Clean Install Windows 7 With Upgrade Media
You may can clean install Windows 7 using Upgrade media and a new or reformatted PC with no installed OS. You'll need to boot the PC with the Upgrade Setup disc, then enter a few commands before rebooting. See Step 1 for instructions on getting started.
Steps
- Perform a normal clean install of the OS by booting the PC with the Upgrade Setup disc and stepping through Setup. 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).
- Open regedit.exe with Start Menu Search
- Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/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.
- Type slmgr /rearm in the command line window, 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. It should just work.
Tips
- If you end up with no success, try phone activation as the last step. It will work.
Warnings
- The method described above should work for just about anyone, with the understanding that any pending Windows Updates could screw things up. If that happens, just shut down, restart, rerun the command line sequence, and retry activation.
