It's confirmed: Windows may update unexpectedly

Windows Secrets Newsletter • Issue 204 • 2009-07-02 • Circulation: over 400,000

Table of contents

Top Story: It’s confirmed: Windows may update unexpectedly
Known Issues: Forced updates plague Windows users worldwide
Patch Watch: Fake e-mails to patch Outlook lead to malware
Wacky Web Week: The cure for the office cheerleader is here!
LangaList Plus: Test-drive Windows 7 in a virtual machine
Best Software: Efficiently organize your portable applications
Woody's Windows: Avoid early Windows 7 upgrade surprises

Top Story

It’s confirmed: Windows may update unexpectedly

By Scott Spanbauer

Dozens of Windows Secrets readers confirm that Windows sometimes installs updates without displaying a list of patches that a user can accept or decline.

If Automatic Updates were set to install patches without user intervention, no notice would be expected, but a bug appears to be installing patches upon shutdown in certain cases, even though Windows is configured to require user approval.

In my June 25 Top Story, I reported that several Windows Secrets readers and editors had experienced a disturbing problem involving Automatic Updates (AU). Users who had configured AU to prompt them before downloading or installing updates found that Windows installed updates at the next shutdown without notification, review, or approval.

The day after the story appeared, the Microsoft Update blog tacitly acknowledged the problem in a blog post. The comment said the company was “investigating the reports and trying to clarify with the community exactly what people are experiencing.”

The blog post went on to describe the behavior that should be expected when users select option 2 or 3 of AU’s four alternatives:

Option 1. Automatically download and install updates;
Option 2. Download updates but prompt for review before installing them;
Option 3. Check for updates but prompt before downloading or installing them;
Option 4. Turn off Automatic Updates.

When either option 2 or 3 is chosen, users should see an icon in the notification area alerting them that updates are available. This should be true whether the updates are already downloaded and ready for installation (option 2) or merely available for download from a Microsoft server (option 3).

As I reported last week, Knowledge Base article 910340, last revised on Dec. 5, 2007, confirms that notification to users may fail if a patch was partially downloaded but interrupted before the download was completed.

Incomplete downloads can occur when Microsoft publishes several updates at once and the company “throttles” its bandwidth to prevent server overload. This happened on June 9, Microsoft’s regular Patch Tuesday, when 10 major security bulletins were released.

The throttling of updates from Microsoft’s servers can cause some updates to be downloaded but others to be postponed. In such instances, the notification icon may not appear as expected because Windows waits until all pending updates are downloaded before showing a notification icon.

Unfortunately, when a user shuts down an affected PC before all updates have downloaded, other updates may be installed with no opportunity to review and select them.

In this situation, the only way a user can review the updates before installing them is to cancel the shutdown, open Microsoft Update or Windows Update manually, and select View available updates in Vista or Custom in XP. (Note that in XP, this feature requires Windows Genuine Advantage, so if you want to keep WGA off your system, you must use a third-party update service, as described below.)

Microsoft calls this behavior a “feature,” but as WS contributing editor Susan Bradley puts it, “This is a bug, sir.”

Since the problem involves patch downloads, you’d think that people who select option 3 — notify but do not download or install — would be immune to the surprise installs. However, several readers who chose option 3 report that Windows updates were downloaded and installed automatically anyway. They consider themselves to be victims of forced updates, perhaps more so than users who downloaded everything (option 2) but received no notice prior to installation.

Forced updates can result in headaches

Last week’s story struck a nerve with Windows Secrets readers. Scores of you wrote in to say that you had experienced the same issue, and not just on an extra-large Patch Tuesday such as June 9. According to dozens of Windows XP and Vista users, the problem has been happening for months. (See this week’s Known Issues column for more reader comments on the bug.)

The overwhelming majority of readers I heard from report the exact behavior that Microsoft describes in KB 910340: when downloads are being throttled by the Redmond company, “The Automatic Updates icon does not display the status of downloads that are in progress.”

That bland statement fails to adequately describe a flaw that has a profound impact on many Windows users. As many readers note from personal experience, updates can sometimes disable software or hardware on production systems. Hours of work can be required to restore these machines to full functionality. Even if every patch is wanted, the unexpected installation of updates without notice can surprise you precisely when you really need your PC to shut down or reboot in a hurry.

