So, I just wanted to vent a little. I'll make it short. It's been months and numerous hardware changes since I last reformatted. So, I thought it would be a good time to do it since I was having some other issues. I thought it could take a while to get everything in order, but the reformat process itself is usually pretty quick. I was sooo wrong. For whatever reason the process didn't want to take and kept giving me errors AND when I finally got it working and booted into Windows 7 I couldn't activate my key. Why you might ask? Because I did a CLEAN INSTALL with my Windows 7 upgrade disc.

What did this mean? It means I had to start over, install my old OS and then install Windows 7 over it. Which is still a CLEAN INSTALL! Stupid! Why can't it just ask me for my old damn cdkey. I didn't even have to activate the other OS. It just simply had to be on the hard drive. GAH! I was pissed. Everything is working now, but I thought I'd share.

The whole upgrade thing for windows is kind of dumb IMO...

Yeah reformatting can be a pain if something goes wrong. A bit stressful too. I got it down to an art form for my particular set up with my old dying laptop, though, doing it about every six months lol. Not sure how it would work with Windows 7. Are you saying the problem is because you didn't originally have Windows 7 installed?

The problem was due to me formatting my hard drive before reinstalling Windows 7. Since I have an upgrade copy it has to have a version of windows installed to the HD before it will accept the key. Of course, it doesn't ask for and then reject the key until you get windows fully installed.

That's the issue with the "upgrade" discs. They are still full versions of Windows 7 but it's the key that unlocks whichever version or upgrade you are installing, and of course it's the last step in the install process. This is why I quit Windows and bought a MacBook. My OS is only $30 for a new license key and reinstalling it takes about 12 minutes from reformat to full install.

Dont get me wrong. I like windows and didnt pay much for this copy but it should let me enter my last os serial number instead of having it installed.