XP ending. Upgrading problems.

pickledtink

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

Do you need to upgrade them both 'right now'? you've got till April next year so there's no massive rush to do it straight away... and you don't need to do them both at the same time.

No not right away but I'd like to get it sorted and preferably before I next go so I have found my way round everything and made sure everything is running smoothly before I have to rely on anything.

My time in UK is when I can do all this kind of thing from the comfort of my own sofa, kitchen ( tea, toast, wine) and broadband. I know nobody else can choose what OS is best for me but it really helps to get some input from others.
Thanks for posting.

Johnmcl7

NiftyDigits wrote: »

You do know what assumption can do...

Have you seen me offer the OP to install a Windows 7 image to a machine with an XP COA? If not, then why would you suggest such a stupid thing without that evidence?
How it appears to you is limited to your intelligence and perception.

As to the COA, perhaps if you could read properly, you would note that I wrote Online Activation.

So if it doesn't work for Online Activation, it has been taken from the bottom of an existing machine.

I can read fine, not sure about you though. Online activation works fine for the licenses I was referring to, it would not work for your own CoA's (unless you bought them separate from the machine and have never activated them) therefore the reference to your own CoA's is completely irrelevant in the context of those that are being sold in an unused form. Also I note that you haven't provided any evidence about Microsoft systematically blocking these activations either despite claiming I'm the one with reading issues.

As you've degraded yourself to throwing insults at everyone in this thread that disagrees with you and it has no benefit to this thread I won't continue this discussion with you any further.

John

NiftyDigits

Seriously, you have spent most of the time writing about things that you really don't understand, instead of getting on with the job in hand.

Why not do the Factory Restore in the first place if you insist that it's has a Windows 7 Recovery partition. Do it instead of just writing about it and tell us when you have in the end?
It's ridiculous to suggest that a 'borrower' would have erased Windows 7 Starter from your hard drive and not replaced it with the Factory Restore partition that you insist that you hold on your machine.

I offered to check if this was the case before you took that step and ended up with XP Home.

So if you already have Windows 7 on the Netbook, why are you wasting our time??

Even if it did work, you would have to do the Factory Restore/Clean Install that I suggested in the first place....wouldn't you?

So instead of wasting time with your little tantrum, we would have already got to the bottom of both of the 'problems'.

Johnmcl7

pickledtink wrote: »

Thanks. You have explained that much better than I did. My point is that an OEM is not the 'same' as a retail copy and once you step away from that you need to understand what you're doing as from what I can tell ( may be wrong) there is no phone/mail tech support directly from microsoft. I have never needed to use that anyway but I'm more concerned about buying something online which messes up the instal leaving me stuck.
This thread was simply trying to find the best way forward.
Obviously I'll pay whatever I must. If I had any way of benefiting from the options that came with the machines that would have been good. Now I know that is not possible except maybe via the recovery partition which would get me as far as 7 starter.
It costs less to upgrade from starter than to buy a full unfettered retail windows 7.
Also upgrades which allow all your files to be kept without a total backup are popular for obvious reasons and more expensive accordingly but from what I'm seeing that can be glitchy and a clean full instal is best anyway. I've done it both ways in the past but not for years.
I certainly am no expert but would consider a a restricted version if I could save a noticeable amount and was confident of being able to instal and run it.
I just don't want to find myself out of the country and having OS problems.
thanks for your advice.

Have you checked to see if the recovery partition is present? The easiest way to check normally is to right click my computer, go to manage and choose disk management - the recovery partition will normally be a separate 10-15GB partition which may not be visible under my computer. If it's one large partition then it's unlikely there is a recovery partition there.

I'm still puzzled as to how it had W7 starter on it with the XP CoA, do you still have the original box and documentation that came with it?

With regards to upgrades vs clean installs, I always favour the latter. It's a bit more hassle initially but usually worth it for long run particularly as you should be keeping backups on a regular basis as drives can and do fail suddenly without notice and data recovery can be expensive.

John

closed

pickledtink wrote: »

All the threads in all the world and you had to walk into mine......Just my luck to get some child out for a Sunday morning Troll. :rotfl:

PC world is open

NiftyDigits

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

I can read fine, not sure about you though. Online activation works fine for the licenses I was referring to, it would not work for your own CoA's (unless you bought them separate from the machine and have never activated them) therefore the reference to your own CoA's is completely irrelevant in the context of those that are being sold in an unused form. Also I note that you haven't provided any evidence about Microsoft systematically blocking these activations either despite claiming I'm the one with reading issues.