A handful of readers reported more disturbing Automatic Updates bugginess. The expected behavior is that Windows’ shutdown icon and shutdown dialog box should show that updates will be installed when the system is powered down or rebooted. Seeing no such notice, many readers who had selected Automatic Updates’ option 2 had no reason to think updates would be installed. After clicking the shutdown icon on the Start menu, however, these users found that updates were being installed unexpectedly.

Several readers who’d selected option 3 (notify but do not download) found updates being installed when they shut down their systems, with no notice that any patches were even available for download.

Some readers who had deselected one or more updates — indicating that these updates should not be applied — reported that Windows installed the updates at the next shutdown anyway.

Finally, many readers who selected a menu option to “shut down without installing updates” found that updates were installed despite their wishes.

(Some readers reported that they’d originally selected AU option 2 or 3, but their systems had somehow been changed to option 1 so AU would download and install updates automatically. This can be caused by such programs as Microsoft Live OneCare and Norton Internet Security, as described by WS contributing editor Scott Dunn on Oct. 25, 2007, and editorial director Brian Livingston on May 25, 2006.)

Microsoft isn’t saying exactly what’s going on

Last week’s column stated that the large number of patches released on June 9 could have triggered the forced-update behavior. It’s still not certain precisely why update notifications are failing to appear in Windows systems around the world. But this much is clear: the phenomenon has definitely occurred both before and after June 9.

One workaround to prevent surprise downloads was recommended last week: every time you plan to shut down or reboot a PC, first run Microsoft Update (a superset of Windows Update) and select each patch you wish to install or not install. This should download and apply whatever you selected, leaving no files to be installed without notice.

For some Windows users, however, their machines must be protected against any changes before each new patch is researched for side-effects. These extra-cautious users are disabling Automatic Updates entirely and then running Microsoft Update or a third-party update service manually, as often as needed.

Disabling AU causes an irritating red warning to be displayed repeatedly. If shutting off AU appeals to you, the right way to implement it (and avoid the constant nagging) is as follows:

Step 1: Disable Automatic Updates. In XP, open the Automatic Updates Control Panel applet and select Turn off Automatic Updates. In Vista, open the Windows Update Control Panel applet, choose Change settings in the left pane, and select Never check for updates (not recommended).
Step 2: Turn off the red warning. Open the Security Center Control Panel applet, click Change the way Security Center alerts me, and choose Don’t notify me and don’t display the icon (not recommended).
Step 3: Check for updates manually. Run Microsoft Update or an independent update service at least once a month (preferably just after reading the analysis that Windows Secrets publishes two days after every Patch Tuesday). Third-party update tools such as the Secunia Personal Software Inspector and the Shavlik Google Patch Gadget can identify critical updates that both Windows and your major applications require.

It should be noted that corporate IT administrators can avoid forced updates by using Microsoft’s WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) or a competing server-level patch-management program. Such services allow admins to centrally control the deployment of patches, bypassing Automatic Updates entirely.

See the Windows Secrets Security Baseline and Susan Bradley’s May 28 Top Story for more on third-party Windows update services.

Although the precise workings of the bug are still unclear, it’s obvious that AU is downloading and installing some updates without the required notification. Even when a user manually runs a download tool before a shutdown occurs, it’s been reported to me that, in rare instances, even this failed to prevent an unwanted update from being installed.

Readers who have further information on this bug should submit it via the Windows Secrets contact page.

Scott Spanbauer writes frequently for PC World, Business 2.0, CIO, Forbes ASAP, and Fortune Small Business. He has contributed to several books and was technical reviewer of Jim Aspinwall’s PC Hacks.

Known Issues

Forced updates plague Windows users worldwide

By Dennis O’Reilly

The response to Scott Spanbauer’s June 25 Top Story on forced updates makes it clear that a bug in Microsoft’s Automatic Updates service is causing serious problems for Windows users.

Many readers have reported seeing updates being installed at shutdown or reboot time without any notification, much less an opportunity to select which updates will or will not be applied.

Several dozen WS subscribers have confirmed the Automatic Updates (AU) behavior that Scott described. In today’s Top Story, many of his sources report that their shutdown options gave no indication that updates were about to be installed. Also, some WS readers who had configured Automatic Updates to “download only” or “notify only” indicate that AU mysteriously changed to “install updates automatically” against their wishes.

While we await Microsoft’s explanation for this aberrant AU behavior, many tech news sources have picked up Scott’s original story and corroborated the forced updates. The day the story appeared in Windows Secrets, news aggregator Techmeme featured it, in addition to coverage in ITWorld, PCMag.com’s Security Watch, and ZDNet’s Hardware 2.0 blog, among others.

