So we have a client wanting a new computer running the new Windows 7 operating system. For various reasons the path we’ve taken on this is to take a HP DC7900 preloaded with Vista Business, and take advantage of the ‘free’ upgrade from Vista to Win7 that’s on offer. Check the details, but in this instance it’s an offer from HP on all computers sold with Vista within a certain date range. You fill out details on the website, pay something like $20 for shipping, and a few days later a Windows 7 DVD arrives. Nice.

So the point of the post is that there’s a few different ways to install Windows 7, depending on what you’re installing with, and onto. In this instance the media shipped is technical upgrade media. There’s a great post here on the different methods you can use, but for my part I’ve tried two different methods, both equally quick, easy and successful.

The first method was to boot from the Win7 DVD. Select Custom install (not upgrade), and select the existing Vista partition. You’ll then get a message telling you that the Vista installation will be ‘archived’ then paved with a brand new clean install of Win7. As this is a brand new computer I’m much happier with a ‘clean’ install, given there’s no data, apps, etc, to worry about carrying forward. The DVD hums away for a bit, system reboots a bit, and hey presto a spanking brand new clean install of Win7.

The second method I tried was to boot into Vista, and then run setup.exe from the Win7 DVD. The process was almost identical to the first method I tried, and the results equally as successful.

So bottom line is, doing a ‘clean’ upgrade from Vista to Win7 is remarkably easy and successful.