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    Unattended install allows you to select Win7 edition?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Peon, Oct 15, 2009.

  1. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    Oh, the irony...

    Anyways, I was setting up a copy of Win7 in VMware using the easy installer the other day, and I was asked to pick which edition of Windows 7 I wished to install.

    Has anyone investigated this phenomenon? It seems like a much easier way to bypass the hard-coded edition check and get an all-versions-in-one disk than modifying the ISO image.
     
    Peon, Oct 15, 2009
    #1
  2. coolguy

    coolguy Notebook Prophet

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    This is nothing new. If you don't enter a product key during installation, you can always select the edition.
     
    coolguy, Oct 15, 2009
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  3. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    Ahh, but it is new. In Windows 7, you're not prompted to enter the product key until the very last stages of the OOBE, long after the OS has been installed.
     
    Peon, Oct 15, 2009
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  4. coolguy

    coolguy Notebook Prophet

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    Are you using an upgrade DVD or full version? I remember the RC not asking for a product key until after the installation.
     
    coolguy, Oct 15, 2009
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  5. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    Full version, and the not asking for a product key until after the installation thing is precisely what I'm talking about - it's the same in the RTM version.

    Q: So how does Microsoft know which version of Windows 7 you have without knowing your product key ahead of time?
    A: They hard coded it onto the disk...

    The details have been documented in great detail elsewhere. Here's a link:

    http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/07/23/how-to-select-any-edition-or-version-sku-of-windows-7-to-install-from-single-edition-dvd-disc-media-or-iso/
     
    Peon, Oct 15, 2009
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  6. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

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    This isn't really that special. With Vista, if you don't enter your product key before installation, you're prompted to choose the version of Vista you want to install, and then must enter your product key and activate after the installation is complete.
     
    Lithus, Oct 15, 2009
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  7. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    *Sigh* This is the Windows 7 forum right?

    Cuz Windows 7 ain't Vista. Let me make this perfectly clear in case someone else tries to apply their understanding of Vista to Windows 7.

    During the course of a normal installation, you cannot select which edition of Windows 7 to install. It doesn't matter whether you enter your product key or not.

    Are there any other questions?

    [Edit] Actually, could a mod just close this thread? I think that the chance of having a meaningful discussion is pretty much dead at this point.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    Peon, Oct 15, 2009
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  8. Hep!

    Hep! sees beauty in everything

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    I'm glad there's already ways around this. After only needing two Vista Discs (x86 and x64) I was not pleased today when I realized the new OEM discs are specific to the key the come with.
     
    Hep!, Oct 15, 2009
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  9. crash

    crash NBR Assassin

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    Closed by request.
     
    crash, Oct 16, 2009
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