Upgrade versions of Windows 7 are far more common than Full versions, both because they are less expensive and because Microsoft offered (and in some cases is still offering) exceptionally cheap pricing on Upgrade media. Please.Ī clean install with Upgrade media is just what it sounds like: You will perform a clean install of Windows 7 using an Upgrade version of Windows 7, instead of the so-called (and more expensive) 'Full' version. If it's the latter, please- please-be sure to backup all your data first.

You will either install Windows 7 to a separate partition or will wipe out the previous Windows version during Setup. There could be a previous version of Windows (XP or Vista) installed on the PC already. For purposes of this discussion, a clean install-or what Microsoft calls a custom install-is when you boot your PC with Windows 7 Setup media (typically a Setup DVD, but with this version it could also be a specially created, bootable USB memory device containing the Setup bits) with the intention of installing just Windows 7 on the PC. Let's Be Clear About What We're Doing Hereįirst up, let's define what it is I'm describing. For some people, it just works, and I'll provide information here so you can help ensure it just works for you, every time. When it comes to performing a clean install of Windows 7 using Upgrade media, there's no simple answer. (I documented this process in How to Clean Install Windows Vista with Upgrade Media.) In Windows Vista, Microsoft supported in-place upgrades from Windows XP, but if you wanted to use an Upgrade version of the Windows Vista Setup disc to do a clean install, you had to perform a weird double install trick. But beginning with Windows XP, PC makers were able to dramatically change the Windows install disc, so much so that, in some cases, those discs weren't even identifiable as valid install media to Windows Setup. Remember how this used to work? In older versions of Windows, Microsoft would actually prompt you to insert an install floppy or CD from a previous Windows version, to prove that you qualified for the upgrade version. And that's what this article is all about: Revealing the secrets to clean-installing Windows 7 with Upgrade media.

While you can't simply use Upgrade media to do a clean install of Windows 7 on a new or previously formatted PC, the workarounds this time are easier than ever.

Sadly, Microsoft is still making it difficult to clean install Windows 7 with Upgrade media, as it did with Windows Vista. But now, thanks to numerous reader reports, my own hands-on experience, and a briefing with the team at Microsoft responsible for this technology, I think we have some answers. It was the final unanswered question about Windows 7. Note: This article received significants updates on Octoand November 5, 2009.

Windows 7 installing 100 updates