Windows 7 Upgrade on Blank Harddrives Illegal

When is Windows 7 Upgrade Illegal?

Techtree News Staff, Oct 30, 2009 1714 hrs IST

Microsoft says doing that violates Windows 7 End User License Agreement

Now here's something really quirky and interesting from Microsoft. With the launch of Windows 7, almost everyone is busy installing the new OS on their systems. These include brand new systems and existing computers that already had an older version of a Microsoft Operating System running. Most Vista users with a "full" license were eligible for an upgrade option wherein they could get Windows 7 for a discounted price.

In a recent blog post, Microsoft has clarified as to how a clean install done on a blank hard drive from an upgrade install disc by an user who does not own a full license is in violation of the Windows 7 EULA (End User License Agreement). The post was triggered owing to blog posts and "how tos" that help users do a clean install from an upgrade disc. Since the upgrade option is a cheaper way of getting the OS, it was a fairly attractive means of getting a licensed version of the product for less. Microsoft's EULA for upgrade discs explicitly states that must own a full version of a previous version of Windows if you want to use the Windows 7 upgrade disc. Now, what this means is that when you do a clean install, you are no longer own a "previous version" and are hence breaking the terms of the EULA.

Microsoft has clarified the circumstances in which a clean install is perfectly legal in the following excerpt from the post:

"Now there are many, many, many, many of you out there that already own Windows licenses that qualify for the Windows 7 Upgrade, so this is a non-issue for you. (I am talking about people who own a FULL license for a previous version of Windows for their computers already, as shown in the first picture example above.) For you, since you have the previous version FULL Windows license and qualify for the Windows 7 Upgrade, you have the rights to do a "clean" install. For those of you without an existing FULL Windows license to upgrade from, you should be aware that an Upgrade license by itself is not a license to install and run Windows on your computer. (As an FYI, those who don't own a full previous version Windows license, and just downloaded the Windows 7 Beta, RC, or RTM code during the trial phases, the Windows 7 Beta, RC, and RTM trials are not qualifying licenses for the upgrade since they are just trial software, not fully licensed software.) In order to be eligible to use the Windows 7 upgrade, you need to have a qualifying license to upgrade from."

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الرجاء تحميل الويندوز 7

by خا&, السودان شندى, on Nov 03, 2009 08:00 PM, Report abuse Reply

by himakar, vijayawada, on Nov 03, 2009 03:58 PM, Report abuse Reply

Microsoft has still not clarified it. Is an OEM copy of XP on the original machine a "full" license? That needs to be answered, as that will be a very common upgrade path.

by Jack Love, Manila, on Oct 30, 2009 05:59 PM, Report abuse Reply

You're nitpicking unncessarily. How can an OEM not be a full license?

by ted bundy, east of la, on Oct 30, 2009 06:05 PM, Report abuse

You can't "upgrade" from XP. Clean installs only, so the question is irrelevent.

by Gideon, Devil's Tower, on Oct 30, 2009 06:44 PM, Report abuse

Well I don't think you're nitpicking. The use of words like 'retail' and oem' make sense to most of us until someone starts going around with the phrase "FULL" licence. It's a needless confusion. If there is no distinction between OEM and retail in this instance...just say "licence", not "FULL licence". Yet again, it is someone from Microsoft needlessly confusing people. It would be very easy for someone to think 'FULL licence' referred only to a retail licence, and not an OEM.

by Big Time Charli, Manchester UK, on Oct 31, 2009 03:24 AM, Report abuse

upgrading from the xp oem version not working ! $99 of worthless plastic case with 2 cd/dvd in it, gotta call microsoft now !! microsoft please dont print upgrade from all versions of xp on your window7 upgrade box thats false advertising.

by todd, mobile, on Oct 31, 2009 06:16 AM, Report abuse

@Ted Bundy Actually he is not. You cannot legally install the upgrade on an OEM license. The OEM license is for the machine and that machine alone. If the machine dies, your license dies along with it. A Windows upgrade version can be installed only on a machine on which a retail version has been installed - which contrary to the excerpt is a very very very very small minority of Windows installs.

by Milind, Poona, on Nov 02, 2009 09:13 PM, Report abuse

Thats what you call "old news".

by Cosmo, L.A., on Nov 02, 2009 11:00 AM, Report abuse Reply

Hey what's the price of the Upgrade editions of Windows in India? Techtree you only gave us full retail copy prices I think. Please tell us the prices of the upgrade verions. Thanks.

