Moving from Premium to Professional

Am I correct in thinking that if I want to upgrade from Home Premium to Pro I do it by going to Control Panel>Upgrade> Crossing M/S hand with money and getting a new key to unlock?

I'm not sure I see the value in it as I dual boot but wanted to know in case I needed more networking options in the future.

Also as my current installation has (blissfully) been trouble free to date I don't want to mess it up. If I can and do an upgrade this way am I likely to have any grief ?

I've never upgraded, so I don't have personal experiences to share. But if I did do an upgrade in place of a clean install, this is likely the only scenario. You should be able to use Anytime Upgrade to switch to Pro in a matter of minutes. It is my understanding that the actual data is already all there, it's just a question of using Anytime Upgrade to purchase and install a new key from Microsoft. That should enable the new features with minimal fuss. Maybe someone who's been through this stuff can confirm.

Right click on Computer then go to Properties and you'll see the following, it is rather painless, other than the wallet hit, from what I understand.

See the attached screen capture:

Yeah, more concerned about whether or not it might trash my stable O/S. I can find the money a bit later on but more concerned about how smoothly the upgrade goes.
Be good to hear from anyone that has actually done it.

Mychael, that's how I updated my Windows 7 to Pro, I clicked onto the Start Menu to go to the site to purchase a key, then after it was emailed to me, I went back to the same menu (Windows Anytime Upgrade) to enter it.

It took less than 15 minutes, none of my programs/data was changed. You do need to be connected to the internet at the time, so that updates may be delivered to your computer. You couldn't ask for a simpler upgrade.

Make a couple of copies of your key, and keep it in a safe place. It's good for the life of the OS that you upgraded, so if you need to reinstall, after you fully update, you just reenter the key.

Keep in mind that that key is tied to the OS that you upgrade from, and not just the computer.

Hope my advice is of some help.

Cat

Very helpful Cat. Thanks very much.

Was just going to do it but what a rip off. Price was quoted as near enough to $90 (US) but our current rate of exchange is close to 1-1. However when it came up in Aussie dollars it was $200. You can shove that M/S.

That's still a lot cheaper than if you were to buy a computer with 7 Pro preinstalled. Most OEM's and retail stores charges $200 extra to do the very same thing.

Plus, you're getting XP Mode, it's the main reason for upgrading. There are other advantages too, but most of them are for business type use.

You know the main reason that I even bought Pro? There was a dispute on this very forum, as to whether the member's AV/IS suite would cover her on XP Mode. Another member and I was at odds with each other, and I knew that she wouldn't be covered, he insisted that she was, but I knew deep down that she wasn't.

So C_C came in, and said that without proof of my claim, and he was in the right, that my theory had little merit.

The thing was, this cat (the other member at odds with me) seemed to know it all, but had never ran a VM. I had, but not Windows Virtual PC w/XP Mode. I had a point to prove, so I purchased that key just to have XP Mode for myself.

And I was right, the host's AV didn't give the guest (XP Mode) live protection, I proved my point, and the member that needed advice thanked me for taking the time to help her.

I was looking for an excuse to upgrade anyway, so this was the time to do so. And you really do get a lot for your money, I felt it was well worth the total of $96.

As for the cat that was at odds with me, I've never heard from him again.

Cat

Well would have been quite happy to pay $100 for the upgrade but when it re-directed me to the Australian site it suddenly went to $200. That's 100% inflation and our Aussie dollar is currently slightly better then parity with the greenback so it should not have cost me anymore. That's my beef.

I got a reply to my email to M/S customer support. Basically it said that the cost variation was only in part effected by exchange rates and was also effected by production costing, sales numbers (phase of the moon, season) etc etc. .
They went on to say there were "quote , significant differences from the USA to Australian release versions Unquote". And that customer support originated from place of purchase. Still not clear how in this electronic age and mass production and that I was only buying a unlock key how all that justifies a 100% increase in price.