My Amazon order of pre-release Windows 7 Home Premium UPGRADE arrived on schedule last week. Since the Release Candidate (RC) installed in all of my computers are good until March 2010, I decided to install the first of the 3 copies in the Macbook Air under bootcamp.
I did not have any problems installing the release candidate before, but that was a full working version. I had to search the web for the workaround in installing the UPGRADE version which is what I got. Luckily, I found a very helpful guide courtesy of PAUL THURROTT’s Supersite.
So how did it go? I can tell you that everything went without a hitch. The activated version of the Windows 7 Home Premium (UPGRADE) was up and running in the AIR in under an hour, exclusive of the extra 2 hours to install my fav software and to get all Windows Update downloaded and installed.
Here is the step by step:
1. Preparing the Macbook Air
- I saved most of my files and settings to an external drive using Windows 7 RC Windows Easy Transfer.
- I also insured that all my software installers are on hand.
2. Windows 7 Home Premium (UPGRADE) Installation
- On the Mac side, I fired-up bootcamp assistant and started with the repartitioning of the MAC HD into a single partition. This step effectively erased all the files containing the old Windows 7 RC. This step is basically a repeat of my previous installation using the RC. Simple Help provided a very elaborate step by step guide of this process. Note that I selected CUSTOM installation when prompted. This is the option that allows for a clean install of the OS, which is what I wanted.
3. Activating Windows 7
Even the instructions that came with the DVD of Windows 7 detailed the need to have a running XP or Vista in order to activate the UPGRADE version. That is why I readied the 3 licensed copies of XP and 1 Vista Business just incase. As it turned out, this was not necessary if you will follow the steps provided by THURROTT’s:
- After performing the clean install, ensure that there are no Windows Updates pending that would require a system reboot. (You'll see an orange shield icon next to Shutdown in the Start Menu if this is the case).
- Then, open regedit.exe with Start Menu Search and navigate to:
- HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/
- Change MediaBootInstall from "1" to "0".
- Open the Start Menu again and type cmd to display a shortcut to the Command Line utility. Right-click this shortcut and choose "Run as administrator." Handle the UAC prompt.
- In the command line window, type: slmgr /rearm
- Then tap ENTER, close the command line window and reboot. When Windows 7 reboots, run the Activate Windows utility, type in your product key and activate windows.
4. Installing all Software
- With the external hard drive containing my old files connected, I double clicked on the file WindowsEasyTransfer.MIG. This immediately started installation of all my old files and settings.
- I then clicked on START, typed easy transfer reports, and clicked on that application. This presented me with a neat listing of all the software that used to be installed in the old computer.
- I then just installed all of them one by one (Office 2007, Photoshop CS4, TextAloud, Windows Live writer, Firefox, Sugarsync, Mindmanager Pro 8, and Microsoft Security Essentials).
Voila! A Macbook Air with Windows 7 Home Premium that will never expire.
Next up will be to find time to install the 2 remaining W7 OS on my 2 desktops.
Comments