Limited Upgrade Paths for Windows Vista Basic Users

For Windows Vista Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium users we are out of luck as there is a limited supported upgrade path from Microsoft. Therefore if you are currently running Vista Basic or Vista Home Premium, the only way to “upgrade” to Windows 7 Professional is a clean reformat and install or is it? Well if you guessed no then you are correct. By following this quick tutorial, you will be able to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional seemingly and keeping all your files and programs.

Direct Upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 Professional

First it will be in your best interest to backup any important files and folders in case anything goes wrong during the process. AskingEd.com does not take responsibility for any damages done in the process, therefore please proceed at your own risk. However if directions followed correctly, I don’t see how it may cause any damage.

Extracting the Windows 7 Professional ISO

I presume you have a Windows 7 Professional ISO saved on your computer. Using WinRAR or similar programs, extract the ISO to its own folder. After doing so, go into the folder and you will see a directory structure like Figure 1.

Figure 1: Windows 7 Directory Structure

Go into the sources folder and find the file ei.cfg. Right click on the folder and select Rename (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Windows 7 Renaming ei.cfg

Rename the file to eiold.cfg or any other name (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Windows 7 ei.cfg

Now go back to the Windows 7 extracted directory and double click on setup. After doing so, you will see a window appear like (Figure 4). Select Install now.

Figure 4: Windows 7 Installation Screen

It will now ask if you want to check for updates for installation, you may go online to get the latest updates or choose to skip this step. I chose to search for updates (Figure 5 and Figure 6).

Figure 5: Windows 7 Search Important Updates

Figure 6: Windows 7 Searching Updates

After searching for updates, it will now ask you to choose which operating system to install. For Windows Vista Basic users, choose Windows 7 Home Basic. For Vista Home Premium users, choose Windows 7 Home Premium. Since I was upgrading from Vista Basic, I chose Windows 7 Home Basic. (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Windows 7 Choosing Which Operating System

Accept the terms and Click Next (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Windows 7 Accept Terms & Conditions

Now it will ask what type of installing you would want, choose Upgrade (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Windows 7 Upgrade

It will then check for compatibility of your programs (Figure 10). The report generated is saved on your desktop. Click Next (Figure 11).

Figure 10: Windows 7 Checking Compatibility

Figure 11: Windows 7 Compatibility Report

Now it is time for the actual Windows upgrade. Depending on how fast your computer is, the installation time varies. Be patient while it copies the files (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Windows 7 Upgrading

After it finishes copying setup and installation files on your computer, your computer will automatically restart and the installation process begins. Follow the menus accordingly and when it asks you to type in your product key (Figure 13), leave the product key blank and click Next.

Figure 13: Windows 7 License Key

Continue to follow the menus and once complete, your computer will once again restart and will go into Windows 7 Basic or Windows 7 Home Premium versions depending on which you chose before (Figure 14).

Figure 14: Windows 7 Desktop

Upgrade from Windows 7 Basic/Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional

So finally we have upgraded to the fabulous Windows 7 but is missing a couple more steps to upgrade it to Professional and also registering your license key.

Introducing the Windows Anytime Upgrade

Packed with every Windows 7 installation is this fantastic tool that lets you upgrade to another version of Windows 7 at any point of time. Only requirement is either going online and purchasing an upgrade version of Windows 7 or entering in a valid CD-KEY for that specific Windows 7 version. Click on the Start button at the bottom left corner and enter in Windows Anytime Upgrade in the search box as seen in Figure 15:

Figure 15: Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade

After opening the Windows Anytime Upgrade tool, the screen in Figure 16 will appear. Click on the Enter an Upgrade Key field.

Figure 16: Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade Screen

Selecting the enter an upgrade key feature, you will be brought to the screen shown in Figure 17. In the field, enter in your Windows 7 Professional CDKEY. Click Next

Figure 17: Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade CDKEY

With a validated Windows 7 Professional CDKEY, the upgrade tool will now start your version upgrade. Dependent on how fast your computer is, this process may vary in time. However at the end, congratulations you have finally finished upgrading from Windows Vista Basic/Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional