Windows 7 RC

[green granite]

from Windows IT Pro web site:
A Microsoft website inadvertently leaked the software giant's plans to deliver the Release Candidate (RC) version of Windows 7 to the public on May 5, suggesting that the company has already delivered this version internally and will soon make it available to partners. The Windows 7 RC will be the last major pre-release milestone for Microsoft's next Windows version, which is now expected to be finalized by the end of the third quarter of 2009.

"Partners, if you have a subscription to MSDN or TechNet, you can download Windows 7 RC now," a page on the Microsoft website read over the weekend. "Otherwise, you can download Windows 7 RC starting May 5, 2009." The note, however, was erroneous and likely just posted early. As of this of writing, the Windows 7 RC hasn't been made available to Microsoft's partners. My expectation is that that will happen as early as tomorrow, two weeks before the expected public release.

By Monday, the note on the Microsoft website had been removed, and Microsoft has made no public comment about the gaffe. Readers might recall that a similar informational leak about the Windows 7 Beta occurred just before its release in January. One wonders if Microsoft isn't prepping its user base implicitly, but purposefully, with these leaks.

[Sprogget]

One made same suggestion here previously & was kicked in the knee for doing so:p

[green granite]

Confirmed by Microsoft:

Windows 7 Beta Customer Preview (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=sprblog)

Effective April 30, the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) will be available to MSDN subscribers and TechNet Plus subscribers.

On Tuesday, May 5 (PST), the RC will be available to everyone via our Customer Preview Program. As with the Beta, the Windows 7 RC Customer Preview Program is a broad public program that offers the RC free to anyone who wants to download it. It will be available at least through June 30, 2009, with no limits on the number of downloads or product keys available.

So you don’t need rush to make sure you get your copy. When you’re ready to download the RC, it’ll be waiting for you.

Also:

Plan Ahead for Windows 7 Beta and RC Expiration Dates
Published 30 April 09 07:38 AM | Celine Allee
Attention Windows 7 Beta and Release Candidate (RC) testers! To avoid interruption, you’ll need to start planning now to rebuild your test machines using a valid version of Windows before the software expires.

Windows will notify you that the expiration process is beginning and two weeks later your PC will begin shutting down every two hours.

The Beta expires on August 1, 2009, and bi-hourly shutdowns will begin July 1, 2009. The RC will expire June 1, 2010, and the bi-hourly shutdowns will begin on March 1, 2010. In both cases, you’ll need to rebuild your test PCs with another valid version of the OS, and reinstall your programs and data.

[Sprogget]

I got RC1 built tonight. Oddly, I was installing the soundcard & it BSOD'ed (always the soundcard!) & went a bit unstable after that, so I've wiped the drive & will start again tomorrow.

What I saw of it, was very smooth, quick & polished, as compared against beta builds of the same sweet os. it will be good, I have no doubt. You'll be pleased to know GG that the desktop revolves nicely, without end.:ok:

[green granite]

You'll be pleased to know GG that the desktop revolves nicely, without end.

Should give me vertigo then. :)

Got a new 500Gig HD to install in anticipation. :ok:

[Sprogget]

I've rebuilt it it - I love the smell of a fresh build in the morning! and it's dropped in flawlessly. I tried to build it yesterday with an old disk for the soundcard & the driver blue screened it. That definitely upset the cart. Today I've used the correct driver & it's fine. It really is a palpable step up from the beta versions in terms of speed & feel and let's face it, the beta's weren't bad at all.

I think ms may be getting it right, we'll see.

[Keef]

I'm very impressed with the Win 7 Beta that I've been running. I've got it set up how I like it.

Tell me: can I just install the RC1 over the top of that, or do I have to start again?

[preduk]

Keef,

You might be able to just upgrade to it, not 100% sure but its possible.

I'm looking forward to Windows 7.

[Sprogget]

It does give the upgrade option on setup, from what though, I'm not sure.

[green granite]

can I just install the RC1 over the top of that, or do I have to start again?
Today 08:03

They would rather you didn't: Engineering Windows 7 : Delivering a quality upgrade experience (http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/04/07/delivering-a-quality-upgrade-experience.aspx)

[Sprogget]

Would something like Acronis not do for settings? I only use it for rebuilds when Vista is naughty, so I don't explore it too much in truth.

[taxydual]

There is a cunning plan for installation

Hack to Upgrade Windows 7 From Beta or Pre-RC to RC (70xx to 71xx) Version Directly My Digital Life (http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/04/22/hack-to-upgrade-windows-7-from-beta-or-pre-rc-to-rc-70xx-to-71xx-version-directly/)

I've tried it. It works.

[green granite]

Bare in mind that the entire install process is sent back to MS in the form of telemetry data so they will know exactly what you have done.

[WALSue]

Using it here too, and also had trouble with the soundcard. Now using the onboard sound - ho hum, I'm sure that'll be sorted at some point.
Liking it so far despite it taking a while to warm its valves up.

[Sprogget]

Which soundcard? Mine is an xfi extreme audio, which now works faultlessly except on live tv, wher it loses two out of the four speakers.

[WALSue]

Its a M-Audio Audiophile 2496
Doesn't find it at all. I imagine something will crop up eventually for it

[taxydual]

Download the Vista driver.

M-AUDIO - Drivers and Software Search (http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support&tab=driver&PID=adf95efc30b88aba043fa8b83343bfb8&serie_ID=1#tabs)

Works for me.

[WALSue]

thanks :ok:

[One Outsider]

How would those of you who have had their hands on Windows 7 rate it's performance on a standard spec'ed netbook?

[Keef]

I've not tried it on a Netbook, but on my desktop it's about twice as fast as XP Pro, if that's any help.

[One Outsider]

Thanks for the info Keef. It should work quite well on a netbook then.

I'll give it a go.

[Keef]

Just installed it on my main desktop, over the top of the Beta version. One minor glitch part way through, but all else seems to be working fine. It's fixed some of the bugs I had with the Beta. I was a naughty boy and didn't do a clean install - there's too much stuff on there, and life's too short.

It preserved my dual-boot, so I can still run XP Pro if I want to. I can't see me wanting to do that, though.

[green granite]

Just installed it as a clean instal onto a 2nd HD, seemed quite slow but it got there with no problems, now have 7 partions on 2 HDs and I'm totally confused as to which is what. :ugh:

[Keef]

Yes, it did take a long time to install. Goes like a train, now.

I'm wondering whether to get brave and install it on the laptop :)

[kenhughes]

Yes, it did take a long time to install :confused:

A clean install on a 600Gb HDD, less than 10 minutes, including formatting (deleted old partition and re-created it).

So far, very impressed and would consider buying it when the RC edition times-out. I haven't found the XP emulation mode yet though.

As someone who wouldn't buy a new PC unless it had XP installed, Windows 7 has been a real eye-opener - so far.

[Keef]

I didn't look for, and haven't yet seen, the XP emulation mode. I suspect (I'm not at home to check) it's in the "Run as..." option.

I think mine took a long time to install because it was updating the Beta version.

[seacue]

Doesn't the XP mode feature software have to be downloaded separately?

[Saab Dastard]

Seacue, yes I think you are right - it seems to be more a VM to run XP (and the application) in than a simple compatability setting.

SD

[Don Coyote]

A bit slow in operation when installed as an upgrade but then tried a clean install and quite impressed with how it looks and works.

[green granite]

Woke up the pc after tea, mouse frozen, had to re-plug and it's now ok.

[Sprogget]

Still can't, as with every build so far, get the sound right. Flawless perfect sound in every aspect of 7, except live tv, where two channels are lost.:(

[Keef]

I made a big decision. I like Win 7 enough that I've bought a new HD for the laptop and plan to install it on there. I'm keeping the old one "as is" in case any of the ThinkPad special stuff isn't catered for, and I need to go back to XP Pro.

The old one goes in a caddy, so that I can copy stuff off it to the new one. Might be a busy day or two!

[HandyAndy]

I'm with Keef on this one. Going to do exactly the same thing today on my laptop (Asus X50RL) which travels with me everywhere. Will keep the original (which dual boots to Vista and W7) safe just in case. Only good reports from here so far with W7. :ok:

[Don Coyote]

Only problem I have found so far is that it won't recognise my TomTom so I cannot keep it updated.

[Don Coyote]

I have a Realtek HD audio manager in control panel - Hardware and sound; it is the bottom icon for me. Also have you tried restoring the properties of the red icon by clicking on the show hidden icons little white arrow in the taskbar at bottom right?

[Spitoon]

Well, on the basis of your recommendations I thougt I'd give it a try. Attempted to install it on a fairly standard Intel quad-core machine and get a BSOD after the installer loads saying MULTIPROCESSOR_CONFIGURATION_NOT_SUPPORTED.

Haven't had time to look into it but if anyone has got any ideas.....

[green granite]

Attempted to install it on a fairly standard Intel quad-core machine and get a BSOD after the installer loads saying MULTIPROCESSOR_CONFIGURATION_NOT_SUPPORTED.


I have an Intel Quad processor and it installed ok for me. It appears to be a motherboard problem and a bit left out of W7

See this thread: BSOD install Windows 7 X64 (http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproinstall/thread/9198ec21-c00a-49c0-ac27-212abaa4f66e)

[Keef]

Alas, Windows 7 doesn't get any further than about three minutes into the install before failing with a "a required CD/DVD device driver is missing".
That is most odd. With my (very mixed parentage) PC, I got that message lots of times, but it went off to the Internet and found the missing drivers.

The only device it couldn't (and still can't) handle is a very old SCSI card that I used for a 12-year-old scanner and some equally antique DVD and CDROM drives.

[green granite]

Trashed my XP dual boot by swapping drive letters around, so now a committed 7 user. I'm sure it'll be fine.....

If you have the XP disc you can restore the dual boot system from the recovery console by using the <bootcfg /rebuild> command, see: Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console for advanced users (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/en-us)

[Sprogget]

Why burn at all? On every build yet, I've just extracted the files to an empty folder & ran it from there. Works every time. Never seen the problem you describe Stacey F on 6 or so builds.

[Spitoon]

green g, many thanks for the pointer.

I've now got it installed (32-bit version)...but so far it looks too much like Vista to convert me! I've already started drifting back to XP when I can't find how to do something. I think I'm just getting old and don't like change.

[green granite]

[QUOTEI think I'm just getting old and don't like change.[/QUOTE]

I know the feeling well Spitoon, :( But it's well worth persevering with

[Keef]

It's now on the "other" hard drive in my laptop. I was amazed: it took under half an hour from start to "up and running". That was as a clean install to a brand new 80GB drive. Everything worked straight off.

What amazed me even more was that it found drivers for the "IBM" buttons, and for the fingerprint reader. The only thing it couldn't cope with was the Jeppesen data card writer for the Garmin GNS430. I think that needs a driver from Jepp.

Yes, it looks quite a lot like Vista. The difference is, it works.

[Jofm5]

Got my fingers crossed here - have been writing a windows service for the contract I am on and guess what under vista home premium which came with the lappy you cant debug as you cannot get trusted authentication (Has been fine at home as have ultimate on this machin) .....

So my options were put the clients xp professional build on or try out windows 7 RC (Ultimate) - or of course pay for upgrade to vista ultimate.....

Well not hard to guess which way I went.

OS is installed, now installing the development tools and hoping I dont come across any huge hurdles.... Will let you know if I find anything intriguingly different between vista and W7...

[Keef]

Having spent five hours yesterday unscrambling a friend's "new" laptop that came with Vista, no: Win7 isn't Vista masquerading. They just look similar ;)
The sillinesses in Vista are mostly gone from Win7.

Her Vista would start up, and then do a BSOD - always 2½ minutes after start. If I waited and didn't log in, it crashed waiting at the login screen. If I logged in quickly, it crashed after her desktop was up. Nothing in the Event Viewer showed what was crashing. Turning off everything in MSCONFIG didn't make any difference. It would start and work OK in Safe Mode, with the limitations that brings.

In the end, we decided to install Win7 over the Vista, on the basis that should fix it. The Win7 DVD started, took a good look at it, and reported that two files on it needed to be "removed or replaced" before Win7 could install. We removed those two files, and Vista is working again. So she doesn't have Win7, which is probably a good thing since she isn't really a "computers" person.

My guess is that something in automatic updates glitched. Those are now OFF.

[hellsbrink]

Ahh, good old auto updates.

I never allow that to happen, I let it tell me what is there and then I decide what goes on, and drivers are NEVER allowed to install.

But which files are you talking about, out of interest?

[frostbite]

Although I will, more often than not, install an updated version of a program, I have never allowed a windows update.

I suppose it's a distrust of M$ behind it, but my XP has performed without crashing since the day it came out of the box, so why mess with it?

[Keef]

But which files are you talking about, out of interest?
I just knew someone would ask that!

Longish and meaningless names ending in .exe. I think one had SMS in the middle of it. Not files I'd ever come across or remembered meeting before.
Memory isn't my long suit: I write stuff down.

The page of notes that I made as I was working on it went into its bag, to come back with it if it returns. This is Keef's new policy to avoid having to remember stuff, or remember where I put the notes ;)

[crewmeal]

Having just taken 12 hours to download the software for '7' then copied at 4X to a DVD I find after selecting a clean install started the installation process. After copying the software the disc got stuck on the installation part so I gave up and now have no operating system. Any ideas and thoughts? Perhaps a dud copy, in which case how do you know the software was downloaded correctly?

Thanks

[Bushfiva]

You check the MD5 hash of the downloaded file.

[frostbite]

You check the MD5 hash of the downloaded file.


I do hope that means something to crewmeal. To me it's about as useful as 'Error 1357'.

[Bushfiva]

It's a checksum. If the checksum on the website matches the checksum of the file you downloaded, then the file is identical to the original. An error in a single bit generates a wildly different checksum, so you don't have to look too hard to spot a problem.

"Too many domains on the server", incidentally.

[crewmeal]

Now I'm totally lost

[Sprogget]

Have a look on a few windows 7 websites and I guess Microsoft. There you will find the checksum for RC1. This will tell you, if it matches the RC1 download you have, that your copy hasn't been hacked or corrupted. If it's different, avoid.

It will look something like this:

SHA1: 6071184282B2156FF61CDC5260545C078CCA31EEISO/CRC: ABA5A48

Anyway, hold the front page: build 7127 is all over the internet if you feel lucky!:}

[crewmeal]

I fear I have a dodgy disc as I've tried to copy it all to a folder and after about 10 mins it comes up with an error message. This means it will take at least 36 hours to download a fresh copy. By the time I get it sorted out it Microsoft will stop the evaluation sites and it will be on the shelves in PC World for sale!!!

[berliner57]

Using Windows 7 now on a laptop, no problems upgrading from Vista basic, other then the main memory has taken some from the graphic card and running at 1024 x 768 instead of 1280 x 800, will need to upgrade memory to 2GB i think.

Also did a clean install on a XP laptop, installed but coudn't find the realtex ac97 sound or the railink wireless card, so uninstalled and put XP back on, now have both back.

[Notmyreallogin]

Berliners,

Got my Realtek HD Drivers and Ralink wireless card drivers direct from their respective websites. Both had 64 bit versions too!

Sorry I haven't got a link, but at least you know they're out there!

NMRL

[berliner57]

Thanks i will try the websites later.

Worked, downloaded updated driver, now have wireless and sound.

[crewmeal]

At last I managed to download and with the aid of ISO software I finally downloaded RC and it really works well. However a couple of issues:

It asked for a license key, where can I get one from?

Blu ray discs don't play anymore, even though the cyberlink BD advisor states all is ok. I've tried updating GPU and NDVIA drivers to no avail. Any thoughts?

[Bushfiva]

As part of the dowload process via the Microsoft website.

[green granite]

It asked for a license key, where can I get one from?

You need a "windows Live" ID if you don't have one just open a HotMail account and you will get one. Then as Bushfiva says go to the download page: Windows 7 Release Candidate (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=mscomsc) and it will click and set your desired language click on the arrow and the next page will ask you to sing in using your password it will then E-Mail you the serial number and allow you to download.

[crewmeal]

I've had 2 welcome emails using my live id neither gave any codes. However I've written down about4 different key combinations from the download sight. I need this because windows 7 will stop working after 1 month without the key.

[None of the above]

FWIW...............

I've burned five discs using three different utilities and am still unable to get past the 13% stage in 'Expanding Windows files'.

According to this site (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd535816.aspx), it is possible to instal Win 7 using a USB stick. If I had one of the necessary capacity I'd give it a go. As things stand at the moment I'm inclined not to bother at all!

N o t a

[Sprogget]

Don't bother burning it. Download winrar & install if you don't already have it. Use it to extract the ISO files to a new folder, then click on setup within your new win 7 folder & it'll install from there.

[None of the above]

Thanks Sprogget and StaceyF.

I'm attempting the installation on my experimental box (main distro being Ubuntu) where I just fit a hard drive and swap connections as the mood takes me:hmm:.

Consequently, I can't fall back on any of the dark arts you've kindly mentioned. I think I'll have to try a SATA drive and/or try to do the installation in the main box aka the 'None of the above Patented Difference Engine'.
I definitely don't want to run the risk of the edifice crumbling so that will have to be a separate HDD job as well.

Who knows? It might work and, like everything else in computing, worth a try.

N o t a:ok:

[hellsbrink]

Getting ready to drop Winblows 7 on as soon as new hard disk is formatted. Any pitfalls I should be aware of?

(Note, will be comparing it to XP, this PC has never seen Vista)

[green granite]

No it should go with no issues, just done my wife's Acer laptop with no problems.

[mustpost]

HellsB
Given that it's a beta, and Microbore, it's the least troublesome so far - and I tried them all :8.
When it's going to be released tho', as usual there will be too many different versions. On my (admittedly) big system (3 screen, multi-partition etc,) one of the interesting features is the virtual machine option to run XP pro, with apps for that. It seems to work..:bored:
Still no competition for Mac though

Added to say that I had uninstalled all vista last year , and 7 seems to be at least an improvement over that - be prepared to search around for a lot of 7 beta third party drivers, but they are out there now, and in greater numbers than the early days of Vista

[Keef]

I installed it on a separate HD in the CD drivebay of my Thinkpad. It installed with no fuss, worked first time off, and is noticeably faster than XP. The CPU runs about 5 degrees cooler, too.

I can see me having to buy two copies of Win7 Ultimate come next March when it starts to time out.

[green granite]

Having now got 2 machines running 7 I was very impressed by the ease of the network set-up, it asked me which network I wished to connect to (it could see 3) it then asked for the encryption key and then told me to contact xyz on the downstairs computer for the home-group password which I typed in and immediately I could access all the shared folders
and the shared printer

[Sprogget]

I like it but I've found it slower than Vista when negotiating explorer & I still have sound woes on it. In fairness, the sound problems are almost certainly driver related. Overall though, it is sexy. The best effort from MS in years.

