Windows 7 Preorder FAQ
Microsoft has pushed out an awesome deal lasting from June 25 up until July 11th that will allow customers to preorder upgrade editions of Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional at a huge discount. The purpose of this FAQ is to clear any conceptions and to make sure that you make the right decision when purchasing an upgrade.
Why should I preorder Windows 7?
Simple. You’re saving tons of money when you preorder. Unfortuantely, no early savings for Windows 7 Ultimate.
Savings for American and Canadian customers no longer apply. The special discount period is now over.
How much do I save?
This chart compares the prices between a preorder and a retail purchase.
Windows 7 Price Comparison
Preorder Price Retail Price Savings
Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade $49.99 $119.99 $70 (58%)
Windows 7 Professional Upgrade $99.99 $199.99 $100 (50%)
What do I get when I preorder Windows 7 now?
All vendors offering preorder specials will be selling the upgrade edition of Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional
What is the difference between the Upgrade and Full edition of Windows 7?
The upgrade and full editions of Windows 7 are exactly the same. The only difference is that an Upgrade edition will requires you to have a genuine copy of Windows 2000, XP, or Vista already installed. However, workarounds have been found to circumvent the check on Windows Vista. Many expect the same can be done with Windows 7.
Home Premium or Professional?
For most consumers, Home Premium will be enough. Unlike with Vista, each higher SKU will contain all the features of the SKU before it. Meaning that Professional will contain all of Home Premium’s features plus more.
Click for clearer image
Here is the complete list of features absent from Home Premium but are included in Professional:
- Automatic Backups and Backup to a Network Location
- Remote Desktop Host: Allow you to host remote desktop connections
- Presentation Mode: Allow you to control the machine’s behaviour while giving presentations
- Windows Server Domain Joining: Allows you to easily and securely join domains
- Windows XP Mode: This allows you to run Windows XP apps in a virtual environment, but on the same desktop as Windows 7. Check out our giant screenshot tour, and this post for more information.
You might want to consider Professional over Home Premium if you…
- prefer to backup to a network location
- encrypt your files
- need to move back and forth between different networks (home and office)
- need support for Windows XP-compatible apps that don’t work in Windows 7
You can visit Microsoft’s site for a comparison chart between Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.
Can I perform a Clean Install?
Yes you can.
Is it possible to install with the Upgrade Disk without an existing version of Windows installed?
There was a workaround for this in Vista, which suggests that it may work in Windows 7. But by doing so, you are violating the EULA.
Who can preorder?
If you live in Canada or the US, you can preorder right now up until July 11th.
If you live in the UK, France, or Germany, you will have to wait until July 15th.
Why preorder now?
Microsoft originally stated that preorders are only available in limited quantities. Japan has already sold out of Windows 7 preorders.
What if I want to buy a computer/laptop now? Will I be eligible for a Windows 7 upgrade?
That depends on the retailer. A couple of retailers such as Dell, HP, Acer, and Asus are running Windows 7 Upgrade offers that allow you to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 at little or no cost. Details vary depending on the retailer. However, the upgrade paths will always remain the same. There are three upgrade paths available:
- Windows Vista Home Premium Edition -> Windows 7 Home Premium Edition
- Windows Vista Business Edition -> Windows 7 Professional Edition
- Windows Vista Ultimate Edition -> Windows 7 Ultimate Edition
I want to preorder. Where can I get the best deal?
Typically, all vendors are selling the preorders for the same price. The ones that offer you free shipping will give you the most savings. The following vendors offer free shipping:
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Best Buy US
Best Buy Canada (Professional sold out)
Where else can I preorder?
Here is a list of the other American retailers selling:
- Microsoft Store
- Costco
- Best Buy
- Walmart
- Fry’s Electronics
- Office Depot
- TigerDirect.com
- Office Max
- Newegg.com
- Quill
And here is the list for the remaining Canadian retailers:
- FutureShop (Professional sold out)
- London Drugs
- Staples
- The Source
**European info will be updated as we near the preorder date for Europe.
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Tags: buy windows 7, preorder windows 7, windows 7, windows 7 preorder, windows 7 preorder FAQ
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28 Responses to “Windows 7 Preorder FAQ”
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“The only difference is that an Upgrade edition will require you to insert a Windows installation CD to confirm that you own a previous version of Windows.”
