Quantum leap query...Win98 to Win7..please

[Krystal n chips]

After much soul searching, given my current PC fulfills all my needs...and only because BT sent one of their usual arrogant "customer focused"...letters...I have decided to aquire a new PC and thus Win7....hence a few questions please for those who know about these things.

1. When I connect the modem, will I have to configure the new PC to take the device and if so, what is the simple way to do this ?

2. How can I transfer data ( emails, files, favourites etc ) from the old machine to the new one without it becoming a complex issue...if possible.

3. Can I expect any problems other than becoming familiar with an entirely ( as I understand it ) new operating system.

I make no secret of the fact that, whilst I can use a PC and have some knowledge of tech.terms etc, I am not conversant with an awful lot of the terminology hence no tech.replies would be appreciated please.

Many thanks.

Said operation is due to take place next w/end btw.....after I have sourced the best deals etc and found a device that suits my needs given that I don't download music etc.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Essentially there isn't enough information for anyone to answer your questions (unless they happen to be familiar with your system). Regardless of whether you don't like technical terms I'm afraid there really is no alternative to your telling us more about what you've got and what you're trying to achieve.

Sorry, I don't understand
and only because BT sent one of their usual arrogant "customer focused"...letters...I have decided to aquire a new PC and thus Win7
What do you mean by this?

Your questions:

(1) What modem? (Different setups will have different answers.)

(2) (a) Data files you can just copy using whatever means suits you (floppy, memory stick, network cable, etc etc) (for program files see (3) below). Whether the files are any use or not on the new machine depends on whether you've got an application that can read them (also see (3) below). So, what sorts of files?

(b) Emails you can only transfer if you're moving to a compatible application, so you'll have to tell us what you're using on the two machines. If it's Outlook Express on Win98 you could be a bit stuffed on Win7 as it isn't supplied any more.

(c) You could mean almost anything by "favourites", and the answer will be application specific. So what "favourites" did you have in mind?

(3) You won't (in general) be able to copy applications, you'll have to reinstall, and you'll have to install newer versions than you were running on Win98, which means you've got to go out and buy them. What applications are you using?

Good luck with getting a new PC set up over a weekend, by the way. When I get a new one I tend to have to run the old one and new one in parallel for about six months until I'm absolutely convinced that I've copied everything I need and that there's no rarely used tool I've not got round to setting up on the new one.

[BEagle]

I tried exporting a few old e-mails (Outlook Express) to my new laptop which came with the abysmal 'Windows Live Mail' installed - it is possible to do so.

But 'Windows Live Mail' was the most infuriating, unreliable, complicated application I'd ever had the misfortune to use. Just as Gates' geeks removed the simplicity of 'Microsoft Photo Editor' from MS Office and replaced it with a junk application called 'Microsoft Office Picture Manager' and now, worse still, 'Windows Live Photo Gallery', they have deleted the simplicity of Outlook Express....and expect you either to pay for Outlook or to use the abysmal 'Windows Live Mail'.

Fortunately I was able to restore OE. Then the next discovery - the spell checker only worked in French thanks to the changes the geeks had made tin Office 2007 rendering the spell checker unavailable to OE...:mad:

However, a small third party software patch from Australia fixed that for a very small price....:ok:

I've stayed with Windows XP SP3 as, although I have the 'upgrade' option, I'm simply not going to spend another few weeks trying to get used to a wholly pointless change.

Good luck with the migration! You're fortunate to have Win98 as at least you can use a USB stick to transfer your files. When I changed from Win95 to WinXP it took about a day of transfer time using a special data transfer cable...:(

[BOAC]

How to use OE in Windows 7 (http://www.oehelp.com/OEnWin7.aspx)

NB You need Win7 premium it says.

[Bushfiva]

If you are moving to Windows 7 simply because BT told you to by letter, then you could consider NOT moving if you are happy with your existing computer.

[Parapunter]

I like that you call BT arrogant, then do what they tell you!

[Mornington Crescent]

Beagle.

That was a bit of a rant!

For the sake of balance. I use both Outlook and Windows Live Mail on different machines. If I had not spent the money on Outlook I would be perfectly happy to use WLM. It is free and I prefer it to OE.

