Solved Windows 8 Retail upgrade over WGA Windows 7

bsbharath1987

New Member
Messages
5
Location
Bangalore, India
Hi,

I have a neghbourhood-assembled PC in which they installed bootlegged Windows 7 copy. I later availed the Windows Genuine Advantage offer on a Windows 7 Ultimate copy. Per the licence, the licence is valid for only that computer on which the activation failed (my above mentioned PC).

Now, I plan to buy Windows 8 Pro tomorrow and install it over the WGA Windows 7. Also, since my above-mentioned PC is now 3 years old, I plan to build a new one myself in a few months.

My question is: Can I legally re-install Windows 8 on that new PC? I have this question because I read somewhere that an upgrade licence assumes all the conditions of the OS that was upgraded.

Please help me understand this. Sorry for my English, if it is confusing; it's not my first language.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Upgrading to Windows 8 is fine - the WGA license is exactly the same as a Retail one, with the proviso that it can only be used on the machine which previously had the counterfeit installed. Upgrading therefore is well within the license terms.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 64-bit and Win8 32-bit in VM (+ others in VM)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus K52F
    CPU
    i3
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    it's an i3 :)
    Sound Card
    Conexant (rubbish - or it may be the speakers)
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Internet Speed
    whatever I can get - G3
NoelDP, thanks for the info. I guess I was not clear in my question. I wanted to know if I change the motherboard of my existing PC sometime in the future, will the Windows 8 licence still be valid if I install it on the hardware (motherboard) upgraded PC?

Thanks again!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
That's a different question altogether :)
Upgrade licenses are Retail and there's been a LOT of argument about this particular question in relation to what used to be OEM licenses in Win7/Vista/XP.
There is no consensus, and as far as I am aware there has been no guidance from MS.
In my opinion, it all depends on MS - they seems to allow such things sometimes, but not others.
Windows 8 further muddies the waters by changing the licensing scheme altogether.
My advice would be to play safe and purchase a Full license - that way you know exactly where you are.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 64-bit and Win8 32-bit in VM (+ others in VM)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus K52F
    CPU
    i3
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    it's an i3 :)
    Sound Card
    Conexant (rubbish - or it may be the speakers)
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Internet Speed
    whatever I can get - G3
You're welcome - one advantage of purchasing a Full license for Win8 is that it's possible to then dual-boot the two OS's so that the users have a choice which system they can use Win8 is not for all!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 64-bit and Win8 32-bit in VM (+ others in VM)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus K52F
    CPU
    i3
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    it's an i3 :)
    Sound Card
    Conexant (rubbish - or it may be the speakers)
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Internet Speed
    whatever I can get - G3
I think the full licensed windows 8 packs are not being sold currently.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro x64
    CPU
    Q9300
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte P43 Es3g
    Memory
    8 GB of ddr 2
    Graphics Card(s)
    sapphire hd 6850
    Sound Card
    sound blaster titanium x-fi pci-e
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22 inches
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 2 TB st20001dm001
    Samsung 2 tb sata 2
    Hitachi 500 gb sata
    PSU
    fatality 550 w
    Case
    spike
    Cooling
    air
    Mouse
    wired A4
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 8 MB / 1 MB
Thanks . I was wrong but it's not being sold in my country . I am expecting to see local stores selling full retail packs in my native language.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro x64
    CPU
    Q9300
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte P43 Es3g
    Memory
    8 GB of ddr 2
    Graphics Card(s)
    sapphire hd 6850
    Sound Card
    sound blaster titanium x-fi pci-e
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22 inches
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 2 TB st20001dm001
    Samsung 2 tb sata 2
    Hitachi 500 gb sata
    PSU
    fatality 550 w
    Case
    spike
    Cooling
    air
    Mouse
    wired A4
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 8 MB / 1 MB

