Leaving the product key empty allowed him to continue with the installation but the activation from within the operating system returned another problem:

The following failure occurred while trying to use the product key: Code: 0xC004F061

Description: The Software Licensing Service determined that this specified product key can only be used for upgrading, not clean installations.

The solution was provided in a forum post at the official Microsoft support forum.

Basically install the OS without entering the license key. After full installation, click on [START] [RUN] and type in REGEDIT.

In regedit, browse to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/ and double click on “MediaBootInstall” on the right panel. Change the value from 1 to 0. Close regedit.

Select [START] [All Programs] [Accessories] right click on [Command Prompt] and select [run as administrator]

Type the following in the command line window: “slmgr /rearm” and press enter. WAIT for the “Command completed successfully” dialog box to show up.

Now close the command line window and reboot.

Right click on [Computer] and select [Properties]. Select change product key and input your DigitalRiver’s license key. It’ll be activated than.

Hope this helps other Windows 7 users who have bought the student edition from Digital Rivers and encountered the product key error when trying to reinstall the operating system.

The installation itself can be initiated in the old operating system. Windows XP users need to select custom installation in the process as described in the sheet that comes with the disks of the operating system.

Installation went fine and I was able to boot into Windows 7 in no time. I did encounter two problems with hardware that was not recognized by the operating system. One of the devices was unfortunately my Linksys network adapter which meant that I was not able to connect to the Internet until the problem was fixed. I thankfully had the driver ready and the device was recognized and installed in no time.

After that it took some time to download the latest device drivers and software programs to the computer system. Firefox and Thunderbird backups could be restored with Mozbackup and the rest of the process went smoothly as well. Here are a few tips for a Windows 7 Upgrade:

• Make Backups of everything that you consider valuable. Think about programs that you would like to use in the new operating system and do some research to find backup solutions. Make sure those backups are accessible in the new operating system
• Have the most important drivers ready before starting the installation, those are usually for the network adapter, video, audio and everything else that is required to run the system initially.
• Make sure you have enough time at hand for completing the process. A smooth installation and initial configuration can take up to two hours and a lot more if you run into troubles.
• If possible have another computer system ready for downloading files or troubleshooting issues

Did you make the switch to Windows 7 already? If so, what was your upgrade or installation experience?

Many users are already running a beta or release candidate build of Windows 7. Some even on their main computer system as Windows 7 has proven to be very stable and reliable. These users might be interested in the following news. Microsoft is offering Windows 7 Upgrades to give users running specific Windows XP or Windows Vista operating systems the opportunity to upgrade. Windows XP users will have to do a clean install but can purchase the Windows 7 Upgrade editions which are cheaper than the full retail editions.

Microsoft recently confirmed that it is also possible to upgrade a pre-RTM version of Windows 7 with a Windows 7 Upgrade edition. This means that users who are already running Windows 7 RC (or another build) can buy a Windows 7 Upgrade edition and get a full installation of Windows 7 this way.

There are some limitations on the other hand. No data will be taken over. The installation will move the old data into the folder windows.old from where the files are accessible. Most programs on the other hand will not work unless they are portable.

It also has to be noted that a clean install at a later time requires a Windows XP or Windows Vista installation (or a new installation of a pre-RTM build of Windows 7).

This essentially means that no data will be taken over automatically to the new operating system. Experienced Windows XP users should not have a problem installing Windows 7. They also should not have a problem backing up and moving their data to the new operating system. Inexperienced users on the other hand might wonder how they can move their pictures, music, emails and applications to the new operating system.

If you are running Windows XP on a computer system currently and want to upgrade to Windows 7 you basically have a few choices which largely depend on the storage capacities of the computer system. The easiest way would be to backup all data, format the hard drive and install Windows 7 afterwards. Some users might not like this solution. They could alternatively create and install Windows 7 on a second partition to create a dual booting operating system until all data from Windows XP has been moved to Windows 7.

Backup Data

We covered Windows Backup Software (Hard Drive Backup Software) before here at Ghacks. Both applications can be used to backup a hard drive. This obviously requires another storage device with enough hard drive space to transfer all of the data. It might be a good idea to backup the data even if you have the intention to install Windows 7 on a different partition. This might be less important for individuals but should be essential for business computers.

Installing Windows 7

We recommend to install Windows 7 on another partition or hard drive at the beginning. This will essentially create a dual-boot system with the option to switch between Windows XP and Windows 7. This is the easiest way to keep the Windows XP data for the time being as Windows 7 will not overwrite or tamper with the data of the Windows XP installation.

The other option would be to format the partition containing Windows XP and install Windows 7 on the (now) empty partition. The data of the Windows XP partition would be gone for good if it would not have been backed up first.

The third option is to install Windows 7 on the Windows XP partition without formatting the hard drive first. Most computer savvy users do not recommend this option as it can lead to all kinds of troubles and problems. It has virtually no benefits as the programs and applications of Windows XP cannot be used in Windows 7 without reinstalling them.

Moving data from Windows XP to Windows 7

Microsoft has created a tool called Windows Easy Transfer
which can be used to transfer data from Windows XP to Windows Vista. The application should also work in Windows 7 as Microsoft recommends it in the Windows 7 installation guide. The software can be used to transfer data over network, usb cable or disk to another operating system. It will copy files like music or pictures but also emails and settings to the new operating system.

If Windows 7 has been installed on a second partition or hard drive data can simply be copied by dragging and dropping it to the new partition. Some data might need to be imported, for example web browser bookmarks or emails. Please note that it is usually not possible to move installed applications to the new operating system. It is necessary to install them again when the new operating system is running.
If backups have been created the data can also be restored or extracted from the backups to the new operating system.

Verdict:

Inexperienced users will find it troublesome to move data from their old operating system to Windows 7. Microsoft should make sure to include a step by step guide prior to the release of Windows 7 that explains how to migrate the data to the new operating system.

If you run into troubles you can visit our sister site Windows 7 News or the Windows 7 Forum to find help with the migration and other Windows 7 related difficulties.