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Hi there!

I am planning on getting the windows 7 family pack for I have 3 machine at home. I notice it is an upgrade instead of a full version. Is there any difference? I can't find one that doesn't label "Upgrade".

Also, I like to install OS from scratch. Never liked upgrading. With the family pack, I can install from a machine with no OS installed?

Thanks a lot.

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3 Answers

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Sure, clean install is supported you'll just need to have your Vista DVD on hand during install to verify you're eligible to upgrade.

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Does the installer need an actually DVD? What if your copy of XP or Vista is OEM? I'd think all you'd need would be a license key – DrFredEdison Nov 12 at 19:33
From my past upgrade experience (XP -> Vista), yes a disk was required. I have yet to see an OEM ship Vista without including a copy of the DVD (although I'm no longer working in tech support) and while XP often shipped without disks (recovery partition, etc) that's irrelevant as upgrade is not supported. – sascha Dec 9 at 3:27
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I have read up on this and it is possible to do an Windows 7 installation on a clean hard disk, it involves editing the registry...it was noted on lifehacker.com... alternatively google for "Windows 7 upgrade + clean install" (without quotes) and you should come across a few hits on it... it is apparently legal, to get windows 7 without having an older version of windows on it...the only thing that I can think of is, to have an existing key perhaps labelled on the back of the machine or case?

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If the three machines already have a Windows operating system installed, the upgrade CD can also do a clean installation.

If you're encountering any problems, read this Vista article for more details (probably the same for Win7):
How to Clean Install Windows Vista with Upgrade Media

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