ZDNet writer Adrian Kingsley-Hughes was one observer who’d previously encountered the problem, although he didn’t feel at the time that he had enough evidence to go public:

“So far, I’ve not been able to replicate this issue. However, I have been receiving reports of these stealth updates for a while now.”

For the many readers we heard from who’ve had first-hand experience with this bug, the last thing they want to do is replicate the behavior.

Storm brewing over unexpected update behavior

The most-common example of the AU bug — patches being installed without warning at Windows shutdown — can cause serious problems, as Tom King found out earlier this month:

“On the evening of June 10, the Dallas/Fort Worth area was hammered by severe storms, with high winds and intense lightning that knocked out power to over 500,000 homes in the area. Unfortunately, our home was among those to lose power, where I have a Windows XP PC and a Mac mini computer in a home office….

“The computers were now running on a limited-time battery backup unit, which normally allows adequate time for normal shutdown of the Mac and Windows PC computers. I proceeded to shut down the Mac and the XP PC, where I had been watching the weather radar and news reports. On the Mac, I selected a forced shutdown, and within seconds the Mac was ready to be unplugged. But the Windows PC turned out to be a much different experience!

“I next moved on to the PC and selected the Turn Off Computer option on the menu bar. Much to my horror, the Turn Off Computer window showed the Install Updates icon over the red Turn off button. I thought, ‘How could this be happening?’ since I had previously set Automatic Updates to download updates for me but let me choose when to install them.

“With the power to the house out and the computer running on a battery backup, it’s not the time for Windows to spend the next several minutes casually installing updates without asking! After nervously waiting about a minute — and with no end in sight for the uninvited Windows update — I reached around to the PC’s power switch, turned it off (update still in progress), and unplugged the machine….

“Microsoft won no points with me the night the severe storms rolled in, and they chose to usurp my control of my computer at the worst possible time! I feel fortunate that the Registry didn’t crash….

“Perhaps it’s well past time Redmond respects who owns the computers they commandeer and who is in the best position to know when updates can safely be applied!”

Even in calm weather, the consequences of unanticipated updates can wreak havoc with a single PC or an entire network, as Conrad Knabenschuh found out one recent morning:

“My customers run the D3 database by Tiger Logic. It runs as a system service, with access to it via ODBC or Telnet.

“I have been forced to set all of their machines to ‘Download updates but let me choose when to install them’ because Windows does not do a clean shutdown if a reboot is required when updates are automatically installed. On a normal shutdown, the database will wrap up its processes and ports and shut down cleanly; then Windows shuts down….

“Probably half a dozen times a year (I support about 60 servers coast-to-coast in both the U.S. and Canada), a customer will have a problem on Wednesday morning where the machine has installed updates and then automatically rebooted. When I check the settings, yup, that machine now reads ‘Install updates automatically.’

“I can guarantee that none of my customers has the technical skill or know-how to reset the setting, and neither I nor my staff ever would. It was not forgotten at machine install, for the simple reason that we always do it; more importantly, it may be a machine that is several years old. I have had a couple of instances where the same machine has reset itself two or three times over the course of a couple of years.

“I have been totally unable to find a pattern. In general, I patch all machines regularly. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s XP or 2003 — the database runs under either, and if the network has fewer than 10 users, XP is more than adequate. The only guess I’ve had in a couple of cases is that the updates hadn’t been done for several months, but that doesn’t hold true for every instance, either.”

Mysteries abound in relation to this AU bug, which clearly dates back much farther than Microsoft’s extra-heavy June 9 patch extravaganza.

More evidence of behind-the-scenes AU changes

The people who have the most experience with unexpected AU behavior are those who fix PCs for a living. Ed West of Ed’s ComputerWorks is one such person:

“I run a computer shop in Oregon, and I choose the option ‘Notify me but don’t automatically download or install them’ for my personal and shop computers and most clients. I’ve seen Microsoft updates being installed at shutdown on several computers the last two weeks. I’ve double-checked those computers to make sure the appropriate option had been chosen for updates, and indeed it had been set to my standard mentioned above. Ticks me off royally.”

At least Ed’s PCs retained their AU settings. Such is not the case for Tom Amann:

“After reading your article about forced updates, I checked my settings, because I noticed an auto-install the other day at shutdown. I always keep the setting at ‘download but don’t install.’ When I checked just now, it was set to ‘download and install automatically.’ I use XP. Can a malware program change the setting and mimic a true MS update? I changed the setting back to my preference.”

