# Any Techs In The House Know About Windows 7 (Time Sensitive)



## Chaoman16 (Mar 15, 2012)

Time is of the essence, so I'll try to keep it brief yet meaty enough to explain my situation.

Yesterday I spent all day and night combating a rampant blue screen issue. It got so bad at times when i restarted the system said it couldn't detect my hard drive. More details here in this journal entry:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3269539/

So, faced with no way I could tell to fix the drive so I don't got to replace it via software I'm facing the real possibility of getting a new SATA Internal hard Drive. As mentioned in the journal the people I bought it from failed to send a Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS disc. I tried to create a backup, but due to Shadow Memory being damaged or something I cannot create one (so I did the next best thing and moved all the data I would miss to an external hard drive I keep critical stuff on just in case). So I start looking for an OS disk. Windows 7 as is is pretty pricey. Then I saw this Starter edition, but it was a stripped down version of the full.

Now that I've given you some background, anyone know that if I go for Windows 7 Starter if I were to use my Product Key that's on the bottom of my laptop, would I be able to update to the full Windows 7 64 bit, or would I need to buy the premium disc?

Thanks for reading.


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## BRN (Mar 15, 2012)

I shot a few google queries and found this for you on a Microsoft official webpage. 





> You can add more features to Windows 7 by upgrading to another edition (for example, upgrading from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium). You can buy an upgrade key either in a retail store or online (where available), then use Windows Anytime Upgrade to perform the upgrade.


Hope it helps!

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/upgrading-to-windows-7-frequently-asked-questions


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## Onnes (Mar 15, 2012)

So you've got an actual license for some version of Windows 7. I believe Win 7 is like Vista where a disk contains all product versions and the key simply selects which one you get installed. All you need then is to borrow any sort of Win 7 disk. You could also just download the thing--the install disks don't have copy protection and I don't think anyone would object given you have a valid license.


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## Chaoman16 (Mar 15, 2012)

SIX said:


> I shot a few google queries and found this for you on a Microsoft official webpage. Hope it helps!
> 
> http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/upgrading-to-windows-7-frequently-asked-questions



That does help. Thanks. Least I know I could get away with buying Starter and just use it as a spring board. 



Onnes said:


> So you've got an actual license for some version of Windows 7. I believe Win 7 is like Vista where a disk contains all product versions and the key simply selects which one you get installed. All you need then is to borrow any sort of Win 7 disk. You could also just download the thing--the install disks don't have copy protection and I don't think anyone would object given you have a valid license.



Oh I got a valid license. Just not this disc...which is strange. Thanks for the info.


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## Elim Garak (Mar 15, 2012)

http://www.mydigitallife.info/downl...cial-32-bit-and-64-bit-direct-download-links/
Just pick the one you have the license for, burn it to DVD or look up how to make a USB install.


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## AshleyAshes (Mar 15, 2012)

Onnes said:


> So you've got an actual license for some version of Windows 7. I believe Win 7 is like Vista where a disk contains all product versions and the key simply selects which one you get installed. All you need then is to borrow any sort of Win 7 disk. You could also just download the thing--the install disks don't have copy protection and I don't think anyone would object given you have a valid license.



This is not quite true, all versions (In the same bit range, the x64 discs only have the x64 version and the x86 disc only has the x86 versions on it) but it's restricted to what version it'll try to install. There's a simple text file on the disc that you can edit to enable it to prompt you for which version you'd like to isntall and it's a pretty simple mod to just reburn it.


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## Dragon82 (Mar 15, 2012)

BSOD worst thing you can get is the Blue Screen Of Death on any computer, it usually means that it's a Driver Error, Severe Computer Crash, or Hardware is Installed the Wrong Way. It all depends on the the type of error but you can enter Safe Mode during Bootup, and run a Restore Point to go back before the crash.


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## shteev (Mar 15, 2012)

I reinstalled Windows 7 x64 on my desktop after wiping the drive, and, by using the same key, it activated flawlessly. I think if you don't change any major hardware you may be fine just reintalling Windows and using the same key.

Also, you can purchase Windows here for $100, not too expensive.


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## Elim Garak (Mar 16, 2012)

shteev said:


> I reinstalled Windows 7 x64 on my desktop after wiping the drive, and, by using the same key, it activated flawlessly. I think if you don't change any major hardware you may be fine just reintalling Windows and using the same key.
> 
> Also, you can purchase Windows here for $100, not too expensive.


Even if you change the hardware the worst MS will do is make you call their automated telephone system to manually activate.


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## Chaoman16 (Mar 17, 2012)

Okay, I tired this Windows 7 USB/DVD maker, but it seems that I keep getting this error:

_"We were unable to copy your files. Please check your USB device and selected ISO file and try again."_

The Program I'm using is Windows 7 USB DVD Download obtained from this site: http://download.cnet.com/Windows-7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool/3000-18513_4-10972600.html#rateit

The ISO I'm using is called X15-65733.ISO obtained from this site (nabbed from the Home Premium Section):
http://www.mydigitallife.info/downl...cial-32-bit-and-64-bit-direct-download-links/

The Thumb Drive is empty and working fine. Could anyone offer a fix to this? Not sure how much time I got left on this drive.


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## gokorahn (Mar 17, 2012)

I know I had a problem trying to install windows 7 on my custom pc. Couldn't get the thing to burn to the disc right. Do you have a dvd to try with instead of a usb? and is your usb big enough to hold windows 7?


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## Chaoman16 (Mar 17, 2012)

gokorahn said:


> I know I had a problem trying to install windows 7 on my custom pc. Couldn't get the thing to burn to the disc right. Do you have a dvd to try with instead of a usb? and is your usb big enough to hold windows 7?



Sadly I do not have a blank DVD and yes it says it big enough.

*EDIT:* Someone is looking out for me because I just stumbled upon a Blank DVD that had enough room for it. I made the boot disk, now I just need to test it to see if it works as intended.


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## gokorahn (Mar 17, 2012)

One of the reviews said it worked though trial and error, maybe you need to keep trying?


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## Elim Garak (Mar 17, 2012)

MAke sure the USB stick is formatted as NTFS.


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## Lobar (Mar 17, 2012)

If the USB drive has already been made bootable, and it's just that the files won't copy, I believe you can just copy all the files out of the ISO over to the USB stick manually and that should work.  Mount the ISO with Daemon Tools LITE or something and try that.


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