With users readily being served tips online for hacking the newly-released Windows 7 operating system’s upgrade versions for getting a full copy on the new OS on their PC, Microsoft is drawing the attention of the users to the Microsoft End User License Agreement (EULA).

In a message aimed at bloggers who claim to have hit upon a way to skirt Microsoft’s rules and carry out a “clean” install of Windows 7 using upgrade software, Eric Ligman, global partner experience lead in Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Group, noted that the technical possibility of the upgrade-hacking process does not imply that it is legal as well.

In his attempt to dissuade the users from hacking the upgrades, which are cheaper that the full versions of the OS, Ligman said: “Bottom line is, no, OEM Microsoft Windows licenses do not have any transfer rights and live and die on the original computer they are shipped with and installed on.”

Ligman further added that users who hack the upgrades to install a full version on their systems would be breaking the Microsoft EULA and would potentially be running a pirated copy of the new Windows OS. 

He elaborated that those posting tips to suggest that users can install clean from Windows 7 upgrade software do not mention the mandatory requirement of a qualifying software license for legally using the Upgrade software for the installation.