Scott reports in today’s Top Story that some well-known security programs silently reconfigure AU to “automatically install.” It’s also possible that a malware infection caused the change to Tom’s AU settings. Some malware programs turn on AU as a defense against other intruders, whose routines often try to kill off any competing infections.

Melodie Larsen used information she’d read in previous WS newsletters to sleuth the source of her recent hardware woes:

“I also had a problem with a ‘stealth update’ from Microsoft. I had my update settings to notify me of updates but to let me decide what and when to download. On June 17, my computer suddenly wasn’t able to see my Maxtor One Touch backup drive, either in Windows Explorer, Device Manager, Drive Management Console, or Maxtor Manager. A request for help from Seagate/Maxtor merely suggested that I try the drive on another computer.

“I suspected some kind of update interference, checked in Add/Remove Programs, and found that a number of updates had occurred during the night without my knowledge. First, I tried uninstalling, rebooting, and then reinstalling the Maxtor installation programs, to no avail.

“I studied each of the updates listed in Add/Remove Programs on the Internet, then removed update 970238, which is supposed to fix a vulnerability in Remote Procedure Call. After removing that particular Windows patch, I followed the steps that I had received previously from Maxtor to fix a similar problem with the drive not being recognized by Windows…. Now my drive is again visible within Windows, Device Manager, Disk Management Utility, and Maxtor Manager….

“If I hadn’t been reading Windows Secrets and following Susan Bradley’s columns — in which she suggested rolling back an update to see whether it was the cause of problems — I would probably still be playing message tag with Seagate/Maxtor support.”

We’ve known for some time that forced updates can seriously disable Windows’ functionality. For example, WS contributing editor Susan Bradley reported in her July 10, 2008, column (paid content) that Microsoft patch MS08-037 completely disabled the Internet connection of machines using the ZoneAlarm firewall.

Here’s hoping Microsoft permanently corrects AU’s forced-install bug soon.

Readers Tom, Conrad, Ed, Tom, and Melodie will each receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of their choice for sending tips we printed. Send us your tips via the Windows Secrets contact page.

The Known Issues column brings you readers’ comments on our recent articles. Dennis O’Reilly is technical editor of WindowsSecrets.com.

Patch Watch

Fake e-mails to patch Outlook lead to malware

By Susan Bradley

All Windows users need to be aware that Microsoft never links to downloads in its e-mail messages, but always requires a visit to a security bulletin landing page to download a patch.

If you receive an e-mail containing a link promising to upgrade Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, you should simply delete the message to avoid being nailed by a Trojan horse.

Many Windows Secrets readers have recently received these fake e-mails. The scams have focused on a supposed upgrade for Outlook and Outlook Express — e-mail clients widely used in businesses.

The reason I’m writing today’s short Patch Watch column — which is outside my usual twice-a-month schedule — is that a high number of these e-mails have reached people’s inboxes, somehow evading the usual junk-mail filters.

These fake Outlook patch alerts have affected PC users worldwide. I even found a post from a Microsoft forum in China asking about the e-mail’s validity. As the Sophos blog explains, if you follow the instructions in the bogus message, it results in your running nasty hacker code.

Actual security bulletin notices from Microsoft are quite dull. They never include direct links to the downloadable patch. Instead, they require you to go to a bulletin landing page. Most importantly, they’re always signed with a PGP signature. (See Figure 1.)

Microsoft security bulletin e-mail

Figure 1. Microsoft’s security-bulletin e-mails are always identified as PGP SIGNED.

When in doubt, always download patches directly from the Microsoft Update site. Even considering the recent problems with update notifications that don’t always appear in Windows as expected — see this week’s Top Story for details — you should always download updates for Windows and other Microsoft software only from Microsoft servers.

The Patch Watch column reveals problems with patches for Windows and major Windows applications. Susan Bradley recently received an MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award from Microsoft for her knowledge in the areas of Small Business Server and network security. She’s also a partner in a California CPA firm.

Wacky Web Week

The cure for the office cheerleader is here!

By Katy Abby

You know the type: the person who just never seems to have a bad day, who smiles cheerfully in the face of adversity, who always looks on the bright side of life…. Ugh! How annoying!

