Windows 7 RC -> Retail via Upgrade

[Divergent Species]

I am sorry if this has been asked and answered already, but I could not find a thread. I downloaded and installed W7 RC and have been using it for several months. I also bought a copy of Vista with the W7 upgrade option.

I want to install the retail version of W7, but was wndering if there was anyway to skip doing a clean install of Vista, then upgrading to W7 and then reinstalling all of my software and data. Can the W7 upgrade disk be used to upgrade RC to retail and preserve my existing software and data?

[Steve R Jones]

I've seen rumors about being able to do it PROVIDED the upgrade is the same ULTIMATE like all RC's are.

[Steve R Jones]

Borrowed from another site:

Use this procedure at your own risk. An in-place upgrade from the release candidate or older OS to Windows 7 is not supported by Microsoft.


For the in-place upgrade one must be going from Win7 RC (Ultimate) to the released version of Win7 Ultimate by using the Upgrade option rather than the Custom option during the installation. You can not upgrade the RC to Professional or lower.

That said, there is a file, \sources\cversion.ini that specifies the minimum build number that can use the upgrade process. That file must be edited to include the RC build #7100. Editing that file involves copying the release media to media where the file can be rewritten such as a hard drive or a memory stick. I prefer to use a bootable memory stick. After editing the file, you can burn a new DVD or simply boot the memory stick.

When in doubt - buy the full retail version

[Divergent Species]

Thanks Steve. I probably should have done my Google work first as I independently found this method posted on several forums and in several articles. The various postings seem to confirm this works.

I realize a "clean" install is always better as it eliminates a lot of trash and debris you have collected and avoids leaving a lot debris from the previous operating system. I guess I am feeling lucky today and assuming that the pistol pointing at my operating system is empty (allusion to famous scene in Dirty Harry movie).

I will try this in the next week or so and post back my results.

[SuperSparks]

Or alternatively, you can save all your settings an data using Windows Easy Transfer, then do a clean install of Win7 in the usual way. You will need to reinstall your apps, but even so, it should be quicker than an upgrade, which is usually a very lengthy process (up to 7 hours I hear). That way you'll be sure of a nice shiny new install without any crud