Upgrading XP to W7 [Archive]

woodpidgeonr

26th Oct 2009, 13:31

OK so I am going to bite the bullet and upgrade to W7 from XP. I read too many negative reviews about Vista so I gave it a miss. To do this I have purchased an external hard drive as recommended by microsoft to help with the conversion. Now, with all this extra (1Tb) capacity I am going to use it as a master backup drive for my considerable music/photo/video collection and would like to know if I can also put my many installation CD/DVD's which I have lying around on it as well. I am a bit concerned about them becoming unuseable due to some form of drm or equivalent if I do this. Any help or advice regarding this would be appreciate.d

gizmocat

26th Oct 2009, 14:39

The only way to be sure is to try each app as you go. In my experience, a good 85% of installable cds will work from a straight HDD copy. There are other ways around stubborn apps, of course, such as virtual cd/dvd drives, which should give you about a 95% chance of a useable copy.

There will always be the odd one or two which will, (and I say thie reservedly, but legally), never work in this fashion.

Bests,
Giz

sprthompson

26th Oct 2009, 17:18

"Daemon Tools" is a great bit of software to get around DRM issues.

parabellum

27th Oct 2009, 01:14

Is it possible to go from XP to 7 then? I was under the impression it wasn't and one had to go via Vista?:confused:

Bushfiva

27th Oct 2009, 05:47

You use the easy migration wizard (Windows Easy Transfer): this transfers various settings. Then you install W7, and run the wizard again. It doesn't move software, but it does move user accounts, user files, email, pics etc. assuming they're in the default special folder locations or you're prepared to do a custom migration.

Saab Dastard

27th Oct 2009, 18:51

use the easy migration wizard

A few words from the wise - you will need to run the wizard under each user login, as there's no way to "batch" the process for multiple user accounts (that is certainly the case with the XP tool).

Keep a full backup copy of the "Documents and settings" folder - there's several things that the wizard doesn't transfer that you can transfer manually with selective copying and pasting from the Application Data and Local Settings folders, for example.

SD

parabellum

28th Oct 2009, 01:03

Thanks for the info gents. I might just wait until I'm ready to upgrade the computer! Yes, I know, 'chicken'!

Bushfiva

28th Oct 2009, 01:19

Well XP doesn't suddenly stop working or become a worse operating system simply because W7 arrives.

Warmtoast

28th Oct 2009, 17:56

It is possible to work around the Windows XP to Windows 7 upgrade issue if you have, or can borrow a copy of Windows Vista. It doesn’t even have to be licensed since you won’t be activating it and won’t have it loaded for more than a few hours — well within the 30-day trial period. Just upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, and then upgrade the newly installed Windows Vista system to Windows 7.

There is no guarantee that this will go off without a hitch, but is probably much easier than doing a clean install, which is recommended by Microsoft and most experts.

green granite

28th Oct 2009, 18:20

Or, if your hard drive is large enough, split in half and install W7 in the other half and dual boot between W 7 and XP.

pmills575

29th Oct 2009, 11:04

I just took the route of replacing XP with Win7 on one of my Compaq systems.
Fortunately I had removed the XP disk and replaced it with another "Just in case", turned out to be a good move. After loading Win 7 I quickly realised that this was Vista with a pretty new coat, same crud underneath. Now, no network connectivity, no sound, indexing everything by default keeps slowing it down and so on, it feels so much like Vista. I had tried the early betas, same issues, you kind of hope the final version is way beyond the beta stage.

Just as an exercise I loaded Ubuntu client, surprise, surprise, network worked, sound seemed fine and it ran twice as fast, I know where the "upgrade" for this system is headed, NOT in Win 7 direction.
XP disk replaced and the windows world worked again.

BEWARE.

pmills575

C-N

29th Oct 2009, 11:15

I think there will be some learning curve required and efficiency will be lost once you're very good in XP. The Win Explorer (not IE) is displayed differently in vista and W7. I'm still struggling to learn those new interface. again, BEWARE.

Sprogget

29th Oct 2009, 11:26

To be perfectly honest, if you believe that users should be warned off Windows 7 because the explorer interface has been altered, then you probably don't deserve to own a computer.

C-N

29th Oct 2009, 11:40

Its not just win explorer, i mentioned interfaces. like the search/find and a dozen others in control panel. We'll im just so busy with my airway manuals and jepp updates, no time to learn those minor things in new versions of windows. besides, instead of changing the interfaces, why not just change the internal workings of windows so oldtime users don't need to buy new W7 books from MS? MS could've done better, IMO, if they optimise the internal workings of their OS say 'Indexing' service or those resource hogging background services, instead of chaning the makeup of their baby. just my opinion.

Sprogget

29th Oct 2009, 11:48

Henry Ford said if he'd have asked his customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse. Says it all.

Forkandles

29th Oct 2009, 12:14

Just got a new PC because the old one's given up on me.

The one I've acquired had W7 Build 7600 on it and was working fine. The only problem, to me anyhoo, was the message at the bottom right telling me it wasn't a genuine version and to activate it.