So there!;)

Now windows Live Photo Gallery - You are on the right track there.

MC

[BEagle]

Sorry, Mornington Crescent, but the POS Windows Live Mail managed to lose several important e-mails of mine. Fortunately, as I didn't trust it one inch, I had also saved them elsewhere.... And 5 individual inboxes for my 5 addresses was an utter PITA - the program didn't do what it was supposed to do.

Windows Live Mail Hate - 82% People Agree (80 opinions) (http://amplicate.com/hate/windows-live-mail) has a pretty good list of complaints about the worthless piece of cr@p.

Anyone know where I can get a legitimate version of Microsoft Photo Editor? I still have an Office XP disk, but as it was installed on my previous PC, I guess I cannot use it on my new PC?

I tried the 'brothersoft' download, but it didn't work.....

[Gertrude the Wombat]

....and expect you either to pay for Outlook
No News client, so not useful as an OE replacement for anyone who uses usenet.

[green granite]

Anyone know where I can get a legitimate version of Microsoft Photo Editor?

Try:

Photo! Editor - Download (http://photo-toolkit.en.softonic.com/)

[BEagle]

That is NOT Microsoft Photo Editor. But thank you for the suggestion.

[Krystal n chips]

Thanks to all for the interesting and diverse responses. :ok:

OK, the reason I am upgrading is not because B :mad: T told me..it is because they are ceasing support for my browser....sent to me in an email starting "Dear Customer"....unlike the ones trying to flog me the Sky / BT package and other promotions beginning with "Dear Mr K n C"...subtle difference...the email basically was written in such a manner that implied the recipient was an idiot ( some justification on my part at times, possibly ..cough ! ) but did kindly offer to help me by links to a browser optimised for BT / Yahell ! / IE8....quelle surprise !....so I tried to download Firefox, IE8 etc and no joy...hence my rationale was make the leap to Win7 and then stay with it for as long as possible....my little PC is nearly 10 years old anyway given that I work on the "if it ain't broke" etc principle.....so the mail from BT sort of pushed me if you like.

Spoke to a BT techie today and got a sensible reply...I asked " customer services " about getting a Home Hub router....no problem they say....we can either flog you one for £80 or you can upgrade your broadband package by another £5 pm and get one free.....:mad:.....so I tried another tactic..called the techie side of BT ...seems my Voyager 220 ADSL voice router will be fine with the ethernet connection....so no need for a new router...just plug in and go.....any opinions or experiences which contradict this, please advise.

Transferring the data may be a bit more tricky ( for me ) but the IT guys at work have offered an "idiots guide" so this can be attempted once the new PC is up and running.....as for Favourites / Bookmarks, well a bit of selectivity is required....once Google is running, I can simply select those I want to keep from the old machine and enter accordingly.....emails may be a problem however, but again, the IT guys say if I copy out the settings etc on my old machine on to paper...a bit laborious, but if it works, fine..then simply enter into the new machine, all should be well.

Here endeth the 9'clock News.....;)

[green granite]

BEagle, If you still have or can borrow an Office XP disc, try this work around from MS.

(sorry about the previous I didn't check it out properly obviously)

When you install Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Office 2007, or Microsoft Office 2003, the Setup program removes all the standard components from Microsoft Office XP that were installed on your computer. This includes the Microsoft Photo Editor program.

To work around this issue, reinstall Photo Editor. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Insert the Microsoft Office XP CD-ROM into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
2. If the Office XP Setup program does not start automatically, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type drive:\Setup.exe, where drive is the letter of your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
3. Start to step through the Setup process, and then select Customize for the type of Setup to perform.
4. When you reach the Selecting Features step, set each node of the Setup tree to Not Available.
5. Under Features to install, expand Office Tools.
6. Click Microsoft Photo Editor, and then click Run from My Computer.
7. Click Install Now.
8. Click OK when Office XP Setup has completed successfully.