by Samir Makhija, Pune, on Nov 02, 2009 03:48 AM, Report abuse Reply

microsoft has learnt to make it's operating system better but doesn't how to sell it...if it thinks that 90% of world who are educated know what EULA means then i think they are grossly wrong...people buy a computer/laptop with free dos but no one uses it...the reason is everyone connects free dos with DOS..Cmd line...by the way i tested my laptop with their upgrade adviser and even though i am quite computer savvy i was shocked to see "incompatible graphic card"..nvidia at that...if nvidia(i know a particular nvidia card..) is incompalible then microsoft should rest assured that 80% of indian masses are not going to buy windows 7. .....mass don't buy then there is no mass profit....ask me...i am one of the market survey guys who is also computer savvy...

by jaideep, delhi, on Nov 02, 2009 01:48 AM, Report abuse Reply

Thank you and have a wonderful day. Just convinced me to go Ubuntu and since testing version 9.10 is heaven compared to the Microsoft hell.

by Doug Bicknell, Sweetwater, TX, on Oct 30, 2009 09:46 PM, Report abuse Reply

I tried Ubuntu and was so extremely disappointed. If I wanted an OS that should really only be used for web browsing, then I'll use Android. Thanks for wasting my time.

by Steamed, Troy, on Oct 31, 2009 03:10 AM, Report abuse

Keep win xp for gaming, install Ubuntu for everything else. Works great! You get the best of both worlds.

by Sludge, Canada, on Nov 01, 2009 11:02 AM, Report abuse

Steamed Troy, Thank you for wasting our time as well! Keep basking in your ignorance. Ubuntu, or any other capable Linux distribution, for that matter, can handle pretty much any task you would expect from an OS. Gone are the days when Linux was hard to configure and the applications available were too few. Heck, it even looks better than Windows now.

by Anonymous, Simpli, on Nov 01, 2009 10:26 PM, Report abuse

have you actually taken a look at Windows 7 .. it looks extremely polished..

by Sid, bangalore, on Nov 01, 2009 11:50 PM, Report abuse

I have licenced Win XP on my home PC. I also purchased Win Vista Box but not opened for installation. How much would Win 7 cost me & what are the options.

by VK Malik, Gurgaon, India, on Nov 01, 2009 08:19 PM, Report abuse Reply

I have licenced Win XP on my home PC. I also purchased Win Vista Box but not opened for installation. How much Win 7 cost me & what are the opions.

by VK Malik, Gurgaon, India, on Nov 01, 2009 08:17 PM, Report abuse Reply

I want Window 7

by ankush, kanpur, on Nov 01, 2009 07:36 AM, Report abuse Reply

I need it

by shashi, hyderabad, on Oct 31, 2009 11:22 PM, Report abuse Reply

By targeting such a huge market like India! considerably increased PC users over the past 5 years, MS should price W7 Ultimate ver. less than 10k is a good move. If it was not then it would affect the middle class buyers to push to use XP or pirated copies over w7, a common budget of 30k for a total system and this w7 family pack cost around 5k which is more than 15% of the total budget is not a fair deal for Indian customers. Better MS should think about that the Indian market is entirely diff from US & UK markets.

by Laura15, Chennai, on Oct 31, 2009 10:51 AM, Report abuse Reply

You don't understand licensing. You don't give up your license by formatting your drive. You are eligible for the upgrade if you own a previous Windows license (ie: bought a computer with one).

by Jesse, Madison, on Oct 30, 2009 08:08 PM, Report abuse Reply

Well you make that sound a lot clearer than the Mr Microsoft man....with his frequent use of the word "FULL", as that seems to imply full retail licence and not OEM. I'd point out to him that the Windows 7 upgrade program is mainly for people with OEM licences. Like me, I have my Win7 upgrade from Dell, and it came to replace the Vista OEM that my Dell machine arrived with.

by Big Time Charli, Manchester UK, on Oct 31, 2009 03:18 AM, Report abuse

The question I really want to know is if I can upgrade my Windows 3.11 for work groups license to Windows 7?

by Steamed, Troy, on Oct 31, 2009 03:17 AM, Report abuse Reply

I am running Windows 7 RC on a laptop. I had read maybe a month or two back that Microsoft will allow one (1) upgrade install to the RC. But re-install would require full version license?

by Charles, Wilmington, on Oct 30, 2009 08:38 PM, Report abuse Reply

Is an upgrade a full license? Say many of us use this Win7 upgrade. When windows10 or whatever comes out, can we upgrade again or will we have to buy a full version?

by Bee, Cov, on Oct 30, 2009 07:02 PM, Report abuse Reply

I WANT WINDOWS 7

by JOSE GAMBOA G, PAMPLONITA, on Oct 30, 2009 06:07 PM, Report abuse Reply

What's so quirky about this ? It's a right call from Microsoft. I don't see anything out of place here.

by Prithvi, Pune, on Oct 30, 2009 05:52 PM, Report abuse Reply