Didn't like Vista at all, but W7 does seem a whole lot better. Just plugged in my graphics & sound cards, connected to t'internet and it was fine.

I then decided that I would put XP on it because the wife wasn't happy with it. Being a bit of a blagger when it comes to confusers, I decided to put in my XP disc and just install it over the top of W7. :sad:

I now have a PC that won't run IE7 and was told by someone who knows better that I should've formatted my drive first before going 'backwards' to a previous operating system. Everything else works fine, but you kind of need web access. That porn doesn't download itself, you know?
Have to do it properly tonight...

W7 did seem quite intuitive and well thought out and there was enough similarity to XP to make it seem 'familiar' where Vista never did. As soon as I can justify it cashwise, I'll probably get W7 Ultimate, which Build 7600 was really...

durty_folker

29th Oct 2009, 14:42

Ain't W7 supposed to be the horse with go faster stripes?

shack

29th Oct 2009, 14:44

I've been running 7 in either beta or RC for some months on a separate partition to XP with the dual boot option coming up on start up. I did a clean install of my shiny new paid for 7 and formatted the partition that had held the RC version but the dual boot option is still coming up, with now the option of 7 or 7. The second 7 is as one would expect empty and I cannot find a way of getting rid of the option. I seem to remenber that you could do it in DOS but am now stuck.
Any help appreciated.:(

Sprogget

29th Oct 2009, 14:47

Download easybcd & run it to get rid of your rc bootloader & you'll be set. Boot.ini no longer works, so you have to either use bcd from the command line, or much easier, install & run this utility. Be sure to delete the correct one though, or your shiny win 7 install won't boot.

shack

29th Oct 2009, 15:01

Thanks Sprogget------3 minutes for an answer that must be a record:)

Keef

29th Oct 2009, 16:39

I've just finished updating my desktop machine to Win 7. I copied all my "stuff" from the old setup onto a new large hard drive, then removed the old first drive and installed the released 7 onto what was the "backup" drive.

It was up and working, with the network functioning and all my data copied into the right places in under an hour. It took a while longer to reinstall all the software, and I had to telephone Corel because it wouldn't let me reactivate Paint Shop Pro 12: a ten minute wait and a 30-second conversation and they reset my "Online activation". Job done.

I forgot two things: to copy my Thunderbird profiles.ini out of its deep hideyhole on the old config; and to back up my large set of iTunes playlists. I sorted the Thunderbird config on the third "guess", but the iTunes thing requires me to faff about with the iPod before I reconnect it, or iTunes will zap what's already on there.

Overall, I'm very pleased indeed with it. Because this was a clean install, all the old "niggles" have gone away - and no new ones have appeared yet.

Special Limitation

29th Oct 2009, 18:31

Well as I started this thread I will in the words of mastermind, finish. I have now completed the installation using windows easy transfer system. I backed up everything on the comp to an ext H.D. and expected the worst. I have used XP since its release and wasn't sure what to expect. I have to say it was a relatively painless experience, simply following the instructions and being led by the hand as all the mostly automated programmes installed themselves and with the exception of my epson printer and scanner everything just 'worked'. The easy transfer took care of bookmark and email transfers etc and any drivers W7 needed it found for itself. I have to say in fairness my computer is less than 2 yrs old which probably helped and I managed to get my epson stuff going with Vista drivers but all in all fairly painless. I have now had it up and running for 2 days and am starting to feel comfortable with it. Not a Vista experience, for me anyway!

Wader2

30th Oct 2009, 14:01

I used Laplink PCMover to go from XP to Win 7. Went like a dream.

Unlike EasyMover, PCMover creates a 'moving van' on a hard drive you specify, this can be the C: drive. It then lets you select what you wish to migrate; there may be a program that you no longer need; you can deselect it.

You run Win7 upgrade following the Laplink instructions. You then run PCMover again. When finished my Desktop and icons were all back. Contrary to what Laplink said, Office 2007 ran with a self-reinstall and no need for licences or registration. (Self-reinstall - it reinstalled itself when I tried to open it). Wordperfect ran normally although PaintshopPro needed to be reinstalled.

I needed to reinstall the LAN and WLAN drivers and once on line install the video and audio drivers. Zone Alarm played up for a while but soon began working with no dramas. The printer needed to be reinstalled but Win7 handled the WLAN Printer easier than in XP.

Impressions? Programs open faster. Program displays take on a different flavour in their popup windows. It is more intuitive. If you miss a feature then Help will help you. There is a feedback option in Help.

Win7 seems to be able to find things more easily. It shows both my document folders (different drives). Media Player found stuff I had forgotten about.

Do you need to upgrade from XP? Not yet, but you will when they stop supporting it.

Laplink PCMover? Well worth the small cost to avoid the pain of reinstalling everything.

lgweng

31st Oct 2009, 15:32

I upgraded to W7 from XP a week ago and I have to say i'm so far impressed, it looks good and works well. I did a clean install and left XP on the old, small hard drive; I haven't had the need to return to XP at all yet. If anyone is thinking about going for it, do the compatibility check first, and it's always worth bunging in a bit of extra RAM in for good measure, especially as it's probably the cheapest, most effective upgrade you can do. The kids can also find their way around it, and as they've only just started school, it's a good indication of how user friendly W7 is. W7 has also speeded up my PC so overall i'd recommend anyone thinking about upgrading to it to just do it.