As you've degraded yourself to throwing insults at everyone in this thread that disagrees with you and it has no benefit to this thread I won't continue this discussion with you any further.

John

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457078.aspx

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/can-an-oem-licence-key-be-used-to-activate-a/495b4da1-c1b7-4d93-82a9-8c8601bbaf32


All COAs at the bottom of pre-activated machines are 'unused'.

This just seems to be a talky/do nothing thread.

One of us would have sorted this hours ago and the other is good at writing but doing nothing.
Let's see...

As to insults, wasn't it you who suggested that I wanted the OP to install a Windows 7 Image to her XP machine, without the tiniest shred of evidence?
The fact is...all that you have achieved is a waste of time.
These issues are very simple. Solved in minutes.
Unfortunately, the OP thought that she knew better and talked herself into a locked circle and others are just chasing their tails.
Would have been happy to help, but my time is precious. No time for *****.

pickledtink

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

Have you checked to see if the recovery partition is present? The easiest way to check normally is to right click my computer, go to manage and choose disk management - the recovery partition will normally be a separate 10-15GB partition which may not be visible under my computer. If it's one large partition then it's unlikely there is a recovery partition there.

I'm still puzzled as to how it had W7 starter on it with the XP CoA, do you still have the original box and documentation that came with it?

With regards to upgrades vs clean installs, I always favour the latter. It's a bit more hassle initially but usually worth it for long run particularly as you should be keeping backups on a regular basis as drives can and do fail suddenly without notice and data recovery can be expensive.

John

Yes it is there. At least I think so. PQSERVICE PARTITION BASIC NTFS 10GB.

Don't have the box. Moved since then and it was 3 years ago. The OS is XP SP3 but it had windows 7 starter loaded as an option to try. The guy I lent it to for a week said he deleted/uninstalled it as the starter was in his opinion useless and 'taking up space'. I wasn't too pleased but was perfectly happy to stick with XP at the time. I don't understand it either which is why I'm seeking clarification. I would have known to hold on to anything which looked like a product key and there's nothing in the folder I keep for any user manuals driver discs etc.
it's not unusual to have a dual operating System on a pc though is it? Particularly when someone wants to try a new one before committing Although I haven't before which is why I'm not sure how to go about it.

NiftyDigits

Restart the computer
When the eMachines logo appears on the screen, press the Alt and F10 keys repeatedly.
When prompted with a boot screen, hit the Enter key.
After the system recovery program has loaded, follow the prompts to reinstall the operating system.


Let us know how it went.....

scheming_gypsy

pickledtink wrote: »

Thanks. You have explained that much better than I did. My point is that an OEM is not the 'same' as a retail copy and once you step away from that you need to understand what you're doing as from what I can tell ( may be wrong) there is no phone/mail tech support directly from microsoft. I have never needed to use that anyway but I'm more concerned about buying something online which messes up the instal leaving me stuck.
This thread was simply trying to find the best way forward.
Obviously I'll pay whatever I must. If I had any way of benefiting from the options that came with the machines that would have been good. Now I know that is not possible except maybe via the recovery partition which would get me as far as 7 starter.
It costs less to upgrade from starter than to buy a full unfettered retail windows 7.
Also upgrades which allow all your files to be kept without a total backup are popular for obvious reasons and more expensive accordingly but from what I'm seeing that can be glitchy and a clean full instal is best anyway. I've done it both ways in the past but not for years.
I certainly am no expert but would consider a a restricted version if I could save a noticeable amount and was confident of being able to instal and run it.
I just don't want to find myself out of the country and having OS problems.
thanks for your advice.

To be honest, there isn't really any difference except a fancy box and manual.
the cost of the full version isn't that much, so all you need to do is:
back up your data and make sure you've the installation disks / downloads for all your software.
check there are Windows 7 drivers available for your machine
stick the disk in, reboot and follow the on screen instructions.
put all your stuff back on.

and that's it.

NiftyDigits

The issue is not that it is an OEM version(though reading the comments from the OP, you might think otherwise), but the provenance of the 'unused' COA.

Here is a typical listing of this type of 'OEM' sale:

Installation disc containing the full 64bit version of Windows 7 with SP1. (Not an upgrade version)
The software disc is new and has never been installed on any computer
This unused item came with a PC that has now been decommissioned. Label may show signs of wear

So, contrary to what Johnmcl7 has been trying to tell us, they are pulled from pre-activated machines.