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Windows 7 Ultimate has some definite advantages, right now and when it comes to upgrading to Windows 8. Are you planning to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate?
Happy with the bare-minimum Win7 Home Ed 64-bit. It runs what I need it to run, and for the serious stuff, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS serves my purposes well, at no extra cost.
Best of both worlds at the most affordable price. Here in Oz, prices for Win7 Ultimate *start* at AU$429.00.
Yep, sure.
Best of both worlds at the most affordable price. Here in Oz, prices for Win7 Ultimate *start* at AU$429.00.
Yep, sure.
...the full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate costs AU$429, but the Windows Anytime Upgrade (Home Premium to Ultimate) costs AU$244.90
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msaus/en_AU/list/categoryID.58934600
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msaus/en_AU/list/categoryID.58934600
yes , those upgrade keys have been on the internet for quite some time now .
they are even posted in YouTube videos .
i ordered my last PC with home premium .
so i could upgrade at home for free .
they are even posted in YouTube videos .
i ordered my last PC with home premium .
so i could upgrade at home for free .
It might be a really good idea to visit Windows Update first and make sure everything is up to date. I've had two upgrades fail initially because I had neglected to do this. I know it seems like a no-brainer but if you're not set to update automatically and your recollection of when your last update was performed is not as recent as you recall you'll save yourself the time it takes to run the Anytime Upgrade again.
This is pure advertising for Microsoft. Hope that MS paid well for this article.
I use Oracle VirtualBox to host Virtual Machines within my Windows 7 environment.
I am running Win8 within one of the several VM setups I setup within VirtualBox.
You didn't need to spend the $140 to upgrade Win7 to do this... VirtualBox is Free!
I fear you gave your friend some bad advice...
I am running Win8 within one of the several VM setups I setup within VirtualBox.
You didn't need to spend the $140 to upgrade Win7 to do this... VirtualBox is Free!
I fear you gave your friend some bad advice...
Keep in mind that that there is a big difference between a a Virtual Machine, which is what you get with something like Oracle VirtualBox, and a Virtual Hard Disk, which is what you get with Windows 7's Native VHD boot.
In a virtual machine, everything is virtualized - hard disk, RAM, video etc. In a Native Boot VHD, the only thing that is virtualized is the hard disk. That means that when you boot from a VHD, you are using your systems actual RAM, video card etc. As such, you are actually running the operating system on REAL hardware.
In a virtual machine, everything is virtualized - hard disk, RAM, video etc. In a Native Boot VHD, the only thing that is virtualized is the hard disk. That means that when you boot from a VHD, you are using your systems actual RAM, video card etc. As such, you are actually running the operating system on REAL hardware.
I noted in the original article that it was stated that Win 7 Home Premium did not allow for booting from virtual disks, but the article also quoted another author's method. He said it COULD be done. I followed the other author's approach and succeeded in setting up a vhd for Windows 8 and the associated dual-boot. So it CAN be done with Home Premium. Why pay the exorbitant charge for the Ultimate version when you can do it from Home Premium?
I totally agree with alan.sewards, I have an Acer netbook with 4gb or RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium and I was able to boot from VHD. I think there is a mis-understanding in that the OS on the VHD must be Windows 7 Ultimate or higher in order for the boot from VHD to work.
I forgot to mention that I was able to use Windows 8 Consumer Preview on my VHD
Save yourself a couple of bucks and try it out with your Windows 7 Home Premium
I forgot to mention that I was able to use Windows 8 Consumer Preview on my VHD
Save yourself a couple of bucks and try it out with your Windows 7 Home Premium
When the Win 8 beta was released I tried it out using dual boot in a VHD on my Win 7 Pro machine.
...that there is some confusion here. Are you talking about using Windows Virtual PC in Windows 7 Home Premium? Windows Virtual PC can be installed in Windows Home Premium and used to create a virtual machine into which I suppose that you could install Windows 8. But Windows Virtual PC and Native VHD Boot are actually separate technologies.
As I understand it, while all Windows 7 editions can create and attach a VHD, only the Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise editions support the Native VHD boot feature.
Check out the "Understanding Virtual Hard Disks with Native Boot" article on the Microsoft TechNet site
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd799282
As you can see in the Limitations section, it clearly states that Native VHD Boot is restricted to Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate.
Looking at it a second time, I suppose that it could be interpreted as meaning that only Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate can "boot" from VHD; however, I have always been under the impression that it meant that only Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate supported the ability to boot up another operating system via VHD.
