Microsoft Selling Broken Windows 7 Upgrades, Threatens to Sue Buyers

While the Windows 7 launch is being hailed a the most successful OS launch in Microsoft's history, there is another side of the story that's starting to get more coverage. For every user who brags about how easy it was to upgrade their old Windows PC to Windows 7, there are other users who Microsoft has left out in the cold - selling them an expensive new OS that won't even install.

After many paying Windows 7 upgraders started to experience major problems while installing the upgrade, leaving them with unusable PC's that keep restarting and trying to complete the install, some Microsoft bloggers stepped in to try and provide a workaround after Microsoft failed to fix the problem themselves. Microsoft knew about the problem at least 3 months before Windows 7 was released, but when Windows 7 testers begged for clear information about the upgrade process from Microsoft, "but have heard nothing but crickets from Redmond."

So Microsoft bloggers posted a way to use the upgrade disc to do a fresh install of Windows 7 if the upgrade process doesn't work. Microsoft's response? The multi-billion dollar software company says anyone who uses an upgrade disc to do a full install of Windows 7 is breaking the law and could face legal action, even if the user is doing it only because the upgrade that Microsoft was all too eager to sell them won't properly install.

From ChannelWeb:

"Paul Thurrott, author of the Supersite For Windows blog, fired back at Microsoft on Thursday and said the company should have clearly documented the issue months ago."

"I'm not endorsing piracy. (Thurrott writes) Obviously. I'm just trying to support the millions of people that Microsoft fooled into pre-ordering Windows 7 by offering steep discounts, only to discover later that the Upgrade version they purchased unknowingly might not actually install properly," Thurrott posted on his Windows Supersite.

Thurrott continued, "I've gotten hundreds of emails about this. I suspect Microsoft has gotten many times that number. So you know what? I'm going to continue supporting Windows users. Even as Microsoft throws them to the wind with this kind of baloney.

What really cracks me up is that this post quotes the most relevant EULA-based part of this argument. Which is this:

"To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible for the upgrade."

Exactly. That's who I'm supporting. Millions and millions of people. Many of which are discovering that their Upgrade version of Windows 7 will not install properly on their existing, Windows-based PCs. The PCs that are supposed to support upgrades.

This should be obvious. Please stop suggesting it's not, or that I am doing something else.

And for the nth time, you could (and should) have clearly documented how this works months ago. Or allowed myself and others to do so. You chose to ignore this need. So this is a problem of your own making. It's that simple. You make it too hard. And then you complain when someone else tries to make it easy. Brilliant."

Ed Bott, who covers Microsoft for ZDNet, also was highly critical of Microsoft.

"Did you just get a retail upgrade copy of Windows 7? Do you have questions about how it works? Sorry, I probably don’t know the answers. And I can’t point you to anyone who does know how this product works.

It’s not for lack of trying. For three solid months, I have been pestering people at Microsoft and its PR agency for technical details on Windows 7 upgrade products. I got nothing but polite refusals...

And now, a week later, still no comment...

This is documentation about a product that will be sold by the tens of millions in the next year. For the many people who provide official and unofficial support for Windows users, this is essential information."

To sum up, Microsoft takes cash from customers for a Windows 7 upgrade, then the customers find out it not only won't install properly but it bricks their PC's, making them unusable and unable to revert back to the previous version of Windows. And when customers and bloggers ask for a fix and clear, easy to understand instructions about which version to purchase and how to make the upgrade so other customers don't get screwed, Microsoft is silent.

If Microsoft's Windows 7 upgrade turns your computer into a Brick House, you can at least groove to the Commodores...

Microsoft Knew Windows 7 Upgrades Could Paralyze PC's Back In July

Some people who are upgrading their PC's from Windows Vista to Windows 7 are finding the upgrade paralyzes their computers, leaving them in a never ending rebooting cycle, unable to use either operating systems.

Many users started to post the problem in a forum on Microsoft's own website on Friday, one day after the highly touted new operating system was released. As of this afternoon, 3 days later, there are still people posting the same problem and no fix from Microsoft for most of the users.

There doesn't seem to be any connection to how the OS was purchased, some users purchased Windows 7 as a digital download from Microsoft or Digital River, and some purchased retail boxed versions of the OS. It is affecting every version of Vista, from Starter to Ultimate.

