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Purchased a new computer, actually the parts to build one. Unsure what windows 7 to purchase. Need at least professional, seems to be around $200 upgrade to $300 full version.

If I put the old XP on my new machine, will i be bale to use the 64bit windows 7 Pro upgrade instead of having to buy the full version? Will it still do a clean install?

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6 Answers 6

In terms of which version to buy, yes an upgrade version is ok.

When it comes to installing, you need to do a "custom" install; basically a new installation rather than an in place upgrade.

If you have bought the parts, then consider buying an "OEM" version, rather than an upgrade version.

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@Neal: there are certain disadvantages to OEM versions, as in that you cannot reinstall or move copies of Windows. just an FYI for future reference. –  studiohack Apr 29 '10 at 15:41

There is no software upgrade path from XP to Windows 7, only Vista to Windows 7.

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Wrong. "All Windows XP and Windows Vista editions qualify for a Windows 7 upgrade" - microsoft.com/windows/buy/default.aspx –  Hugh Allen Apr 30 '10 at 3:58
Upgrade pricing != upgrade installation, sorry that I wasn't clearer. All upgrades from any OS older than Vista require a reinstall, but you can still qualify for upgrade pricing. –  Adam Robinson May 5 '10 at 17:15

According to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd772579(WS.10).aspx

"Cross-architecture in-place upgrades (for example, x86 to x64) are not supported"

in fact it only mentions upgrades for Vista to Win 7

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And even if there were a software upgrade from XP to Win 7, I wouldn't recommend it, theres nothing better than a fresh install, just backup everything you need, and install format the machine, then get everything back to it.

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That should have been my first question, is there an upgrade from XP to 7. Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get the full version. I do prefer full clean upgrades, was just seeing if i could save some money.

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(Should be a comment instead of an answer). Hopefully though you didn't buy the full priced edition. Having a valid XP qualifies you for the upgrade (reduced price) edition but you will just need to do a clean install (see my full answer). –  Kevin Brock May 5 '10 at 8:56

You are getting different answers because of the different interpretations of the word "upgrade".

The OP is asking if they can purchase an upgrade edition of Windows 7 (64-bit) legally and use it if they have a legal copy of Windows XP. The answer is YES. I did this myself. Had Windows XP (32-bit) previously installed and put in a new drive and installed Windows 7 (64-bit) on it.

When you purchase Windows 7 you get both DVDs for 32-bit and 64-bit. An upgrade edition usually requires having access to the software that qualifies you for that edition - in this case Windows XP. Typically though MS does not require that you have that software installed. In my case, it was on another drive in the computer so there was no prompting, but it may be that Windows 7 will prompt for a qualifying CD/DVD of the prior OS version (as I experienced when upgrading older Windows versions years ago).

The other upgrade that are in the answers here has to do with installing a new operating system on top of an existing one and attempting keep all the existing applications installed. This would entail migrating/merging any registry entries, replacing and/or removing old files. This is not supported for 32-bit to 64-bit upgrade.

If you attempt to install either the upgrade (reduced price) 64-bit or full price 64-bit on top of Windows XP 32-bit it will not be able to do the in-place upgrade. But then, only Vista 64-bit to Windows 7 64-bit (or 32-bit to 32-bit) upgrade is supported (Windows XP always requires a clean install, but you still can purchase and install the reduced price upgrade edition).

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