[hellsbrink]

Ok, the install was sweet and problem free. It doesn't like my webcam and didn't like my sound card, but the sound issue was sorted out by telling it to install the Vista driver from the CD for the card (might help you Sprogget, download the Vista driver for your sound card).

All in all, it is nice (even on this old clunker of a PC I am running). Haven't fully explored it yet but compared to Vista it is an improvement

[HandyAndy]

hellsbrink

It didn't like my built-in webcam so I searched and found a suitable driver. It may help yours too - just search for "CMOS_Camera_D-Max_GD-5A35A_VT_071213" vista driver.

[Sprogget]

HB, I've tried every combo of driver for my s/card going without success. The issue I reckon lies with Creative & their notoriously crappy support. Auzentech here we come.

I actually get fantastic 5.1 surround sound throughout windows 7 with the exception of live tv where it defaults to stereo. Since I'm a lazy b*****d who loafs about in front of the idiot lantern most nights, it's something of a show stopper for me. Such a shame as it's the one piece of the puzzle that's missing.

[Loose rivets]

It's my intention to read carefully through this thread again tonight, but I was halfway through an answer to Green Granite on another thread when I thought I'd best move over to this one.

Following some hiccups, I now have one 400 gig drive destined to be my Win 7 unit. It is divided into C: 100g D: 50 g and E: the remainder. I still have a lot of data on E: but D: is newly formatted. E: is backed up.

My XP home, is on a smaller physical drive, and temporally holds the OS. This only has C: plus D: as a restore partition.

The OS in the larger drive still operates at this time. (XP pro.)

I would like a coherent download that could be used again, and therefore will be copied onto a DVD. But what is the most logical way to do this?

D: on the target drive has 50g to use as a dumping ground. Can I then install from there?

C: could be formatted first, giving a green-field site, but this would, I assume, mean using the other physical drive as the holding tank and indeed using its OS and browser to facilitate the maneuver. I would have to be sure in this case, that the download would not be installing as it arrived, or the drive letters would be wrong.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to maneuver but am really demonstrating my lack of knowledge.

NB. It might be obvious exactly how to proceed when I press the download button. But I've never downloaded anything bigger than Open Office, and that of course didn't involve the OS. I'm concerned of course, that I'll end up with no valid OS and no start-up disc.

[green granite]

My thoughts would be to down load the file, it matters not where to, then burn it to a DVD and check that it can be read by using windows explorer.
Assuming you wish to retain the OS on the smaller disc and not the larger one then Leave the smaller HD with XP on it in the pc and add the new HD as a slave (assuming its an IDE drive) or as the second channel if it's a SATA drive, reboot into XP and make a note of the new drive letters assigned to the larger drive, and decide which partition you want to install W7 onto on the new drive lets say it will be E:. Shut the mc down insert the DVD and switch on. W7 will then look at the drives and ask you which one you want to install it to tell it E: and it will install it's self there and set up a dual booting system with XP automatically with W7 as the default OS.

The alternative is to remove the smaller drive (I presume you can boot from it ok) and have the larger one only in the mc when the DVD asks you where you wish to install it to tell it D: and it will then set up a dual boot with the OS already on that disc but still with W7 as the default OS. NOTE that the partions will change so that what was D: will now become C: as far as W7 is concerned.

And you can still put the other HD in in the unlikely event that it goes pear shaped and be able to use that system.

[Loose rivets]

My thoughts would be to down load the file, it matters not where to, then burn it to a DVD and check that it can be read by using windows explorer.

That's the main question answered. Any idea of the total size of the download?


I'm fairly committed to keeping both drives insitu as they were very difficult to scheme in neatly while keeping them cool.

I posted a while back on how I change between them by selection in the BIOS. Needless to say, their drive letters are dynamic...but I've labeled them so that I can see the letter they would be when booted from the other disc.

I'll try to download the soft tonight when all the kiddywinks have stopped surfing...about 4 am that'd be I suppose. :suspect: I'll go from there.

Thanks again.

[Saab Dastard]

Any idea of the total size of the download

2.35GB

SD

[Loose rivets]

Ah, not too bad - thanks.

[Loose rivets]

Downloaded file and cut the DVD. The first sign of any problem was when the PC would not boot from the DVD drive.. I wasn't sure that it should, so I booted from the spare HD and asked for the install to be on drive 0. they were clearly marked, but I was scared that it would write to the XP drive.

At 64% the install failed. :ugh:


Thankfully the small drive still works, and there's quite a lot of data on the correct drive, but the main issue is, should it have booted from the DVD?

I intend to cut another DVD, then if that fails, take to the bottle. Mmm 2:40 Am why do we do this?

How do I do a checksum of the file? I see some check numbers in this thread but I don't know how to compare them.


BTW, it took 4 hours to download, that's not very good is it? I have SBC on 'Two Wire' phone line. R

[Bushfiva]

Software such as md5sums will do the job.

[Loose rivets]

Ta. I'll look at that later.


I tried it again and it failed at 64% again. I cut another disc, and lo, it's into the next stage.

At the first reboot, it again couldn't find NTLDR (is missing.) this is what it says if I try to boot from the target drive. I fear that there is something still very wrong. It says it's expanding files, but it's already done that. Don't want to leave it, and don't want to sit here another hour. Decisions. When it shut down to reboot, I had to force a shutdown and re start.


Sounds a bit terminal, wouldn't you say?


The only thing is, that all this is going on from a C: which is not the intended drive. It won't boot from the DVD so I can't see any other option. But the drive letters are wrong, but the target for the few files that copied, is correct.


All this would be resolved if it would boot from the DVD. If this is the issue, I may as well start downloading another copy.

I had one heck of a job convincing them that my 10 year old e-address was mine. Soooooooo much BS getting that sorted.

[Loose rivets]

Help it's asking me for a product code orf me box :ugh:

[Sprogget]

Assuming you're in the middle of installing 7, then ignore that for now Rivets. Carry on with the install & when you're all up & running, get a product code from the MS website & activate 7 from the system page in control panel.

[Loose rivets]

Ta muchly.

I'm not only tired, I took a sleeper an hour ago to take away the angst. One is now fighting sleep and a sleeper.:\

[Loose rivets]

Good morning world. I'm talking to you from my new Win 7 operated machine. And all five drive letters are correct Phew!


I havn't yet tried to see if it will boot from the other drive, won't push me luck tonight.

Thanks for the help everyone...One will try to beat this into a workable tool tomorrow.