[Ancient Observer]

Krystal

a couple of thoughts.
1. BT sent me a brand new home hub without asking for any more ££££ - all I had to do was to sign up for a same-price 18 month deal, rather than stay with the month-by month deal I was on.
2. My level of technical competence sounds a bit like yours. I've had 3 different modem routers and 3 different pcs in my (ahum) study. None of them have been "Voyagers". They've all been plug and play, and worked pretty much out of the box, other than finding where the passwords had been hidden, and how to turn off upnp. Getting the other machines that wander in to and out of the Ancient household has been easy, too.
3. The worst pain is the transmission of old e-mails (in Outlook Express) and old e-mail addresses between pc.s, and keeping OE. The e-mail addresses can be imported and exported to something called csv files in excel, but as i don't excel at that level of detail - I gave up and paid the local travelling IT guy 30 quid to fix it for me. Money well spent. It seemed to take him a few minutes, and it would have taken me years, and many bottles of thought-juice.
Hope that helps.
AO

[Gertrude the Wombat]

OK, the reason I am upgrading is not because B http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/censored.gif T told me..it is because they are ceasing support for my browser
:confused::confused::confused: I'm really puzzled here ... why would you care whether BT "support your browser" or not, whatever that means?

[green granite]

Gertrude IE6?

[Saab Dastard]

I'm really puzzled here ... why would you care whether BT "support your browser" or not, whatever that means?

I agree with you Gertrude.

However, it might be that BT's user self-care / home page gubbins might be written expecting a newer browser, and some critical functionality (whatever that might be) might not work with a very old browser.

SD

[Parapunter]

So download a new browser? Seems bleedin' orbvious.

[hellsbrink]

Parapunter

IE7 needs at least XP, will not work on 98. Obviously IE8 has no chance of working on 98

Anything newer than Firefox 2.0? Same

Newer versions of Opera? Guess

Chrome? XP or later

So, you can see the problem. The more "modern" versions of the most popular browsers simply will not work on W98 so upgrading is probably the best way to go. Also, it will mean that K'n'C might have another 10 years of happy computing with a puter that will be more suited to the bloated software we use today.

Of course, he could go Linux but that's another story.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Gertrude IE6?
I'm sure that there are an increasing number of web sites that don't work too well, or even at all, with IE6. But what's special about BT?

I sort-of gather (I'm not sure he actually said so) that BT is the OP's ISP ... but again, so what? I rarely to never visit my ISP's web site, and I don't give a toss what browsers they might or might not claim that their techies "support" - as far as I'm concerned my ISP provides a pipe down which I send and receive bits, and it's none of their business what the bits are.

If the problem is that the OP finds it important to be able to download his landline phone bill from BT and he won't be able to do so any more soon as they are about to stop supporting his browser then that might (if he cares enough about his phone bill) be a reason for upgrading. But I'm having to make stuff up here, as the information simply wasn't in any of his posts.

[Krystal n chips]

AO,

Thanks for that bit of info.....much appreciated.....:ok:

Hellsbrink.......just about summates matters nicely.....:ok:

The issue with BT is the way the message was conveyed, the offer to use a browser optimised ( their words ) for BT / Yahell / IE8....which even I know to avoid....and the little matter of having no net access once they pull the plug as it where....the last little detail tends to focus the mind somewhat.

Hence my query....as with anything I don't understand or am unsure of I ask questions from a variety of sources.....same principle as maintaining aircraft applies here.....and thus find out more.....and learn.

BEagles experience with Livemail was one of many such I have read about in the criticisms of Win7 and its always interesting to hear about peoples problems directly rather than from a review hence another piece of the jigsaw for me, albeit by accident rather than design..but very relevant and hence welcome.

[green granite]

But I'm having to make stuff up here, as the information simply wasn't in any of his posts.

It was just a 'deduced' guess on my part. :)

[Parapunter]

This seems like a storm in a teacup to me. An ISP is an ISP, it supplies data down a phone line, the o/s & browser at the other end is pretty irrelevant to me.

Having said that, running win 98 and god knows what browser - IE3, Netscape or some other superannuated piece of history probably puts you firmly in the hijacked end of the spectrum - I certainly wouldn't be keen to do my online banking on something that ancient.

