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I am planning on moving to Windows 7. The machine currently have Vista Ultimate (x32) OEM running on it. I have already run the Upgrade Advisor and the machine meets the system requirements for a 64 bit Windows 7.

I want to use Windows 7 Professional (x64) OEM disc to do a clean install (wiping out everything/partitions and recreating them).

Can I do that? Is it allowed? Is it legal?

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4 Answers 4

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Read our Windows 7 Activation FAQ. As long as you delete all of the partitions and do a full fresh install (which you said you want to), it should work fine if you purchased a new OEM license key. OEM licenses are not transferable though. If you purchased a brand new OEM license you can use that media to do a fresh install, but if you say have a copy of Windows 7 on a different computer and aren't using it, you can't move it over.

If you have a retail or upgrade license key, you can still use the OEM install disk, but you may be required to call the Microsoft activation hotline to verify the product key if you use a different install disk type from your key.

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  • (If you feel that all the info you need is included in the FAQ mentioned above, leave a comment to that effect and I can mark this as a duplicate of the FAQ post.)
    – nhinkle
    Commented Nov 2, 2011 at 6:04
  • brilliant. i would prefer keeping your answer and not making it a duplicate of FAQ post. this is concise and very helpful. thanks
    – nesh_s
    Commented Nov 2, 2011 at 9:49
  • @nesh_s very well. Do leave a comment about how your activation experience went and if it all worked out, once you try things.
    – nhinkle
    Commented Nov 3, 2011 at 6:32
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You can install windows 7 Professional if you purchase a license.

it will work for you if you do install it but in the future you might have later licensing errors, basically it is not legal to install without a Windows 7 Pro license.

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  • Of course i understand that i need a legal windows 7 pro license to install the OS on my machine. The question was to confirm if i can do so using an Win 7 OEM disc ON a machine which already have Vista (from an earlier OEM)..hope that makes sense
    – nesh_s
    Commented Nov 1, 2011 at 14:07
  • Ok, it is a good question which I now aware of. nhinkle already gave a link with the answer: "OEM licenses are permanently assigned to the computer they were installed on. You can never transfer an OEM license to a different computer. Retail licenses can be moved between your own computers whenever you want, provided they are only installed on one computer at once. Retail licenses are transferable to a third party only once, as explained in the Windows 7 EULA:", nhinkle thanks!!!
    – Miro co
    Commented Nov 3, 2011 at 4:09
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Since you haven't purchased a Windows 7 license, you are not eligible to install Windows 7 Professional on your machines. It's as simple as that.

The Upgrade Advisor does not check for your valid Windows 7 License, so that doesn't really matter.

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  • not really sure what context this answer is in. i m tempted to ask if u even read my question correctly..but i will pass :)
    – nesh_s
    Commented Nov 2, 2011 at 9:48
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Paying no regard to the legalities (for which insufficient information has been provided anyway) It is perfectly possible to perform a clean installation from an OEM Windows7 (64) disc as long as it has not been activated on another machine.

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