[Guest 112233]

I'm really enjoying the posts on this thread as I post this on my 1995 vintage Compaq - XP3, 320 MB of Ram, floppy drive internal graphics etc.

Yes I have played the zzzzzzzz.AM game with the creations of Redmond - last week I XP3'd my main clone - Result No wireless networking - Solution carefully yank PCMIA card of of said Compaq and insert (word used very carefully) into clone - result happyness. Old compaq bereft of outside contact with the outside world -Cruelty to Presario. My standby 200 quid net book happly runs Kubunto 9.04 - When will people learn that it takes years to nail dowin the floorboards of an operating system - wait for Win 7 SP2 before installing it on your kit in my 'umble opinion. PS any assembler programmers out there ?

Progress - Bah humbug !!!!!!!

CAT III

[Loose rivets]

When will people learn that it takes years to nail dowin the floorboards of an operating system - wait for Win 7 SP2 before installing it on your kit in my 'umble opinion.

Pah! Where's the fun in that...get yer tweed jacket and short trousers on, and go climb Everest. It's what I felt I'd done last night. Haven't got the staying power any more.:uhoh:


I've put "Ordinary" Firefox on me laptops, but is there an upgraded version of any sort for Win 7 ? Downloads doesn't seem to offer one.

[green granite]

I've put "Ordinary" Firefox on me laptops, but is there an upgraded version of any sort for Win 7 ?

No there's not, but you could try V3.5beta4 it is what I'm using with no real problems.

[Guest 112233]

That Tweed jacket that I was wrapped in as a neofite, I could not get out of the thing - the brick in the bottom of the sack did not help either. The water was cold too.

Sense of proportion, if it aint running VT210's it ain't a real applcation - long live the navigational database model of application developement - I was being serious about assembler - Re OU -me.

No offence - This is a orrible topic - Thats why I'm on pprune. Yep the PCMIA card is on M/C one again - AV update - All Hail MS .

CAT III

[Saab Dastard]

1995 vintage Compaq - XP3, 320 MB of Ram

CATIII-NDB - that vintage Compaq couldn't be more than a Pentium (1) 133 MHz CPU. Does it support hard disks larger than 512MB? :}

Are you serious that it has Win XP on it? I can't believe that it runs Windows XP at an acceptable speed - even with 320MB RAM! 1995 was still DOS 6 & Win 3.11 for many, although Win95 had just been released.

I've run Win2K on a 1998 233 MHz PII (Toshiba 480CDT) and 160MB RAM (max possible) as a main work PC (slow but steady), but that PC wouldn't run XP at all. I still have it as a packet sniffer.

My "minimum spec." for XP is 500MHz PIII with 512MB RAM, although 256 is feasible, for lighter loads.

SD

[Loose rivets]

To quote me.

I've put "Ordinary" Firefox on me laptops, but is there an upgraded version of any sort for Win 7 ?

Okay, I'm using bog-standard FF, but when I came to load Skype, it advised that there had been mods for...and it didn't quite say W7, but this type of OS (Sic). I've got 4 0 0 226 after a nice message said that I needed a modified version to cope with the new OS. Huh! I see that's the same as the laptop has on it. (Vista BTW.) Well, the same VER number anyway.

I did spend some time with the Rivetess' image pointing at her ear and saying "Can you hear me?" Made I larf that did. Lovely sound from Norf London, but my mike needed reconfiguring for skype. Selected new mic in the Hello-setup screen and away it went. First time that's happened.

[Loose rivets]

And another thing!

Tried to log onto PpruNe, and couldn't. I could look inside, but not log on. The horror!

I ended up getting a new password...after all these years with the same one. That fixed it, but it was definitely related to this installation, cos PpruNe was working normally on the other drive. Odd that.

I tried deleting the cookies etc. Ran CCleaner. Made not a jot....

[Loose rivets]

Please excuse all these posts, but I've done little but mess with technology for the last few days. My tele took up more time than you could shake a stick at.

A few moments ago, I was going to say how I'd fallen for this W7 thingie. I'd just assumed than my old HP LaserJet 4 plus was going to be in there, and was looking, when another menue poped up and said put that away, we'll do it for you. They did, 3 minutes and 12 Mb of something, and away it went. Bless!

However...there's another However. As I logged on to PpruNe, I was not allowed to...well, log on - Again:ugh: Now I'm worried.


Any ideas why this should not allow the new password. It worked at least once, now I'm back to the lappie to beg for more help.

[Guest 112233]

Saab Your right It was manufactured in 1999 not 95 - I've dug out the purchase inv -apologies everyone so its 10 years old - Compaq Presario 1200 Lap Top intel celerion processor overclocked to 850 MHz - it origionally had 128 MB ram with Win ME - upgraded RAM to 320 MB that all that the bios can address - Origional 10 GB hard disk still - floppy and CD/DVD Read Only - XP Home -SP3 (installed without probs) - No inbuilt wireless hence Belkin G PCMIA card - Win firewall and ESET anti Vir - 2 mins to boot - about 1 and 3/4 hours use on battery - its at its limit - I have tried ubuntu 8.10 but no joy - But still perfectly useable - I'm writing this msg on it. Sorry to mis represent the age of the thing - but my point is with a bit of TLC you can extend the life of old kit - better than throwing it away. PS on board graphics 20MB taken out of the 320 MB Ram 1024 by 768 Screen. OK for usual Home user ordinary tasks

A more general issue - modern operating systems like Vista and Win 7 seem to require comparitively vast processing power and acres of RAM - Where in terms of performance have all the procsssing cycles gone ?.




CAT III

[green granite]

Any ideas why this should not allow the new password.

No but try using IE instead and see whether it lets you in ok, if it does than it's a setting in FF. Also don't log out of PPruNe when you finish a session.

Edited to add: If you are in the private browsing mode it does not remember passwords nor will it log into sites automatically

[John Marsh]

Windows 7 is expected to be released on October 22nd:
Windows 7 to ship October 22 ? The Register (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/02/microsoft_confirms_october_windows_7_release_date/)

[Loose rivets]

Well, for the moment, Pprune is behaving itself.

It suddenly occurred to me that I used my - rather low level - password that I'd used for Pprune for many years, to be my Win 7 password. I wonder if in some way they found out about each other, and, in a fit of jealousy, caused chaos.


Now, here's an interesting thing.

Above, I described my LaserJet 4 P installation. The menu that popped up over the normal installation knew what printer I had. I had never told it! The disc had been formatted prior to W7's installation. This seems to be saying that the printer's information was carried back up the Parallel printer cable.