Slasher

1st Nov 2009, 03:20

In my FO youth a wise old skipper once gave me some
valueable advice - NEVER bid for a brand new fleet type
for at least 2 years until all the unforeseen surprises,
newfound bugs, SOP and QRH changes and all general
problems are finaly sorted out.

This worked well for me in the computer realm with that
Vista crap. Never touched it with a 10 foot bargepole.

W7 sounds good (just as Vista once did at its infancy). For
some, a computer is just a toy - those who go headlong
into a new OS (like Vista) when the old one worked just
fine - then b!tch and moan when it doesnt perform as
percieved, and spend weeks trying to tune the new OS to
a standard the old one once provided. The smart ones
watch these shenannigans first, then decide later.

I have XP which works just great and Im sure others do
too - if it aint broke dont fix it! :cool:

FL999

1st Nov 2009, 05:13

Ive been running 7 Ultimate x64 for a while now and its absolutely fantastic. Although Ive never had any problems with Vista, I have to say it is soooo much better than the latter, in terms of performance and reliablility, Ive been using it fully as before with Vista, that is with all the games, home and work applications, browsing..everything! There is nothign wrong with it so far. The only problem I have is that some monitors dont work when using in multiple monitor mode. Some work some dont. im on a laptop so no biggie, im pretty sure its gonna get fixed soon but its pretty much the only problem ive had with it. I dont know if its the 64-bit version taht makes such a difference but its like my laptop was reborn again. Its sooo fast and games work flawlessly with much better frames than before.!

Pontius Navigator

1st Nov 2009, 12:11

NEVER bid for a brand new fleet type
for at least 2 years until all the unforeseen surprises,
newfound bugs, SOP and QRH changes and all general
problems are finaly sorted out.

This was true of a number of military aircraft too. The Nimrod Mk 2 was less capable that the Mk 1 it replaced for two reasons: The system design was frozen at a point in time before it came in to service. Development on the Mk 1 continued apace, indeed we had software upgrades every 6 weeks of so. The other reason was the time taken for the old dog to learn new tricks.

The same was true of the Tornado interceptor; a skillfully handled F4 could perform better.

In time however operator skill levels and system maturity meant that greater performance was achieved.

If you get Win7 now you might find a deterioration in some areas; I have gripes with two issues. However you will quickly discover the benefits and any patches will soon be available.

My gripes are the lack of a Run command, I am still working on that one, and Show Desktop. In the latter case, when I searched help, I discovered the small grey tab at the end of the quick launch tray.

Bushfiva

1st Nov 2009, 12:17

the lack of a Run command

You jest, surely? Just type the progname you want to run in the search box above the start button. If you really, really want to see a "Run..." button, right click the start button, properties, customize, tick "Run command".

RobAnt

1st Nov 2009, 14:59

Or, to get a DOS prompt, type CMD in the search box.

The difference in price between W7 HP upgrade and W7 HP new install isn't too much, about £35 or so. For ease of mind, it's not much. And, astonishingly, Tesco is probably the place to get either from. I don't see any advantage for the majority of domestic customers in going up to Ultimate. I had Ultimate (release candidate) installed for a few months, and don't miss the difference at all.

I haven't tried this, but I think you can still use the "migration" tool to export from XP and import into W7.

RobAnt

1st Nov 2009, 15:40

I was/am a big fan of Win 7 but I must confess to being a little disturbed by THIS

In red, about half-way down the screen......"emerging issues"?

Makes you wonder if it's a Pandora's box or something :eek:

If you click on that "Emerging Issues" link, you'll find that they're somewhat insignificant:

Upgrade Dates

Hanging at 62% when you upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7

HP MFP Printer May not Work as Expected after Upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7

Some Function Keys or Keyboard Shortcuts do not Work in Windows 7For most people the upgrade from Vista won't be a problem. A clean install is always recommended after all - and you can use your original Vista disk to confirm you're authorised to do an upgrade.

Most people don't have HP MFPs, and that will be a HP driver issue, anyway.

Not sure what they mean about Function Keys & Keyboard shortcuts. I haven't noticed any issues there whatsoever, but I doubt it'll be anything that can't be put right be either a patch for affected software, or a patch for W7 in the not too distant future.

Upgrade dates simply refers to the date that the W7 upgrade will be made available in other markets. That's not a problem at all - just a note.

Keef

1st Nov 2009, 15:54

I've finished the "upgrade" from RC Ultimate to Release Home Premium on both desktop and laptop.

The only difference I've found is that Home Premium doesn't have the "Remote Desktop Host" function, which I've used for years to read the mail on the Essex machine when I'm lurking in Norfolk or elsewhere. I'd have to pay the extra £50 for Pro to get that. Since there are dozens of freeware VNC clients out there, I propose to try a few of those till I find one I like.

Anyone know of one that works well with Win 7?