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Windows 7 licensing for charities

By Lasa Information Systems Team

Windows 7 Microsoft’s computer operating system released in 2010 is the next version up from Windows Vista. This article, drawn from a recent discussion on issues around licensing Microsoft Windows 7 on the UKRiders email list, examines the licensing issues, hardware compatibility and strategic issues arising when considering upgrading to Windows.

The scenario

A question on the UKRiders mailing list sparked a thread of conversation around Windows 7 licensing. The initial question was from a list member who was advising a charity who have discovered they are eligible for Windows 7 upgrades via the Charity Technology Trust CTX donation programme.  Their computers ran either XP or Vista, and it was thought that with some extra RAM (memory) will probably cope with Windows 7.  However, the PCs were largely second-hand or donated with OEM operating systems and no original install disks.

It was assumed that a Windows 7 "upgrade" installation will need to verify that the computer already has a valid copy of Windows from which to upgrade. The machines were without documentation apart from "Product Key" labels.  Upgrading from XP apparently requires a "clean install" and it was envisaged that problems could arise with the Microsoft Licensing.

Licensing issues

The Microsoft upgrade licence provides the option to install from fresh - so as long as the machine is being rebuilt there won’t be any previous licence or disk requirements. There shouldn’t be any licensing issues unless the original (OEM) copies of Windows were reinstalled at some point with illegal licences.

Since this is an upgrade product, to install this operating system you must have a licenced installation of one of the following operating systems on the device where you are installing the upgrade:

• Windows Vista Enterprise, Business, or Ultimate
• Windows XP Professional or Tablet PC;
• Windows 2000 Professional
• Windows NT Workstation 4.0
• Windows 98.

You cannot upgrade from the Home editions of Windows XP or Windows Vista. However, the restriction that does not allow "Home" versions of XP/Vista/Windows 7 to be upgraded using a Volume Licensing edition does not apply to charities.  You can use a licence purchased through the CTX donation programme  (which is subject to Microsoft's volume licensing rules) to any computer provided it already has a valid licence for a Microsoft operating system. See

Will it run?

Generally speaking Windows versions are designed for the specification of PCs being manufactured at the time Windows is shipped. Happily, PC specification, performance and Windows gets better every generation. See Microsoft's official hardware requirements but as usual these should be treated with a little scepticism because most people will run Windows 7 plus a lot of other software on top.

If you are thinking of an upgrade on an existing PC tread carefully - four years or older, it’s generally not worth it.  For machines under four years, upgrades to RAM, possibly a hard drive may be needed.  Download and run the Windows 7 upgrade advisor.  If the machine passes that, then it’s recommended to carry out a test installation on one machine and see how it goes.

It needs to be borne in mind how much RAM each PC has, because Windows 7 just like Vista, needs at least 1.5 - 2Gb.  To get the best experience out of Windows 7, some technical support companies recommend a dual core processor and upgrading a machine’s RAM to 2 - 4Gb before even considering an upgrade. 

It also needs to be established whether the organisation has any existing software that won’t run under Windows 7.

A 'clean install' will mean entirely wiping the Windows XP machines.  For Vista machines, there is a direct upgrade path that doesn't require a reinstall as long as you stick with the 'right' paths, which are (only) Home Premium to Home Premium, Professional to Professional or Ultimate to Ultimate. It is recommended that a clean install is done though.

Think before acting

Overall it would be an idea to establish what the driver for upgrading is here. What does the organisation hope to gain from the upgrade? It could well involve a lot of disruption to back everything up, reinstall programs and user accounts and restore data.  Having said that, it might still be worth taking up the CTX upgrade offer.  The price is unbeatable, so if they ever get decent quality donated equipment in future it might be worth having a batch of licences 'at the ready' to upgrade stuff cheaply before it gets used.

The last word(s)

Windows 7 should not be thought of as an upgrade from Vista, and cannot be compared to Vista as it’s like comparing Windows 2000 to (the unlamented) Windows ME.  If you have 20 – 30GB of free disk space why not set up a dual boot operating system and see how you get on? An alternative is to stick with XP until t funds are available for newer hardware which will come with Windows 7 pre-installed. 

Credits

Thanks to Alan Bradshaw at Bradford CVS for raising the initial query on the UKRiders list. Contributors to this discussion were: Zorina Baksh and Phil Anthony (Co-Op Systems), Orlando Karis Brown (Attache Solutions), Morgan Killick ( ESP Projects), Richard Eynon (appiChar), Matt Hughes (Engage Multimedia), Jeremy Barker (Scunthorpe CAB).

About UKRiders

Established by Lasa, UKRiders is an active email list community of around 500 members who discuss all aspects of non-profit technology. Join the UK Riders discussion.