Updating a Windows Vista Computer to Windows 7: A Funny Error Message from Microsoft

I am actually impressed with Windows 7.  It does everything that I want it to, and it is fast and understandable. 

I own something like five Windows 7 laptops that come with Windows 7 Home Premium.  They are so inexpensive that it's easier to just buy one rather than try to buy a copy of Windows 7 and install it so that it will run in Parallels on my Mac.  Doing that raises all kinds of problems.  If you upgrade your hard drive in your Mac and have a copy of Windows 7 installed, for instance, from what I understand, you have to call Microsoft and explain the situation so that you can continue using your copy of Windows 7.  I've even heard that if you connect and disconnect an external hard drive, this can cause problems.  I am a bit more certain that if you install a copy of Windows 7 on your Mac using Parallels, changing certainly configurations on your Mac will cause the copy of Windows 7 to be inactivated -- necessitating a call and possible hassles with Microsoft. 

I have an old HP Slimline desktop computer that runs Vista and came with a TV tuner.  This was my first experience with Windows Media Center and using a Windows machine as a digital video recorder (DVR) rather than paying rent and monthly subscription fees for a Comcast DVR or a Tivo.  WMC is an excellent program, and with it, I had my own DVR on a laptop for years. 

I actually pulled my old Vista machine out of storage a few weeks ago to test it and possibly sell it.  I've upgraded the machine from Windows Vista to Windows 7.  The process took a long time but was relatively painless. 

I did encounter this hilarious error message. "To check for updates, you must first install an update for Windows Update."