Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Upgrading Your Windows 7 Edition

You can easily upgrade Windows 7 editions from one edition to another. Table below provides an overview of the upgrade paths you can use to upgrade from basic editions to the enhanced editions.

Upgrade options for Windows 7 editions

Windows 7 Edition	Upgrades to
Windows 7 Starter	Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Ultimate
Windows 7 Home Premium	Home Premium Windows 7 Ultimate
Windows 7 Business	Business Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 7 Ultimate
Windows 7 Enterprise	7 Enterprise Windows 7 Ultimate

You can upgrade the edition installed on a computer by clicking Start → Control Panel → System and Security → System. On the System page, click "Get more features with a new edition of Windows 7." Once you've determined that an edition upgrade is possible, you can begin your upgrade.

You can perform an edition upgrade using the built-in Windows Anytime Upgrade feature. To start an upgrade using the built-in Windows Anytime Upgrade feature, click Start and then click Control Panel. In the Control Panel, click System and Maintenance and then click Windows Anytime Upgrade. To complete the upgrade, you'll access the Microsoft website, where you can purchase the upgrade and find instructions for upgrading. You'll need the Windows 7 distribution media. The distribution media contains the components for all Windows 7 versions, and it is the product key you provide to unlock and install the features for a specific version.

Once you've completed the upgrade, your computer will be running the new edition and will have all the features of this edition.