The rest of society has been suffering these cherubic grins and good-humored dispositions for far too long. Finally, pharmaceutical companies have figured out a way to crush the spirits of these jubilant jerks once and for all. Take a look, and have a nice day! Er, I mean (gulp) … whatever. Play the video

LangaList Plus

Test-drive Windows 7 in a virtual machine

By Fred Langa

With free virtual machine software, you can safely test the Windows 7 Release Candidate on your PC without risking your current setup.

You won’t get the level of performance in a virtual machine that you would with a standard Win7 installation, but VMs are still a fairly fast and easy way to create a software test bed.

Isolate the Win7 Release Candidate on your PC

John in Dallas is itching to test the Release Candidate for Windows 7 but isn’t sure how to do so without putting his PC’s current configuration in jeopardy:

“I have an XP SP3 machine, works just fine. Also, I have an external USB hard drive used mostly for backups. Could I download the Windows 7 Release Candidate to that drive and play with it safely?
“It’s my understanding the d/l would be a ‘file’ and could be sent directly to the USB drive and run. Is that correct? Since I don’t have CD-burning software on my system, I don’t want to bother with that process.”

If your machine meets the minimum specs for Win7 — more on that in a moment — you can test-drive the Windows 7 Release Candidate, John, though not quite the way you proposed.

The Win7 RC is indeed a downloadable ISO file. An ISO file is a kind of byte-for-byte disk image of the contents of a CD based on the standard ISO 9660 format for CD-ROMs.

The contents of an ISO file can’t be “run” directly. Before you can access whatever’s inside an ISO image file, the image must be either burned to a CD or “mounted” by a virtual CD drive — software that emulates the functions of a for-real, physical CD drive.

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Best Software

Efficiently organize your portable applications

By Ian “Gizmo” Richards

In my June 18 column, I pointed out the advantages of using portable applications to replace installed programs on your desktop PC or laptop.

By carefully organizing the portable applications on your hard drive, you can make the programs much easier to access.

Advantages of portable apps on a hard drive

After reading my previous column on portable programs, you may be asking yourself, “Why install the apps on a hard drive instead of running them directly from a USB flash drive plugged into my PC?”

Here are three good reasons for doing so:

It allows you to maintain a backup copy of your portable apps. Should you lose your USB drive, you can recover your apps easily from the hard disk. Anyone who has used one for a while knows how very easy it is to lose a flash drive.
It’s not always convenient to have your flash drive plugged into your PC. It may be plugged into another PC or in your coat pocket. And some laptops are physically awkward to use with a flash drive plugged into one of their USB ports.

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Woody's Windows

Avoid early Windows 7 upgrade surprises

By Woody Leonhard

Microsoft has begun offering deep discounts for folks who order Windows 7 now and take delivery when the product ships on Oct. 22.

While the thought of buying Windows 7 Home Premium for a paltry $49.99 should have most Windows consumers whipping out their credit cards, there are a few “gotchas” you need to know about.

Your four Windows 7 installation options

Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that you’re enamored with Windows 7. You’ve checked the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to ensure that your system is up to snuff and you’re ready to take Microsoft up on its magnanimous offer to sell you a copy of Windows 7 for a breathtakingly low price, with the understanding that the new OS won’t actually be available until the fall.

So far, so good. Now stop, take a deep breath, and get ready for the fine print.

The steep discounts apply to “upgrade” versions of Windows 7; in theory, you need to be running a copy of Windows 2000, XP, or Vista to qualify for the upgrade version of Win7. (In spite of what you may have heard, Windows 2000 qualifies for upgrade pricing, according to the Microsoft Store order page.) In practice, the situation is a bit murky.

There are four ways to install the Windows 7 upgrade:

Option 1. Perform a clean install. Years of misadventures with Microsoft upgrade programs lead me to recommend that advanced Windows users perform a clean install of Windows 7. First, transfer your data to an external hard drive or USB drive using the Windows 7 Easy Transfer utility, which is available on the Windows 7 upgrade DVD. (For details, see Microsoft’s TechNet article on the program.)

With your data backup in place, reboot your PC with the upgrade DVD inserted and choose Custom. When you get to the dialog that asks “Where do you want to install Windows?,” click the drive and choose Format. After you answer a couple more questions, your hard drive will be completely reformatted prior to continuing with the installation.

Once Windows 7 is installed, reinstall your programs and use Windows Easy Transfer to reload your files and settings.
Option 2. Choose a custom install. If you don’t want to go through the hassles of a clean install, Windows 7′s custom-install option should — I repeat, should — give you the benefits of a clean install without wiping out your hard drive.