While the latter seems more likely, I must admit that I have never actually tried to create and use a bootable VHD from within Windows 7 Home Premium. Since I was convinced that it was not supported, I have never tried to do so.
I will continue to investigate this...
As I understand it, while all Windows 7 editions can create and attach a VHD, only the Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise editions support the Native VHD boot feature.
Check out the "Understanding Virtual Hard Disks with Native Boot" article on the Microsoft TechNet site
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd799282
As you can see in the Limitations section, it clearly states that Native VHD Boot is restricted to Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate.
Looking at it a second time, I suppose that it could be interpreted as meaning that only Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate can "boot" from VHD; however, I have always been under the impression that it meant that only Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate supported the ability to boot up another operating system via VHD.
While the latter seems more likely, I must admit that I have never actually tried to create and use a bootable VHD from within Windows 7 Home Premium. Since I was convinced that it was not supported, I have never tried to do so.
I will continue to investigate this...
I would be interested to know how one upgrades the OEM version installed on the restore partition of a system. Or is it the case that the online upgrade be done again online after a re-install? Preferably without a further purchase!
Hi Greg
I have just bought a new laptop which has W7 Home Premium to replace my existing laptop which has W7 Ultimate for which I have the media/licence. Can I use this to upgrade to Ultimate on my new laptop using Anytime or must I do a complete install of Ultimate (which I'd rather not do!
Michael
I have just bought a new laptop which has W7 Home Premium to replace my existing laptop which has W7 Ultimate for which I have the media/licence. Can I use this to upgrade to Ultimate on my new laptop using Anytime or must I do a complete install of Ultimate (which I'd rather not do!
Michael
...use your existing media license to upgrade your new laptop from Home Premium to Ultimate. That's not how that works.
If you really want to move up to Utilmate on your new laptop, you must use the Windows Anytime Upgrade.
However, before you do so, you should know that since this article was published, I have discovered that the bootable VHD feature is indeed available in Windows 7 Home Premium. Stay tuned for more details.
If you really want to move up to Utilmate on your new laptop, you must use the Windows Anytime Upgrade.
However, before you do so, you should know that since this article was published, I have discovered that the bootable VHD feature is indeed available in Windows 7 Home Premium. Stay tuned for more details.
1. Microsoft pretend that you can't legally do what you want to do, but under the consumer laws of most countries you can legally do that as long as you delete the software off the first system prior to using the key on the second system. However, you then come into the next issue.
2. The various keys are linked to the version of Windows you have, thus just using the key on the other system won't work, you have to load the copy of Windows from the first system onto the second system; and this is where the idea will get killed.
2.a. Each version of Windows factory loaded onto a vendor system is trimmed and cut to suit that specific system and only that system. It does NOT have the full range of drivers to work on other hardware. Thus the copy of Windows on your first system is very unlikely to work on the second system.
2.b. If you actually went through the process of buying or somehow getting a full legal copy of Windows with the right DVD / CD at some time, then you can load it onto any suitable system and use the key in it. You will need to make sure it's only loaded on one system at a time.
3. If at any time you do install a copy of Windows onto a second machine you WILL have a devil of a fight with Microsoft over the activation of it as they do NOT like or want people to do that, despite it being legal in every country in the world. The Microsoft EULA and how they push things has very little bearing on the legal reality, but that doesn't stop them trying to bury you under BS to stop you transferring the key and licence instead of buying a new one.
Summary
What you want to do is legal but not likely to work in real life due to the way Microsoft go about setting up their customer rip off system.
2. The various keys are linked to the version of Windows you have, thus just using the key on the other system won't work, you have to load the copy of Windows from the first system onto the second system; and this is where the idea will get killed.
2.a. Each version of Windows factory loaded onto a vendor system is trimmed and cut to suit that specific system and only that system. It does NOT have the full range of drivers to work on other hardware. Thus the copy of Windows on your first system is very unlikely to work on the second system.
2.b. If you actually went through the process of buying or somehow getting a full legal copy of Windows with the right DVD / CD at some time, then you can load it onto any suitable system and use the key in it. You will need to make sure it's only loaded on one system at a time.
3. If at any time you do install a copy of Windows onto a second machine you WILL have a devil of a fight with Microsoft over the activation of it as they do NOT like or want people to do that, despite it being legal in every country in the world. The Microsoft EULA and how they push things has very little bearing on the legal reality, but that doesn't stop them trying to bury you under BS to stop you transferring the key and licence instead of buying a new one.
Summary
What you want to do is legal but not likely to work in real life due to the way Microsoft go about setting up their customer rip off system.
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