Where to purchase Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium retail or upgrade?

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I have somebody who was asking me for help upgrading their Vista system to Windows 7. They bought the OEM copy of Windows 7 and instead need a copy of Windows 7 64-bit home premium upgrade. They intend to return it as luckily the packaging hadn't been opened.

The question is, where can I purchase a legitimate copy of Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium, either Upgrade or Retail, whatever will allow the easy upgrade option instead of overwriting everything?

A link to a reputable site or mail-order business that ships to the Chicago Suburbs would be appreciated.

Oh, the computer in question does NOT have a touch screen, and Windows 8 is probably unsuitable for that system. It might work OK if she bought a touch screen, but does not want one. She's just interested in Windows 7 Home Premium.

All I can find on Amazon and Tiger Direct are OEM copies.

 

Have you looked at Fry's?

 

I got an answer here that worked.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-premium/c9c9ef49-d285-4c9c-a29c-17893d74f83c
Downloaded a retail copy, did the upgrade install with it, then entered the OEM product key. Which it surprisingly accepted and activated. It said "Your copy of Windows is now genuine", so I presume the activation also ran a WGA check.

This is different from the XP days when I had a CD case with pirated copies of the OEM version of XP Home, OEM XP Pro, retail XP home, retail XP Pro, and a corporate XP Pro without any product keys lying around.
When somebody asked me for help with reinstalling Windows and told me they lost the CDs that came with the computer, I pulled out that "kit" and selected the appropriate disc.
The only one I had legally was the corporate copy, which was also made available to teachers through schools at a huge discount and my mother worked for such a school and purchased it for me.

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Oh, and I forgot about Frys. The only one I know is in Lombard (or just south of it), and the person I was helping was in Lake Zurich. Fry's is probably 45 minutes away from me (Arlington Heights), so it would be over an hour for her. I haven't actually been there since 2007 when I worked in Addison. Fortunately we're both pretty close to IL-53/Interstate 355.
I should have suggested looking there.

 

When you buy a computer, you get a key. a small piece of paper or a sticker. That is your code. you can use an other disk with the same windows version and use that code.

the OEM copy will install, but it will be locked with the motherboard, so you cannot use it on an other motherboard. you can upgrade every part of the PC but not the motherboard meaning that you can replace the processor, but not upgrade with that version to a newer generation of motherboard.

If they plan to use it for at least two years, it is very likely that windows 9 will be available. Win 9 is expected, as rumours go, to be more PC orientated.

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But why the need to upgrade from Vista? It is not that bad.

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Microsoft works in series of two's.

95 got perfected in 98
2000/ME got perfected in XP
8, we assume, will be corrected with 9.

 

Everything I've seen says the OEM DVDs will not offer an upgrade installation. While I'd normally recommend doing a clean install, this was one situation where an upgrade install was better.
The person in question had a low 256kbit DSL connection. While there I had to make two downloads of over 100mb to update software and drivers. The first took over an hour for 117mb. The second took over an hour and a half for 158mb.

If I had used the OEM DVD, I'd have had to make a clean install. The person in question had not kept ANY of her software installers, trashing them after they finished. I would have had to re-download everything. It took five hours to perform the upgrade, and it only took two hours for the actual upgrade, another three to download drivers and stuff, plus she still had some additional stuff to download overnight, particularly the 900mb of Windows Updates.
I'd have missed Easter if I had to reinstall all her software like that.

So, and upgrade install was necessary. I also advised her on some things like saving her installers to a flash drive or burning them to a CD/DVD (and explaining that a CD-RW or DVD-RW might be a good choice here for inexpensive backup media for installers, or using the advanced features of Roxio dvd burning software to not finalize a disc so you can keep adding installers until it is full) so they don't have to be redownloaded, choosing full installers instead of internet-based stubs for the same reason, and had to teach her that no, it's not a good idea to use an admin account with UAC turned off for your day-to-day tasks.

 

256 dsl? Wow, that made me appreciate the speed we have in the Netherlands. Here a 30mbps download is normal.

 

I personally have a 48-1 windows 7 disc I use for reinstalls if need be. But not sure if it can do upgrades or not I normally just use it to wipe the disc and start from scratch without any bloatware personally if I am unable to save the installed windows 7 or if its so trashed a reinstall is far quicker and safer.

 

The simple answer was I did not know I could use the OEM key, and thought she was going to have to return the DVD. and purchase the retail version. There were several things on the package that basically said "break this seal and you cannot return the DVD".
I returned home after making the post asking where to purchase a retail version. About an hour after posting, which included my 20-minute drive home, somebody replied on the Microsoft forum with those download links and the information on using the OEM DVD's key.
At that point, I was sitting at home on my own high speed cable internet connection, and decided to download and burn the DVD at home, which took less than twenty minutes to download (one of the fastest downloads for that amount of data ever), and another 7 minutes to burn. If I'd tried to download the 3.1gb DVD at her place, it would have probably taken more than a day, assuming no hiccups on the internet connection.

That's why I downloaded first. Better to "have it and not need it than need it and not have it". Plus, I didn't want to have to back-track with a 20 minute drive each way. Better to come prepared.

As for why not try the OEM DVD? I didn't feel like wasting time on experiments with other people's equipments. I had a procedure that should work that didn't involve using that DVD, so I followed the instructions to get the job done ASAP. I was being paid (not a lot, but still being paid for my time) to help her upgrade the system, and wanted to be as efficient as possible.

P.S. I keep tying (and saying) "CD" when talking about Windows DVDs because it's been CDs for Windows 95, 98, 2000, and XP. Does anybody else make that mistake, and do I need to go back and edit the post if I spot it after hitting "post reply"?