We used to do wondrous things with parallel ports, so I know their potential, but I thought accessory information gathering was a USB function idea.

[Bushfiva]

There's a reason bidirectional parallel printer cables have that name... :}

Incidentally, HP specifies IEE1284-compliant cables for its printers, and if your printer's older than the 5P, max 3 meters. 5P onwards, max 10 meters.

Your 4P's been part of the default printer table for Windows since XP, maybe earlier.

[samusi01]

Well, thus far Win7 64bit is working fine for me. Currently using it on a new motherboard which appears to be giving me fits but I must say that Win7 is starting to impress me slightly... may end up changing my laptop OS to Win7 as well.

[Loose rivets]

Mine crashed tonight.


It locked up and then went into hyper-slow mode, having gone into screen save. I had just set it to never go into SBY.

It had downloaded two updates 7672 and ???? and installed them. Prior to that it had stood by with no issues. I forced re-boot and here I am again as though nothing happened.

So, not totally solid yet.


Your 4P's been part of the default printer table for Windows since XP, maybe earlier.

Understood, but the point is that it didn't let me finish using that routine...oh, and I'd had a heck of a time trying to make the old method work with the - probably bogus - XP Pro that I had. But hey, didn't you help me with that one yourself?:ok:

[HandyAndy]

Could you do a restore to a point just before the updates were downloaded? At least you would know if the updates are the issue.

Edited to note that the last updates were 70421-70424.

[crewmeal]

For info - I run Windows 7 on my laptop. I can't fault it in anyway apart from Power DVD 7.3 which wont play bluray discs You now have to upgrade to DVD 9 version. Having done that they play very nicely through my Samsung LCD

[Loose rivets]

Handy

I'm certainly not in full control yet. The upgrades were possibly after the last - indeed only - restore point, but I'm not sure. Good point though.

However, it's going well, and I like it more every hour. Seems so much more intuitive. I seem to be able to wade into the menus without too many references to Search, and when there, the choices seem to be straight off a Vista user's wish-list.



Crew

I suppose your laptop has a good graphics sub-system...question mark.


So far, Skype is still going strong, after loads of noise on the old OS.

[hellsbrink]

Ok, back to playing with Win7. Happier now I figured out how to get ads blocked in IE8 (is quite simple really, once you know the files to look for). No real issues apart from no suitable webcam driver but that's hadly the end of the world

[Loose rivets]

Yes, I have a creative camera that's getting a bit long in the tooth. It works well on XP but wouldn't install on Vista. Haven't tried it on W7


Some of these downloads have made me realize just how slow my Broad Band is. It's on me phone line and reports while loading 140k ish. My mate in the UK is getting 6M out of a promised 8.

A pal came round and tested my line in and out down the road...said it was good for the most expensive speed. Money wise, I'm probably going to have to go back to two tin cans and some string.:uhoh:

[hellsbrink]

ALMOST had it working, after a bit of faffing around. Now doing a reinstall in WinXPSP2 compatibility mode to see if that does it. If not, methinks a tinny or two of "thinking juice" will be in order.

I will not be defeated by a mere computer!!

[green granite]

I'd suggest you use the Vista driver (where it's available) in Compatibility mode first. Right-click on the driver executable/installer file and select the Compatibility tab; click the checkbox 'Run this program in Compatibility mode' and select Windows Vista from the list, then try installing the device driver.

You can try the above for xp drivers and selecting the xp mode from the list.

[Loose rivets]

My Yahoo scanned for viruses on an e with attachments from a friend.

the bar saying it was scanning, turned red, and at the end, there was a small Norton logo and some other writing I think. Where did this come from? Who uses Norton to check my mail? Is it Yahoo or even W7?

I haven't installed anything yet, but the firewall is on in W7



He had and has again scanned it with AVG...no probs.

[hellsbrink]

I did, GG, but W7 recommended XPSP2. Now have it ALMOST working fully (can use the cam in things like Live Messenger) but the standalone proggie doesn't work YET

Loose Rivets, that will be Yahoo scanning with Norton

Edit:

Fully working now, thanks GG. Last time I listen to Microsoft!

[Keef]

That "I see what you're looking for: I'll find it for you" thing is very good, isn't it!

I installed RC1 on a new hard drive in my Thinkpad laptop. First time through, it said it had some problems with some of the hardware. Then it went off and found the drivers for the fingerprint recognition, the Thinkpad keys, and the strange LAN/WiFi stuff. The two printers (HP Laser, Canon colour inkjet) connected to the desktop and "shared" on the network it sorted "on the fly".
Everything is now up and working, and a lot faster than XP Pro, too.

What impressed me most was when I was trying to get some OCR software to work on the desktop. My prehistoric and very expensive ex-work 1990s vintage OCR won't work with Win 7 (it just did, with XP). I downloaded a couple of freebies to try, both of them pretty useless. Then it asked "I see you're trying to set up OCR. Would you like me to do it for you?" And it did! Win7's inbuilt one, which also recognised my antique scanner and found drivers for it.

I'm very impressed.

Anyone know what the price of Win 7 Ultimate released version is likely to be? I've seen Vista Ultimate at under £100 (upgrade version) and around £400 ("new" install).

[green granite]

Anyone know what the price of Win 7 Ultimate released version is likely to be?

Expensive :( ..................

[hellsbrink]

Expensive http://static.pprune.org/images/smilies/sowee.gif

Don't you mean "FMBWAS Expensive"?

[hellsbrink]

Now to confuse it by trying my old US Robotics USB wireless doofer. The drivers for that would blue screen XPSP3 so this could get interesting

[hellsbrink]

Well, it picked up the drivers for the WiFi dongle from Win update (something that doesn't happen on XP!!!) and it works with no issues whatsoever.

So, that's been this machine on Win7 since yesterday afternoon, not even felt like going back to XP, everything running sweetly on my system, which I cannot complain about when you consider it's low (for this day and age) specs

(AMD Athlon 2600XP
1GB RAM
Win 7 partition 63.7GB
GeForce FX5500 256Mb gfx card
Cheapo AC97 sound)

[mustpost]

Hellsb
Must agree it's good after a spell of use (and trying to fix a friends useless vista laptop
7 rc (64 bit) faster than XP pro 64 bit in the same machine

[hellsbrink]

Would love to set it up on stepkids quad core machine just to see the speed difference between it and Vista.