Microsoft is putting some of the blame on Digital River and saying anyone who bought the OS from DR needs to contact them, not Microsoft, despite the same problem occurring to users who downloaded Windows 7 directly from Microsoft. Digital River is notorious for horrible customer service, including not returning emails asking for support. (If you are having problems with contacting Digital River, try calling their phone number which they don't like to share: 952-253-1234)

Users are predictably irate...

"I have the same issue, bought my copy (a download) from the microsoft store. Only thing I feel good about is that I'm not the only one having this issue, but this is a disgrace by MSFT. Has anyone had a successful install? Been trying to make this work since Friday night. Way too much time and trouble for this." (posted by Wesss)

To make matters worse, Microsoft was aware of this exact problem back in July, when it was posted on the Microsoft support website. The article is dated July 27th, 2009, or approximately 3 months before the public release of Windows 7, yet the problem wasn't fixed.

The article is entitled: "Continual reboot after attempting to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7" and includes:

"When attempting to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 the upgrade attempt may fail with the message “This version of Windows could not be installed, Your previous version of Windows has been restored, and you can continue to use it." However, the next reboot of the machine will launch the upgrade process again only to fail with the same message."

The article suggests users swap out the Windows 7 media and put a Windows Vista disc in, then select install Vista at the boot menu and follow the directions. However, many users do not have a Windows 7 disc to remove because the media is a digital download on the hard drive. Furthermore, many other users do not have a Windows Vista disc, and even if they did as one user posted, the Microsoft "solution" is useless:

"Microsoft is apparently aware of this now, but their solution does nothing for me. I don't have the Vista option in the boot entry menu as I'm sure many of you do not as well. Still waiting....No option to boot back to Vista. Endless re-booting loop." (posted by FJP57)

"Same here, I can't even boot into Vista as I have no option to." (posted by JSchnieder21)

So users who spent up to $320 to upgrade are trapped in the constant cycle of reboots, and no current solution. Thank you, Microsoft.

Apple's latest ad seems almost prescient:



Chimaera717 posted what most users dealing with this problem are probably feeling right now:

"How on earth is Windows 7 so poorly manufactured that there even NEEDS to be a solution to installation issues?"

Personally, I switched to a Mac a month ago and haven't ever been happier with an OS. I'm not going to beat you on the head screaming that you should switch, that's up to each individual person and their software needs. But if you are in the market for a new PC, why not at least go look at a Mac? The things that are blatantly different - simple things like closing a window or installing an application, you get used to after a day or two at most.

I used Windows in every different variation since the beginning. I'd even tried a Mac before, many years ago, around a G3 PowerPC, and it was slower than a snail. But since Apple switched to Intel CPU's, the hardware flies, and unlike Windows Vista or 7, OSX can run on 1gb of RAM just fine, 2gb is fantastic. Windows Vista and 7 have both touted switching to 64 bit versions to be able to use more than 4gb of RAM with the PC. OSX, like Linux, just doesn't hog resources like that. In OSX everything just runs and runs well. There's no lag, no crytic messages or software that you click on but never launches. OSX doesn't slow down because of constant scanning by malware and anti-virus software that have to protect you because the OS was poorly designed to begin with. And let's not even get into the lack of viruses or trojans on Mac's (yes, I know, they do exist, but like a Honus Wagner baseball card, they are rarely, if ever, seen - and I do have anti-virus software on my Mac and it doesn't slow things down like it does on my Vista or XP machines).

The main difference between OSX, Linux, and Windows, is that Windows is still based on very old software that uses a registry, which is like searching for one Christmas receipt in a box full of every every receipt from everything you've purchased for 30 years. It's tedious, and prone to errors. OSX and Linux do not use registries, which is another reason they have so few viruses.

I still have my Windows Vista 64 PC, but I haven't turned it on in a month since the switch to OSX. I do occasionally have to work on Windows systems for friends, family, and work, but it's so strange and even annoying having to deal with all of the built-in problems Windows presents on a daily basis to all users, from the most casual to the most advanced.

BTW, I had to attend a Microsoft training for Windows 7 last week for work and the Microsoft bigwig presenter, who was one of the designers of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, was having the same problems on his laptop that I and everyone I know who runs Windows has (programs crashing, not opening, and often not working properly when they do open) - and this was after he had just touted his "great" new HP laptop with 8gb of RAM and his fancy new Windows OS.