I don’t understand very well this part, does this means that the Upgrade Disc will require you to insert the Vista Installation Disc to confirm the previous Windows version or the Upgrade Disc needs to be inserted while the Vista OS is running to upgrade the system? I got my laptop with Windows Vista and a recovery disc and I don’t think that will work if thw Upgrade wants the Vista Installation Disc.
Can someone help me with these by sharing more information about it? Please!
Actually, this site is the first I’ve read that says the upgrade procedure will use the installation media check. All other sources I’ve read over the last week hint (but there’s no definitive answer AFAIK) that you will actually need an installed version of Windows XP or Vista, and the Windows 7 Upgrade will install on the same partition, copying your old Windows files to the Windows.old directory (which should be safe to delete).
However, I don’t have confirmation from an official source one way or the other. Personally, I’d MUCH prefer the installation media approach so I don’t have to install an older OS version just to install the new version. That’s a lot of wasted time given how long XP takes to install as opposed to Win7 (at least the RC).
My friend works at Microsoft Support and it turns out he gave me the wrong details. Thanks for commenting, as I’ve now edited it since it is a very important piece of information.
Luckily there are ways to bypass this… unless MS has fixed them.
Hi you can do a clean install with the upgrade version, this is where the media check is done, just like old times.not a new technique. its better to do a clean install anyway. save your files to cd instead of the easy swap thing win7 uses, then you get a true clean install and no old windows file. I really like win7 though its slick and fast and pretty as a picture
Hi you only have to insert a valid copy of windows if you are doing a clean install and not an upgrade, if you upgrade from a running system such as Vista or XP then it will do a check and reboot to install win7.
no keys except win7 need be entered during an install in either case, if you do have to insert a disk during a clean install then it will verify the disk and continue with the installation no keys necessary. Hope this helps. Microsoft has always used this method it isnt new. Dan
Here in Europe we MUST do a clean install, because of the different E and N versions, so we can’t upgrade directly from a running Vista. What if I have only recovery disc, because I have an OEM Vista on my laptop? How can I do a clean install with an upgrade version of Win7 when I don’t have a Vista install disc only its key?
European editions for now can ONLY do clean install.
You must have a genuine activated version of Windows already installed to install Windows 7 upgrade edition (which only allows clean installs)
I suppose the european upgrade version of Win7 won’t ask for an install disc of XP or Vista because these versions ONLY allow clean install… and for the OEM versions there are no install discs. Or the OEM versions can not be upgraded?
Newegg also has free shipping.
Where is the GREAT DISCOUNT for the Ultimate 7? I see no offers for it on any of the retailers sites.
They aren’t offering any discounts for ultimate unfortunately
Tried it but they won’t ship to the UK
UK preorders start on July 15th. Come back here for more info then!
will there be pre-orders for rest of the world? Eg australia
Haven’t heard any word of it yet but you will find out about it here if it does
Hi,
Have pre ordered by friend in Canada, who will post to me in UK. Will I have any problems running here
You should not. I don’t see why you would
I read that the reason they were not doing pre order discounts in UK was because it was a different version
Order discounts are coming for the UK.
I currently have Windows Vista x32 and when I update to 7 would also like to change to x64. Is this something that I will be able to do? I also want to do a clean install, but because I my computer came with Vista, I don’t have an installation disk. Will I be able to do this?
If you want to go from x86 (32-bit) to x64, you MUST do a clean install.
Thank you, I was definitely planning on doing the clean install. I was just worried that if I did that with the upgrade version that it wouldn’t let me switch to x64.
Nope. Each box comes with 32-bit and 64-bit OS
So if they aren’t offering Win 7 Ultimate as an upgrade, and i am running Vista ultimate, can i get an upgrade to Win 7 pro from Vista Ultimate?
Yes you can.
Very unhappy that us Vista Ultimate x64 users get zero discount, seeing as I bought it off the shelf not long after it’s official release in the UK. [._.]
I ‘was’ very happy about Se7en Ultimate x64 until today! [._.]
Is it possible to buy the US version from a European country that won’t have a pre-order option?
If yes, could I then download Windows 7 in my language and use this US license key?
can I upgrade both of my computers with one disk or do i need to purchase two?