Upgrading from XP Professional to Windows 7 Professional ?

[2211]

Hi, i'm thinking of reinstalling my PC with Windows 7. I have XP Professional SP3  installed on the machine, and i have an upgrade disk with Windows 7 Profesional on it. I've been told this route is possible by installing it through the DVD Drive inside of Windows, which would recognise you have XP on the machine and then tell you to do a clean install. Firstly, is this info correct or would i have to buy another Windows disk to bridge the gap, and secondly if this is correct,  i have a Gigabyte GA-EP45C-DS3 Motherboard so i was wondering is this possible with this motherboard, and what would be the best way to deal with Windows 7 drivers for the GA-EP45C-DS3 by doing it this way?

Thanks in advance.

[Dark Mantis]

I don't think that there is a straight upgrade path from XP to Windows 7 anyway. Personally I don't like upgrading to a new OS by just overwriting the old one, as it tends to leave too much junk around. Much better to do a clean install and then you have an optimised system to start with. So I would advise that you backup all your important documents, files, etc and then start from scratch. You motherboard is fine for a Windows 7 installation and is certified as such.

[2211]

 so it sounds like i was  given the wrong info about upgrading from XP to Windows 7 and i'll have to buy another Windows 7 disk.

Thanks for your help.

[Dark Mantis]

Please do check first just in case i am giving you incorrect information but that is my view. If I am indeed right, then whoever you puchased it off should take it back and do a part exchange for the full version.

[2211]

i had a laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium on it, so i bought an upgrade to W7 Pro, then the laptop motherboard stopped working, so i bought a new laptop which has  W7 pre- installed  rather than pay loads of money to fix it. So now i have a spare  upgrade W7 Pro disk and was thinking if there was a way i could upgrade my main computer (the one with the GA-EP45C-DS3 motherboard) from XP Pro to W7 Pro without shelling out  more money (Preferably with the cleanest possible install). It's always worth a try.

[Dark Mantis]

There is no legal way to do it even though I appreciate where you are coming from. As I say I am fairly sure there is no direct upgrade path from XP to 7 so the disk you have won't allow it. There are ways around such problems but I'm afraid I couldn't say as they are not technically legal.

[2211]

No worrys, i'll have to treat myself to a new OS for xmas. Thanks for all your help.

[Dark Mantis]

You are very welcome and I hope it all goes smoothly for you. If not you know where to come.

[Gary123]

It's both possible and legal to clean-install a Win7 Upgrade Edition on a machine that's running XP.

From Microsoft's FAQ:

I'm running Windows XP on my PC. Can I buy the upgrade version of Windows 7?

Yes, you can buy the upgrade version of Windows 7, but you'll need to perform a custom installation. This means that you should back up all of your files to an external location and gather the installation discs or setup files for programs that you want to use with Windows 7. For detailed instructions, see Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/upgrading-to-windows-7-frequently-asked-questions

But if what you bought is specifically an upgrade from Win7 Home Premium to Win7 Pro, then that's a different situation.

[2211]

Thanks Gary.