my vista home premium 32-bt is OEM.

and is OEM for people that have built their own pc's?

well seen as i found out i wont be able to buy the upgrade disc and use it on mine and mi dads computers i thought might aswel get full.

but do i get just windows 7 home premium or OEM windows 7 home premium?

my vista home premium 32-bt is OEM.

and is OEM for people that have built their own pc's?

OEM is for manufacturers, and should LEGALLY be sold with some hardware, OEM licenses are none transferable once they have been installed on a machine (well, can't transfer to another owner, but if you phone up to reactivate it they'll let you)

so shal i just get the retail w7 home premium?

i got the free windows 7 upgrade for this laptop
strangely though the "upgrade" disc can do a full fresh install (which is what i did)
just booted it from cd and entered the coa number

i got the free windows 7 upgrade for this laptop
strangely though the "upgrade" disc can do a full fresh install (which is what i did)
just booted it from cd and entered the coa number

ye, any laptop you buy now from pc world or argos or anywhere else with windows vista on they upgrade it you for free.

ye, any laptop you buy now from pc world or argos or anywhere else with windows vista on they upgrade it you for free.

was just trying to point out that it seems the upgrade version of win7 is actually a full version
but dont quote me on that:D

ye seems like a quick way to install w7 without aving to do a full fresh intall as it keeps all your stuff on if u do the upgrade.

when doing an install of windows 7 all my music documents etc were put into a folder by windows 7 called old.windows had to reinstall all the programs but all the pictures etc were safe and i just then transfered them to the new documents folders

Even if you decide to go for the upgrade, I would still recommend backing up all your documents/pictures/music.
Just in case.

dont go the upgrade route! it causes glitches and bugs in your install nearly 90% of the time, more so if you upgrade from a o.e.m copy installed by a manafacturer because they install loads of unneccesery crapware! as for what version go for the full retail version as it includes full support from microsoft....

To the person that said OEM versions are legally sold with hardware, yes to that because I got the OEM vista bundled with a 500gb sata hard drive. And ive decided to get full retail home premium.

right here another question, my vista that i have on now is OEM, now ive heard with an OEM operating system its tied to you're system, but what i want to know is with this vista being OEM will it let me install the full version of w7 home premium?

right here another question, my vista that i have on now is OEM, now ive heard with an OEM operating system its tied to you're system, but what i want to know is with this vista being OEM will it let me install the full version of w7 home premium?

Yes. It will.

All OEM means is that if your computer dies, then the licence dies with it.

Regarding backups, if you don't have one anyway, then take this opportunity to make one.
Think about the sinking feeling you'll get if your PC doesn't boot up tomorrow and the data is unrecoverable.

well seen as i found out i wont be able to buy the upgrade disc and use it on mine and mi dads computers i thought might aswel get full.

Whether you purchase either the full or upgrade version, you will need to purchase a separate license key for the second computer if you intend on installing it on two PC's .


http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Get-a-new-Windows-product-key

Whether you purchase either the full or upgrade version, you will need to purchase a separate license key for the second computer if you intend on installing it on two PC's .


http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Get-a-new-Windows-product-key

i know, thats the reason why im getting full, cant use one licence key on 2 machines, so might aswel get full so that if i had to restore it at some point i wont have to install vista first.

i know, thats the reason why im getting full, cant use one licence key on 2 machines, so might aswel get full so that if i had to restore it at some point i wont have to install vista first.

No it isn't... you're buying a single full license to put on one machine for the reason you go on to give - not because you can't install it on two machines as was pointed out.

hi again, if you intend to install on more than 1 pc i would recommend the family pack which includes 3 liciences it is availible for the home premium version, also consider if you wish to go down the 64 bit route instead of the 32 bit

would recommend the family pack which includes 3 liciences it is availible for the home premium version

Wasn't that a limited offer and no longer available?

No it isn't... you're buying a single full license to put on one machine for the reason you go on to give - not because you can't install it on two machines as was pointed out.

you know what i mean, i should have said because i cant use the licence key on more than one machine.

In all honestly mate, I would go for the full version. Pop in to complex computer shop opposite side of asda roundabout they have reasonable prices.