Yes, you can upgrade from Windows 7 RC to the retail version

The Win7 setup program says "no," but there is a way to do an in-place upgrade from the Win7 Release candidate to the final, retail version!

From this week's newsletter:

=========

Michael Flitterman is using a Windows 7 beta, but he'd like to upgrade directly to a retail version. Doing so is usually forbidden by the Setup software, but Michael's wondering whether there's a workaround:

    * "For the past few months, I've been using a beta version of Windows 7 — Win7 RC. I bought a retail copy of Win7 Ultimate, but now it seems there's no way to upgrade the RC release directly to the final version.

      "Do you know of any workaround that allows the upgrade so I don't have to — again — spend endless hours reinstalling my apps? I know that I'm not alone in hoping there's a way to do it."

Yes, there's a way to upgrade directly from the Win7 RC to the retail version, and the process is surprisingly simple! I've tested the process, and it works.

But there are potential pitfalls, and some good reasons why you might not want to try this.

And that's the #1 topic in my portion of the WindowsSecrets Newsletter this week.

My other topics:

• Does the order of driver installs matter?
• Can you be your own ISP?
• Explorer.exe startup failure means no desktop

My column is only a portion of each issue. Here's this week's complete lineup:
http://WindowsSecrets.com/comp/100114

(Free content)
TOP STORY
By Susan Bradley
Why the need to reboot after updating Windows?
Predicting whether an update requires a reboot
Autosaving avoids data loss from forced restarts

KNOWN ISSUES
By Dennis O'Reilly
Ask vendors to honor your rebate up front
Hotfix for a bad XP SP3 Firewire driver

WACKY WEB WEEK
By Stephanie Small
Super Mario gets the hand-drawn treatment

  (Paid content)
You get all of the following in our paid content (paid subscriptions are honor-system: you decide what the content is worth!):

LANGALIST PLUS
By Fred Langa
Upgrade from Windows 7 RC to the retail version
Switch the Windows 7 beta to the retail release
Does the order of driver installs matter?
Why can't I "connect" without an ISP?
Explorer.exe startup failure means no desktop

IN THE WILD
By Robert Vamosi
"Samy worm" author now targets your router
The first Samy worm's cross-scripting exploit
Kamkar's not-so-triumphant return
It's a new take on an old attack stratagem
Adobe Reader updates to become automatic

PATCH WATCH
By Susan Bradley
Update repairs font glitch in Word and Web sites
Embedded-font patch fixes earlier update
Upgrade Adobe PDF software or use an alternative
Update Adobe's Flash Player on new XP netbooks
Incomplete SQL Server patch causes headaches
Still blocked from accessing MS licensing site
MS Word 2007's Custom XML feature gets pulled

https://windowssecrets.com/#subscribe

Posted via email from Fred's posterous