To perform a custom install, start your current version of Windows, use the Easy Transfer utility to back up your data (see the preceding section), insert the Win7 installation DVD, and run the setup program. When asked, choose Custom, but refrain from reformatting your hard drive. Instead, choose to install Windows 7 into the same drive (or partition) that Windows currently occupies.

The Windows 7 installer copies your old Windows files and your data files into a new folder called Windows.old, which is located in the boot drive’s root, typically C:. Once the Win7 installation is complete, you can look inside Windows.old and retrieve any files you like, although you still have to reinstall your applications.

You shouldn’t trust the installer to pick up all your important old files, of course, so create a full data backup prior to running a custom install of Win7.
Option 3. Multiboot. This is a great option for anyone who’s always looking for an out. You can run two different versions of Windows on the same computer, either by creating two partitions on your hard drive or — easier — by using two separate hard drives. Whenever you start your PC from then on, you choose which version of Windows to run. (I’ll devote a future column to the process of dual-booting two versions of Windows).

Since nobody has seen the final Win7 upgrade DVD as yet — and Microsoft appears to be making last-minute changes to the EULA — it’s impossible to know for sure, but installing an upgrade copy of Windows 7 in a multiboot configuration may invalidate the license for the original copy of Windows. Also undetermined are the steps you’ll have to take to get a fully “Genuine” activated copy of Windows 7 in a dual-boot configuration. However, early indications are that it will be physically possible to use the upgrade DVD to install a dual-boot copy of Windows 7.
Option 4. Do an in-place upgrade. In very specific circumstances, the Windows 7 installer allows you to upgrade Vista computers directly to Windows 7 without wiping out any of your existing programs or data. If you perform an in-place upgrade, your current settings stick around — there’s no need to reinstall any programs, for example. Unfortunately, all the old Windows XP/Vista gunk sticks around, too.

You can install Windows 7 on any PC without having to activate the OS for 30 days. If you’re willing to jump through the hoops, the full version of Windows 7 can be installed from the “upgrade” DVD.

To do so, install Windows 7 without activating it and then perform a custom installation from the unactivated version. The result is a fully functional, legitimate copy of Windows 7. Windows Secrets editorial director Brian Livingston’s Top Story from Feb. 1, 2007, describes a similar loophole in Windows Vista.

Three paths for in-place Windows 7 upgrades

I readily confess that I don’t understand the allure of an in-place upgrade: the gunk persists and potential problems abound. More importantly, an upgraded system never performs as well as one on which a clean installation was performed — despite Microsoft’s best efforts to the contrary.

That said, Windows 7 limits your options for in-place upgrades:

From Vista Home Basic SP1 or SP2 to Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate;
From Vista Home Premium SP1 or SP2 to Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate;
From Vista Business SP1 or SP2 to Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate;
From Vista Ultimate SP1 or SP2 to Windows 7 Ultimate.

In addition, you can perform an in-place upgrade only from a 32-bit version of Vista to a corresponding 32-bit version of Windows 7 or from a 64-bit version of Vista to 64-bit Win7.

By design, you cannot perform an in-place upgrade from any version of Windows XP or Windows 2000. If you’re currently running XP or 2K, you must opt for a clean install, custom install, or multiboot option. (Note that it appears to be possible to perform an in-place upgrade from Windows XP to Vista and then from Vista to Windows 7, although this approach is about as stable as building a house of cards on top of a house of cards.)

Remember, these are technical restrictions — they have nothing to do with the price of the products. The limitations simply reflect the fact that in-place upgrades work only when you go from a lesser version of Vista to an equal or greater version of Windows 7.

Also, these are paths for the upgrade versions of Windows — the restrictions for free “Upgrade Option Program” participants are different. If you bought a new Vista computer after June 26, you probably qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7, but the free upgrades apply only to the same version; if you buy a Vista Home Premium computer, for example, you get a free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium. Your PC manufacturer has specific details.

Bargain alert: Two Windows 7 versions on sale

Microsoft has announced on its Windows 7 preorder page that it will offer a special price of about $49 for the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade and about $99 for the Windows 7 Professional upgrade. You can order the upgrades from various retailers or directly from the Microsoft Store.

Windows 7 Ultimate is not on sale and it runs about $220. If you currently own Windows Vista Ultimate and want to do an in-place upgrade, you get socked with a $220 bill. Kinda makes you feel good about spending all that extra money for Vista Ultimate, eh?

The Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Upgrade DVD includes both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Similarly, the Windows 7 Pro Upgrade DVD has both the 32- and 64-bit versions.

Which version do you need? Almost everybody will do fine with Windows 7 Home Premium, unless you have to hook your PC up to a corporate network/domain.

The exceptions? Windows 7 Pro lets you back up to another computer on your network. If you back up to a USB drive or external hard drive, or if you let Windows Home Server handle your backups, however, this isn’t a big deal.

Pro also supports offline files and lets other people control your computer with Remote Desktop. However, LogMeIn Free, Laplink Everywhere, and GoToMyPC offer similar services. (More information about LogMeIn Free is available on the service’s site.) Win7 Pro’s automatic Connect to Network Projector feature is neat, but I wouldn’t pay any real money for it.

The Pro version also supports Windows XP Mode, which is supposed to make it possible to run old programs under Windows 7. Windows XP Mode requires a specific kind of hardware. The feature is also mind-numbingly convoluted, and to top it off, it’s still in beta. Paying for WinXP Mode is like buying a pig in a pre-release poke.

Should you be tempted to shell out the cash for Windows 7 Ultimate — fool me once, shame on you, eh? — keep in mind that Ultimate doesn’t get you much more than Pro, except BitLocker (which encrypts data on hard drives and USB drives) and the ability to change the language in the Windows applications, menus, and dialog boxes.

Even more fine print for European Win7 users

Microsoft’s big discounts apply to orders made online between June 26 and July 11 in the U.S. and Canada and until July 5 in Japan. Other discounts apply to online orders in France, Germany, and the U.K. between July 15 and Aug. 14. In the U.K., the pre-release price for a Win7 Home Premium upgrade is 49.99 pounds — which is 66% more than the comparable U.S. price — and in France and Germany it runs 49.99 euros — 41% more than the U.S. price.

But keep this in mind: Microsoft has promised to release a version of Windows 7 exclusively for Europeans that doesn’t include Internet Explorer. The so-called Windows 7 E may or may not conform to EU antitrust expectations. (I wrote about Windows 7 E in my June 8 column.) As far as I know, nobody has ever seen a real, live copy of Windows 7 E. In fact, that version may exist only as a bargaining chip in Microsoft’s ongoing antitrust imbroglio.

This much is known for sure: It’s impossible to do an in-place upgrade from any version of Windows Vista to any version of Windows 7 E. If you get stuck with Windows 7 E, you have to run a clean install, custom install, or dual-boot.

To compensate for this inconvenience — if, indeed, Windows 7 E ever sees the light of day — Microsoft says that European customers who pay for the upgrade version of Windows 7 E will, in fact, receive the “full” version. The company doesn’t intend to make an upgrade version of any Windows 7 E products.

That raises an interesting question. It’s entirely possible to order Windows 7 Home Premium from, say, the Fry’s Electronics product page, wherever you may be in the world. At this point, it isn’t clear whether Fry’s — or any other retailer, for that matter — will ship the Windows 7 upgrade outside of the U.S. and Canada.

I’d be willing to bet, though, that European retailers are going to see a whole lot of business leak out to U.S. companies — whether the Win7 copies are shipped to European customers directly or from North American friends to European friends.

Windows 7 upgrade details still up in the air

Several significant questions remain unanswered: Will Microsoft offer discounts for multiple PCs so that upgrading three PCs at home won’t break the bank? How much will the company charge for the Anytime Upgrade from Home Premium to Pro, or Pro to Ultimate? Will Microsoft reach a compromise with the EU that obliterates Windows 7 E before it starts? Hard to say at this point.

If you’re going to upgrade one of your PCs to Windows 7 — or if you have a PC without a “genuine” Windows operating system — I urge you to make your choice between Home Premium and Professional and then order your upgrade right now. If you live outside the U.S. and Canada, consider carefully whether you want to play the role of ping-pong ball in the Microsoft-EU match, and order accordingly.

Although the July 11 cutoff date may be extended, it’s unlikely that these prices will last. Now’s the time to act.

Woody Leonhard‘s latest books — Windows Vista All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies and Windows Vista Timesaving Techniques For Dummies — explore what you need to know about Vista in a way that won’t put you to sleep. He and Ed Bott also wrote the encyclopedic Special Edition Using Office 2007.

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