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 64-bit and Win8 32-bit in VM (+ others in VM)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus K52F
    CPU
    i3
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    it's an i3 :)
    Sound Card
    Conexant (rubbish - or it may be the speakers)
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Internet Speed
    whatever I can get - G3
Thanks. As far as I understand, new license terms are like half way between oem and retail and we are allowed to transfer the software to another computer or to replace mainboard etc. Since I don't like upgrading , I am going to wait for full packs allowing clean install.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro x64
    CPU
    Q9300
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte P43 Es3g
    Memory
    8 GB of ddr 2
    Graphics Card(s)
    sapphire hd 6850
    Sound Card
    sound blaster titanium x-fi pci-e
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22 inches
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 2 TB st20001dm001
    Samsung 2 tb sata 2
    Hitachi 500 gb sata
    PSU
    fatality 550 w
    Case
    spike
    Cooling
    air
    Mouse
    wired A4
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 8 MB / 1 MB
You can do a clean install with an upgrade - the only problem is that if you have to reformat subsequently you *have* to reinstall the original OS first.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 64-bit and Win8 32-bit in VM (+ others in VM)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus K52F
    CPU
    i3
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    it's an i3 :)
    Sound Card
    Conexant (rubbish - or it may be the speakers)
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Internet Speed
    whatever I can get - G3
How can that be a clean install if I have to have a working windows 7? To my knowledge , a clean install is performed via booting with a dvd and formatting the partition first . It might be different for windows 8. Are you saying that windows 8 will perform a complete clean install after it recognizes windows 7 and will remove windows 7 files completely before copying windows 8 files?.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro x64
    CPU
    Q9300
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte P43 Es3g
    Memory
    8 GB of ddr 2
    Graphics Card(s)
    sapphire hd 6850
    Sound Card
    sound blaster titanium x-fi pci-e
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22 inches
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 2 TB st20001dm001
    Samsung 2 tb sata 2
    Hitachi 500 gb sata
    PSU
    fatality 550 w
    Case
    spike
    Cooling
    air
    Mouse
    wired A4
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 8 MB / 1 MB
If you start the upgrade from the DVD you have the option to format the drive as part of the upgrade procedure.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 64-bit and Win8 32-bit in VM (+ others in VM)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus K52F
    CPU
    i3
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    it's an i3 :)
    Sound Card
    Conexant (rubbish - or it may be the speakers)
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Internet Speed
    whatever I can get - G3
Good. Thanks for the information. That's a lot like former clean install procedure.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro x64
    CPU
    Q9300
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte P43 Es3g
    Memory
    8 GB of ddr 2
    Graphics Card(s)
    sapphire hd 6850
    Sound Card
    sound blaster titanium x-fi pci-e
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22 inches
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 2 TB st20001dm001
    Samsung 2 tb sata 2
    Hitachi 500 gb sata
    PSU
    fatality 550 w
    Case
    spike
    Cooling
    air
    Mouse
    wired A4
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 8 MB / 1 MB
Another possible issue that occurred to me is that what would happen if hard drive fails and I need to reinstall from scratch ? Previous windows license is invalid due to license conditions. I would need to install windows 7 first but I wouldn't be able to do it since the windows 7 key is invalid ? what would I need to do ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro x64
    CPU
    Q9300
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte P43 Es3g
    Memory
    8 GB of ddr 2
    Graphics Card(s)
    sapphire hd 6850
    Sound Card
    sound blaster titanium x-fi pci-e
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22 inches
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 2 TB st20001dm001
    Samsung 2 tb sata 2
    Hitachi 500 gb sata
    PSU
    fatality 550 w
    Case
    spike
    Cooling
    air
    Mouse
    wired A4
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 8 MB / 1 MB
ALL WIndows Licenses continue to be valid even after a hard drive failure - it's only motherboard changes that affect the license in the case of XP/Vista/Win7 OEM installs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 64-bit and Win8 32-bit in VM (+ others in VM)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus K52F
    CPU
    i3
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    it's an i3 :)
    Sound Card
    Conexant (rubbish - or it may be the speakers)
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Internet Speed
    whatever I can get - G3
Thank you very much. You cleared it all up for me. You should go ask microsoft your payment for technical support. Even microsoft support in my country didn't give me that much information. Thanks again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro x64
    CPU
    Q9300
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte P43 Es3g
    Memory
    8 GB of ddr 2
    Graphics Card(s)
    sapphire hd 6850
    Sound Card
    sound blaster titanium x-fi pci-e
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22 inches
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 2 TB st20001dm001
    Samsung 2 tb sata 2
    Hitachi 500 gb sata
    PSU
    fatality 550 w
    Case
    spike
    Cooling
    air
    Mouse
    wired A4
    Internet Speed
    ADSL 8 MB / 1 MB
It's all available in the FAQ's - the trick is finding them :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 64-bit and Win8 32-bit in VM (+ others in VM)
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus K52F
    CPU
    i3
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    it's an i3 :)
    Sound Card
    Conexant (rubbish - or it may be the speakers)
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Internet Speed
    whatever I can get - G3
I am still quite confused and if NoelDP can clear it up a bit I would really appreciate it since MS has been giving me conflicting information. When dealing with the Upgrade version: When you upgrade windows 8 consumes the previous operating system's license (e.g. full version of windows 7). If I want to then reinstall windows 8 on a new system (different motherboard) do I need a new windows 7 (or other older operating system license) in order to upgrade to windows 8 since the old win 7 license can no longer be used. (according to the license agreement it states that the consumer no longer retains the rights to the previous OS and that win 8 consumes that license) Also the license agreement states that "You may transfer Get Genuine Windows software, Pro Pack or Media Center Pack software only together with the licensed computer." So does this mean even if I am able to reinstall windows 8 that I would need to re-purchase the Media pack if I have reinstalled on a new motherboard (hence a new PC by Microsoft's terms). Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
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