Oh, someone mentioned prices. I found this on another site, some rumoured prices allegedly leaked.

Windows 7 Pricing Details Leaked | Windows 7 Center (http://windows7center.com/news/windows-7-pricing-details-leaked/)

[Loose rivets]

Gosh! I had a forum message from - and I paste - "the head of the marketing communication team at Microsoft so, no surprise, I'm using Windows 7."

I'm assuming this is for the UK, cos turns out he grew up in my home town in Essex. Anyway, he confirms the date above, and lot's of exciting stuff in the pipeline.


Adobe What's the situation with this? It doesn't offer a ver for Win 7, so will it run on another, or are we back to simulation...or worse? :(

What I don't want to do is fill the drive with non functional dross. Even though the idea is to experiment with 7, I still want to keep it reasonably functional as my main OS. XP home just standing by. Mmm...a bit of conflict there.

[crewmeal]

Now Microsoft have indicated they will launch the OS later this year what will happen to everyone using the current RC version as Microsoft have indicated they will remove it by Jul/Aug 2010?

[hellsbrink]

Your RC version will work fine until the trial period is up, and that means you have to buy a copy next year

[mustpost]

Rivets...Adobe CS4 (all) installed ok without virtual machine etc, and have you tried Control Panel 'Troubleshooting - find and fix problems/run programs for previous versions etc? Not sure what it's doing to the registry, but it sure as hell works, and quick - made a lot of xp things operate fine...

This could be a first/second, for what it was Windaes 95 wasn't bad for its time. This is way ahead of Vista (and so it should be)

[Loose rivets]

Adobe CS4 (all) installed ok without virtual machine etc

Is it free? One asks, because sometime the request for a bank card only comes after filling in a six mile long form.



I installed the Adobe reader 9 and agreed to the terms. Tonight, a shortcut appeared to Adobe Air (Tm) which asks me to sign again. I'm hesitant to just say okay to this, cos I don't really have time for fixing nasties. It looks very professional, but so have some real scams. Anyone know what this is?

A pal recommended Primo Pdf today. It seems that it will create a pdf file by selecting it as the printer. Sounds quite useful, any users of this freebie.

[green granite]

Adobe CS4 (all) installed ok without virtual machine etc Is it free? One asks, because sometime the request for a bank card only comes after filling in a six mile long form.

No it's around $2500, but there is a trial version for free

[frostbite]

Best pdf reader I've come across is Foxit (free), which also allows you to add text if required.

[green granite]

Agreed about foxit, it's very good.

[hellsbrink]

It sure is, and uses far less resources than Adobe does.

An update on this machine. Still trying to find a conflict with stuff I had on Vista. So far everything has just gone in smoothly and my AV scan actually goes faster than it did with the clean install of XP I did a week ago.......

Scary, M$ produced an OS that seems to work (so far)

[hellsbrink]

By the way, for those looking for a Firewall

I'm running Avira AV and Comodo Internet Security (firewall only) on this thing under W7 with no issues. Both are freeware, but I can't remember the link to CIS. PM me with your email and I can send you it.


Sure, you have to teach it like you do with ZoneAlarm, but it went in with no problems whatsoever......... I could say "pick a decent firewall", as it has been proven, but I won't.......

[Loose rivets]

the first time you use it you have to agree to the licence?

As mentioned, I'd signed the usual thing during the installation, but this appeared after opening it. As you say, maybe that was my first use being detected.


No it's around $2500,

Is that all? I'll have two.:}


The little Solve Issues button on the task bar keeps popping up with warnings. One is telling me to get an Anti-virus. The other is saying that this version of Skype has compatibility issues with this OS. I thought this had been sorted on install, and since it has been running to perfection - after weeks of popping and clicking on the old OS - I'm loath to change it. I wish I could get rid of the warning. Cancel that...I've just Archived it.

Now to address the AV issues. It offers help here, but since the Avast seemed very likely to have been involved in my Skype problems, I need to be careful which to select. W7 anti-virus? Any strong opinions on this?

The Action Center says that it is working closely with these AV software companies.

* McAfee
* Panda
* Trend Micro
* Symantec
* Kaspersky Lab
* F-Secure
* AVG

The funny thing is, when I first looked, the list was different. When I nipped back to have a reminder, it had changed. Norton was there, but McAfee wasn't. Maybe they've agreed that never will they be seen on the same page!

[hellsbrink]

As I said, Loose Rivets, I'm running Comodo Internet Security firewall (it has AV too, but I didn't install that) and Avira AV. Both 100% free, both installed seamlessly on W7 and they are not bloatware in the way AVG has gone recently.

[green granite]

I too am running Commodo FW, but would just prefer ZA.

Don't try using super anti-spyware with W7 it screws up big time, well it does on mine m/c.

[mustpost]

Aha - found a fault with mine..When shutting down via start or keyboard button, power supply stays on. Guess some bios alterations are about to take place :(

[green granite]

That's normal for most systems nowadays, it facilitates such things as "wake up on LAN activity" etc. I just switch my entire system off at the mains plug after I've shut down for the night which kills everything, when I sw on at the plug in the morning it starts automatically.

[mustpost]

Yes, disabled the lan activity power settings and enabling ACPI settings on my motherboard solved the problem, but a lot of other testers are having the same issue, and it's not something the average user should have to deal with...:uhoh:

[Loose rivets]

I meant to mention, to Keef in particular, that the Hibernate seems to work very quickly. Like pulling the plug out. Back in business in about 15 secs! BUT, Skype, the one thing I'd intentionally left running, always puts itself away.

Yes, I'd elected to have to start Skype on normal start up, indeed most things really. Same reason I don't like Fly by Wire in airplanes...just want to do my own thing. :hmm:

Maybe, this is what the Solve Issues update is about...but dare I try it when otherwise it's working so well? I think I'll wait until my wife and I are on the same side of the Atlantic.

[Loose rivets]

Oh, NO! This can't be.


One of the tools that I have loved over the years is Coral's QuickView Plus. When I load Word Perfect 8...yes, I know, but I'm old too...anyway, I always load that accessory as well. It gives the option on right click of looking into more file types than you can shake a stick at. W7, it just won't load. WP's going well, but QV just does not respond in the setup menu.

Is there another powerful file viewer that will load in this way. ie accessed quickly to see pix text or even code.

While writing, I use Quick Correct a lot. For example, for Maria Celeste I type ms, and so on. Every time I install WP, I can not carry all the shortcuts over. Not even with a template .wpd QV Plus would have let me look into many of the Coral directories to look for signs of these words and hopefully swap it with the standard file.