So were it me, I'd be on for new machine - I seriously doubt a ten year old pc would be capable of running any contemporary o/s with any degree of fluency, then as for shifting data, bookmarks, email accounts etc across from one to another, it's simplicity itself - if I couldn't manage it, I would ask a passing 13 year old for help. This guff about arrogant BT & Yahell - presumably Yahoo is itself a form of ignorance and seems a bit too touchy to me - I'm just surprised a rant about premier league footballers wasn't tacked on the end. Buy a new pc & get on with it!

[BEagle]

Green granite - thanks for the suggestion. However, I wasn't sure whether an Office XP disk registered to a different computer would cause problems. In addition, I didn't want to risk other programs being disturbed.

However, I finally managed to find a link to download Microsoft Photo Editor, downloaded and unzipped it, then added a shorcut in my 'graphics software' folder. Then set it as the default for .jpg files, leaving Microsoft Office Picture Manager as the default for .gif and .bmp files. Works just fine!

KnC, you should find IE8 much more reliable than IE6 or IE7 and it has many useful features. Gates-hating geeks will tell you that Godzilla or whatever it's called is better, but IE8 suits me just fine.

[Keef]

If that router is one with several (probably four) ports on it, connected with "Cat 5" cables, then it will work just fine with your new PC as-is.

Further, if you have space you could keep the old PC in operation alongside the new. You could then "network" them (instructions available on here) to copy stuff between them.

Software is very much an individual choice - people like what they use, and despise what they don't. Hence some use the proper name for stuff, and others use the mocking name - that tells you which they use.

I happen to prefer Thunderbird for mail, because I don't use webmail and I have a lot of separate domains for different purposes, and it handles those well. Outlook puts everything into one stonking great file (or did, last time I used it) so one glitch lost ALL your address book, ALL your mail history, and more besides. Once bitten... Backup is limited help, since the crash will lose the most recent stuff that hasn't been backed up yet and that you haven't dealt with.

IE and Firefox play catch-me-if-you-can with each other. I didn't like the way IE told me how I was to use my PC (again, years ago) so I switched to Mozilla which became Firefox. It's served me very well so I don't bother to change. I keep IE on the machine for those very few websites that use Microsoft's non-standard HTML and therefore don't work with Firefox or any other browser.

Windows 7 is, in my experience, as good as Vista is bad. It was good enough to get me off the Linux hook - the Linux machine is now out in the workshop, not connected up since the move.

[Krystal n chips]

" Buy a new pc & get on with it!"

Strangely enough, despite my detestation of BT / BG / BA / Yahell / Premier football, I have a semblance of an active brain...hence getting Win7..on a new machine ....was one of the reasons I posted the query....better luck next time Para. :E

My thanks as always for the helpful advice plus different perspectives and experiences.....:ok:

Re the IE8 vs Firefox debate, it's my understanding that IE8 pinched the good bits from Firefox so to speak....either way, I'll stick with IE8 unless it all goes horribly wrong of course.

[Parapunter]

Better luck with what? My three windows seven ultimate networked 1tb power boxes are humming along nicely thanks very much.

You know, you should cut back on the detesting. Resentment, hatred, all that is like injecting yourdelf with poison & waiting for the other guy to die.:}

[Ancient Observer]

K n C
do come back and tell us what you did, and how you got on..............someone else might learn something............we're not all experts!!

[Krystal n chips]

AO

As you can see, one is back.

Connecting up was no problem....a slight, er, "hiccup" setting up the email...( self induced ) but the nice tech guy at BT sorted that for me and unlike his counterparts in "customer :mad: indifference" was very capable..:ok:

Win7 is rather different to say the least...well it would be from Win98...but so far I have to say no major problems...this should read as user friendly therefore...Livemail...better than OS I would say...and when I eventually got my email working, most of my mail from my old machine simply transferred itself across....possibly due to BT I suppose.

One thing it won't let me do though is download Ad-Aware...I get a message saying "IE has blocked this site".....not sure why ?...and I haven't tried to download Spybot yet either.

The biggest ahem, " frustration" so far has been trying to get back on here..now achieved.

Overall, not as fraught as I had anticipated

[vulcanised]

Don't know if it's improved in recent times, but I found Adaware to be nigh on useless when I ran it for a number of years.