Windows Anytime Upgrade

Really? Anytime? Yup. And from OEM to Retail too.

My new PC runs Windows 7 Home Premium and I've already installed all of my apps. But I heard somewhere that it was ridiculously easy to upgrade editions under 7.

Problem was, I got a lot of noisy search results trying to bring up some info on how to do this (and lots of hits on cracking and piracy). There's lots of info out there describing the feature and roughly what's involved, but I was missing the critical first step of HOW to do it. Maybe I wasn't reading closely enough...I do that from time to time (my cowboy hat gets in the way so to speak).

I did find an article once from TechRepublic (I think) that described the process as being as simple as punching in your code for Pro (or Ultimate), or whatever. But for the life of me I couldn't find it again (and I couldn't even remember which of my computers I found it on to go digging through the IE history).

So, after looking at this for a few minutes and giving up (and repeating the process a few time), I gave my thinking a reboot this morning and did the following:

1. Clicked the Start button.

2. Typed "windows anytime upgrade" into the search field.

3. Low and behold, a wizard appeared.

4. Typed in my Windows 7 Ultimate key (which was free from a Microsoft Event).

5. Verifying.

6. Click "I Accept".

7. Click "Upgrade". WARNING: Your computer will restart automatically.

8. Done.

Windows XP Mode, here I come. I wonder how long it will take for my WHS to recognize the change (it's busy shuffling disks right now so I can't check).

Obligatory Windows 7 Post

So, if you didn't know that Windows 7 is being released this week, you've been living under a rock. Personally, 7 is old news. But I've been using it since like January or something, maybe earlier. I can't remember now, and obviously I don't care.

What is REALLY cool is the release of Windows Server 2008 R2. This is where the real power of Windows 7 is going to be revealed - but only for Enterprise customers (or SMBs with really deep pockets).

Be that as it may, Windows 7 still has a lot of really cool features, an interface that I really like, XP Mode (well, for the lucky ones) and absolutely no downsides. Even if it looks like a downside, it's not. We call those "features".

Here's some random Windows 7 stuff that means something to me. And since this is my blog, I'm going to pretend that's all I care about:

Installing Windows 7 in an SBS 2003 environment: http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2009/05/14/installing-windows-7-in-a-sbs-2003-environment.aspx

Windows 7 cannot access shadow copies in SBS 2003. Not without this tweak anyway. http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2009/10/21/windows-7-cannot-access-shadow-copies-in-sbs-2003.aspx

Adding Windows 7 in an SBS 2008 environment. Not sure if this has changed with RTM, my guess is "not". http://msmvps.com/blogs/kwsupport/archive/2009/02/25/connect-windows-7-to-sbs-2008.aspx

Changing the logon screen background in Windows 7 is now "supported". By "supported", they mean its the same kind of reg hack as in previous versions of Windows, except now with the extra step of having to place a file (or files) in exactly the right place, with exactly the right name, and no larger than a certain size. That's what we call "progress". (Of course - there's always tons of little brainless utilities that do this for you, so about a wash.)
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-change-windows-7-logon-screen-easily-without-using-hacks-tools/

That's my brain dump for today. A long post to make up for a summer of slacking on my blog.