No, I'm not writing about that lovely girl that G**gle finds, but something that was named after Galileo's daughter.

[Fly-by-Wife]

Sounds like a candidate for Windows 7 spiffy new compatibility mode, if it worked under XP.

Go on, I'm sure you'll have no problems with it!

FBW

[frostbite]

Irfan viewer might be what you're looking for.

[Loose rivets]

It looks a good program, but hugely more than I need. QuickView Plus is so simple the only evidence it's there is the name on right click menu.

Compatibility seems to do the same as the menu itself.:confused: When installing Coral, one Runs the Setup and is given a blue square in the middle of the screen asking which progs you want. Word processing loads as normal, but coming back to the screen, clicking on QuickView Plus just makes the whole thing blink, and no install occurs.

The funny thing is, when using the compatibility mode, it gets to the setup file, and just blinks. Blinkin' program. :ugh:

[green granite]

Have you tried downloading the latest version? V10 is Vista compatible and should work with W7

[Loose rivets]

V10 ? WP 10? Downloading ? I'm being a bit dumb here, but can one download WP 10 ?

Mind you, not that I would. WP8 is like a comfy old cardigan. Can't ever imagine not having it. Funnily, it wouldn't print on my Sony Vista Laptop, ( it would run on the Rivetess' HP 6000 with the same build Vista). But this forum sorted that for me. Seems ungrateful, but without looking, I can't remember who it was. :( << me looking ashamed.



After trying the compatibility-mode, things started to go wrong. .wpd Files were 'In use or read only, Use but save in a different name' etc.. there was nowt I could do to liberate them except paste etc.. Properties showed read-only UNticked. Then I noticed a row of conhost ??? in Task Manager. 8 or 9 of them. I rebooted, and all went back to normal. I got the distinct feeling that my retries of compatibility mode were creating one of the 120k ish files each time.

[green granite]

V10 of QuickView Plus:

Avantstar :: Solutions :: Quick View Plus (http://www.avantstar.com/Products/Quick_View_Plus/G_QVP)

[Loose rivets]

Ah! I had no I idea they were that established. Thanks.

I sent them this.

Hi, I've used (and sold wp) for years as a dealer in England, and my simple add-on for my old Word Perfect 8 won't load on Win 7

I miss it. And yes, I know it's old...but so am I.


WP8 runs better on W7 than on Vista! but selecting QV option makes the screen blink, and nothing happens.

I'm retired, and only need the simplest upgrade that will go with my RC version of the OS. ie, cost is an issue.

Will it run with Win 7?

Do I qualify for an upgrade when my old copy was combined with WP?

If so, how much for a download?

Regards

Loose rivets

[green granite]

Worth a try. :E

[Loose rivets]

Quite a bit of trouble getting the old Epson 3170 scanner going. The auto-thingie said that it hadn't got anything for me, but offered to go looking elsewhere.

Sk/Eps site offered a Vista 32bit file which I down loaded. It crashed on install, leaving some detritus about, but nothing to 'Uninstall'. I cleaned it up and went for the Second option - this time mentioning Vista 32bit and Twain. This time a much bigger file arrived which unpacked into many scanner model options. I picked the 3170, and away it went.

Epson 12180.exe is the zipped file


The software is improved according to the blurb. Certainly, the way in which you select the destination drive and folder now has its own button with a folder image on it. (before, it was a tiny edge of the Scan Button)

There are more serious issues which it claims to have addressed. Colour handling and the like.

[Loose rivets]

Word Perfect was running well, but a couple of times it has not let me back into my file without promising to save it in a different name.

I've had a good look round, but can't find any clue as to why something's got hold of it. Attributes don't give anything away either.


What might hold onto a WPD file so that it appears to be in use?

Oh dear! It seems that the problem is squarely in the WP camp. This really does spell out just how different W7 is.

It's always, or at least since progressing to W Xp. had the tendency to call up two copies of WP. Normally I would know, because it locks up the WP. Kill it in Task manager and resume. It wouldn't do it for weeks, then start doing it again. Odd that.

With Win 7, there were no Applications running, but Processes showed a copy of WP???.exe sitting in the list. Same sort of thing. The clue was when I went to restart, it asked me if I wanted to force the program to close. Huh! Nothing's running, says I. the Processes belied that thought. killed the stray copy and all's working.

[green granite]

Have a look in <control panel-default programs-set associations> you can then see what else might be set to use them, if so, use the change program button to alter it to wp. Might help or it might not

[Keef]

I meant to mention, to Keef in particular, that the Hibernate seems to work very quickly. Like pulling the plug out. Back in business in about 15 secs!

Ta! I'm slowly catching up with myself and with good info. I just tried hibernate, and the machine shut down in about half the time it normally takes, except that I had to press the "power" button to get it to switch off once it had done its thing. Much beeping in the meantime.

Restart was a bit quicker than from full shutdown, and it came back to this very thread. It wanted my password first (which a normal boot doesn't). Not sure about it yet... will tinker some more.

[Loose rivets]

Ctrl + wheel still gives Zoom. But the Ctrl 0, ..............!!!!!!


Well !! I was going to say that it now didn't put the zoom back to the reference point. But it just did. :confused:


Hang on a sec while I try the WP again.

Yep, 'Failed to update system registry........' I guess this is just another WP issue, so only of interest to the few.

Just tried it on Open Office Writer, and it Zoomed okay, but Ctrl 0 did nowt.

Odd that it should be the same with several programs one way - but not when selecting reverse.

[Mornington Crescent]

I have downloaded w7 and used it to update Vista home basic.

It went without a hitch and I have a w7 start up screen that says Ultimate.

BUT it does not have Aero or Windows photo viewer.

Is this because the underlying op. system was Vista home basic.

BTW Outlook works even though there is no OE or windows mail with w7. Yet outlook required OE to be installed in XP.

MC

[Bushfiva]

Change the "Appearance Settings" in case you migrated your Vista settings with you, and that the graphics are higher than 16-bit mode, and that your Experience Index is high enough.

[Mornington Crescent]

Thanks for that.

Got aero by watching MS video and learning how to.

But after trying all the appearance settings the windows photo viewer will not work. I use the MS office viewer by default but summit is up with photo viewer.

Does anyone know if the final version of w7 will have to be installed clean or will we be able to instal it over our trial versions?