How to upgrade Windows 7 Enterprise to Windows 7 Ultimate

by Jas on June 9, 2009 · Comments

in Microsoft, Windows 7

image

There is a way to upgrade Windows 7 Enterprise to Ultimate

Go to, Start, Run: and type: regedit.exe
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
Change the key : ProductName from "Windows 7 Enterprise” to “Windows Vista 7 Business”
Change the key: EditionID from "Enterprise" to “Business”
Do not restart
Now insert Windows 7 Ultimate CD and start upgrading (the option Upgrade will not be graded out anymore)

The same rule would also apply to Windows Vista too

Tagged as: Microsoft, Windows 7

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  • byronbranfield
    Would this also apply if wanting to change from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 7 Enterprise? The reason I ask is my company has volume licensing and requires me to load their software, I have Windows 7 Ultimate and don't really want to format and reinstall.
  • brettmonten
    Nice tip! - just to let u know (and byronbranfield) that I just did it in reverse and it worked like a treat. I loaded Ultimate by mistake when I had an enterprise key. Made those two changes to the registry and upgraded from the DVD (without rebooting). All sweet!

    Thanks for the tip.
  • byronbranfield
    Awesome thanks mate, this is exactly what I need to do.
  • byronbranfield
    hmmm, this is wierd. I tried it and got an error saying that I cant upgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 7 Enterprise and a reinstall needs to be performed (Not an option). I chenged the registry as stated. Any ideas?

    THis is the message...
    "
    Windows 7 Ultimate cannot be upgraded to Windows 7 Enterprise. You can choose to install a new copy of Windows 7 Enterprise instead, but this is different from an upgrade, and does not keep your files, settings, and programs. You’ll need to reinstall any programs using the original installation discs or files. To save your files before installing Windows, back them up to an external location such as a CD, DVD, or external hard drive. To install a new copy of Windows 7 Enterprise, click the Back button in the upper left-hand corner, and select “Custom (advanced)”.
    "

    Didnt reboot or anything
  • Hi,

    I would try a reboot. But I don't think you can upgrade from Ultimate to Enterprise.
    Though you can test the scenario by using a virtual machine.
  • byronbranfield
    I get what you saying, I tried replacing the keys with Windows 7 Enterprise and EditionID to Enterprise and the upgrade takes place but back to Enterprise lol. My question is if you can upgrade from Basic to Enterprise so effectively I would replace the keys with Basic and then upgrade to Enterprise?
  • brettmonten
    Did you try custom or standard? I just used the standard and left it to do its thang.
  • lxmanh
    I was same problem!!! Not working.
    .... T.T
  • brettmonten
    I've struck a snag with this reverse upgrade - something hasn't been done. Although I'm Enterprise for all intents and purposes, I'm now being told that Windows can't be activated cos the KMS host can't be activated. That's an Ultimate thing isn't it?
    Any clues?

    thx
  • kamlesh2011
    Very good. Working fine.
  • jacquesflamant
    Didn't work here. Are you sure it's "Windows Vista 7 Business" (not "Windows 7 Business" only ?).

    I also tried the cversion.ini hack, with no luck. Any other ideas ? And yes, I'm trying to upgrade my Enterprise 7 x64 to Ultimate 7 x64 if you doubt it.
  • jacquesflamant
    Alright here how it worked for me :

    Do the trick as mentionned above, but don't launch or auto-launch the setup, first explore the DVD folder, right clic on "Setup.exe", and go to the compatibility tab :
    Make it compatible with Windows Vista SP2.

    HTH
  • buttercatz
    Sweet, it worked.
  • absolutetech
    Bravo to jacquesflamant, compat mode successfully enables fix on x64 enterprise to x64 ultimate!
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