Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media: The Answer
I think I do have a (fairly) simple way to clean install Windows 7 with Upgrade media. That is, it should be easier than the old "install it twice" hack that I previously documented for Vista (though that should still work as well). Put simply, the goal here is to clean install Windows 7 on a virgin, unused PC. You can boot and run Setup with the Upgrade media for Windows 7, but when you go to activate, it won't work. Thanks to Kevin Fisher and a bit of testing, I have a simple workaround that does work. Source
Since June 26, retailers and computer manufacturers have urged shoppers to buy computers already on store shelves loaded with the much-maligned Windows Vista operating system because they would qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it was released in October. As it turns out, Mouse Print has learned that some computer purchasers will be asked to pay shipping, handling and other junk fees that total between $11 and $17 to receive their "free" upgrade disks.
Windows 7 pricing gets unveiled Microsoft will not be offering upgrade version of Windows 7 to Europeans. In the past Microsoft has given people already using Windows a chance to upgrade to a new version when it becomes available. While that option will be offered in the US, Microsoft said its efforts to comply with competition regulations meant it could not do so in Europe.
Wondering why your battery life of your laptop is not as good as the manufacturers claim?
powercfg -ENERGY
You need to run this command from the command prompt with administrator privileges (Run as Administrator). This command will perform a 60 second analysis of the computer's energy consumption and provide you with a report: (by default in the system32 folder): C:\Windows\system32\energy-report.html
Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor scans your PC to see if it's ready for Windows 7, and tells you about any known compatibility issues.
Julie Larson-Green hopes you'll like Windows 7. If not, well, now you and a billion other people know whom to blame. Microsoft Corp. is counting on Larson-Green, its head of "Windows Experience," to deliver an operating system that delights the world's PC users as much as its last effort, Vista, disappointed them. She's in charge of a wide swath of the system, from the way buttons and menus work to getting the software out in January as scheduled. Given Microsoft's history, Larson-Green's plan seems downright revolutionary: Build an operating system that doesn't require people to take computer classes or master thick manuals.