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Installing 64bit Win 7 Home Premium under Parallels 7

lugesm

lugesm

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2007
572
9
I bought Win 7 Home Premium UPGRADE because I have Windows Vista. I tried to install Win 7 with Vista running under Parallels 7, but that failed.

Then I tried installing Win 7 as a new VM under Parallels 7. That does not work because the new install of Win 7 does not see the Vista in the first VM. As a result Win 7 UPGRADE will not install.

Does this mean that Win 7 can ONLY be installed under Parallels 7 if one is using the FULL version of Win 7 and not the UPGRADE ?

Any way around this dilemma? I have a copy of Vista.
 
  1. Download Windows 7 SP1 ISO (This way you don't have to waste half an hour upgrading to SP1 after the install)
  2. Create new VM
  3. Mount ISO
  4. Install Windows 7
  5. Go through the Windows 7 User setup wizard and click "Skip" on the Product Key entry dialog
  6. In the Start Menu search box type "regedit.exe" and press Enter
  7. Navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/"
  8. Double click "MediaBootInstall" and change it from "1" to "0"
  9. Close Regedit
  10. In the Start Menu search box type "cmd" then Right click on the result and choose "Run as administrator"
  11. In the now open Command Prompt type "slmgr /rearm" (and wait for it to finish)
  12. Restart VM
  13. In the Start Menu search box type "activate" and press Enter
  14. Follow the wizard and enter your Product Key to activate
  15. Install Parallels Guest Additions
  16. Run Windows Update until there are no updates left
  17. Run Disk Defragmenter Once (skip this step if you have a SSD)
  18. Restart VM
-------

Or you can do it the way balamw suggested. Either way will work.
.​
 
balamw said:
Follow the directions here: http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media Install once without entering a product key, then upgrade over that.

B
Click to expand...

Dont want to hijack but I've read that link and many others you have provided on this subject (many thanks for that :)). I have a new MBA (barely used) and an older think pad with a valid xp license that I would like to retire. I'm wondering if it would be worth a shot to try a clean install from an upgrade of Win 7 even though I have no interest in having 'xp' on my MBA. The article kind of makes you think that anyone with a valid copy of xp or vista is 'eligible' for an upgrade...but isnt that machine specific?
 
lugesm said:
Thanks for the comment, "balamw"
When trying to install Win 7-64 under Parallels7 as a new VM, the install wizard will not allow you to proceed without entering the key, so the 'double install' method will not work with Parallels 7. :(
Click to expand...

Did you see the links for the Official ISO's I posted? Official install media will not ask you for a key until after the setup is finished and will also give you a option to "Skip" entering the key.

Please see the steps I posted.
 
Quad5Ny said:
Did you see the links for the Official ISO's I posted? Official install media will not ask you for a key until after the setup is finished and will also give you a option to "Skip" entering the key.

Please see the steps I posted.
Click to expand...

Quad5Ny . . . .

My mistake. I did not read your post with sufficient care.
I went back and used your method, and it worked perfectly. Not only did you help me through a tough spot, you taught me something valuable. :)

Thank you very much.
L.
 
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