Bootcamping Questions

[bootcamping12]

Hello all,

This is my first post on the site, and if I violate any rules or repeat something asked a thousand times, I am truly sorry. I want to bootcamp my mac, (An early 2011 MacBook Pro Laptop), and I thought I had the correct version of Windows to do so. Keep in mind I have done nothing yet, not even reformatting. I have a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, that says a Pre-existing OS License is required/product key is required. It has a product key on it. Will it work on its own? If not, I have a copy of Windows XP Home Edition. Will using bootcamp on it work, and, if so, can I use it to upgrade to Windows 7 via my other disk?

Thanks in advance

 

[Gjwilly]

You can't go straight from XP to Windows 7.
If you were dealing with a pure Windows machine you would start the W7U installation, and when prompted, insert the XP disc to confirm you were eligible for the "upgrade".
I'm fairly certain that this option will not be available with a Bootcamp installation.

But what I believe you can do is perform a clean install of W7U but then do not enter any product key.
After the installation is complete, but before you attempt to activate or register, you begin the installation of Windows again, from within Windows, essentially "upgrading" from W7U to W7U.
It's the long way around but it works -- if you're on a PC that is.

I don't know if this method would work either because Bootcamp says that you must use a full install version of Windows and not an upgrade version.

Wouldn't hurt to try though.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

 

[saturnotaku]

If you were dealing with a pure Windows machine you would start the W7U installation, and when prompted, insert the XP disc to confirm you were eligible for the "upgrade".
I'm fairly certain that this option will not be available with a Bootcamp installation.

That option is not available on Windows machines either because Microsoft changed the way upgrading works with Windows 7. You can go from XP to 7, but only on a Mac that supported XP. If the system originally came with Snow Leopard, you can install XP then upgrade. If it had Lion, you're out of luck.

 

[Gjwilly]

Since XP is not an option, then the easiest thing is to replace your upgrade disc with a full install version.
You can find the links here:
http://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/14-windows-7-direct-download-links

Download the one that matches your product key and use the SP-1 version if its available to save yourself lots up updating afterward.
Use Bootcamp assistant to create a USB installer and use the downloaded ISO as your source instead of your upgrade disc.
Then during the installation, follow the instructions that I linked above to get your clean installed Windows to accept your upgrade product key.