i’m wondering specifically about the in-place upgrade. is it easy? all data and things safe?
(if that didn’t make sense to you, the rest of this post is just gonna be random geek talk )
my background is technical so hopefully i can tackle any problems that arise, but really the only thing that’s stopping me from getting win7 is a bad review here and there with the in-place upgrade. i don’t suspect any problems on my 64-bit vista machine going to 64-bit win7. i have another vista 32-bit machine that i would like to upgrade as well to 64-bit, but i may wait on that and just get a whole new drive (faster, more storage) if i have to do a clean install anyway.
also, general win7 comments are appreciated too. how’s the UI? any problems with drivers?
I installed the 32bit mode on my chick’s computer for her, I can’t say that I’ve used it extensively but I’ve got to say it’s the cleanest version of Windows to date. I loaded it on to a three year old single core laptop and despite the outdated hardware it ran pretty damn snappy.
The install was pretty damn painless, I had ZERO problems with drivers or configuration issues, everything worked from the get go.
As far as the UI goes, I didn’t think I would like the new taskbar but to be honest once I started using it I found it surprisingly intuitive. My first impressions of the OS is that it’s much sleeker than Snow Leopard (Which I use at work). but then again I’ve always preferred pc’s over mac’s so my opinion might be skewed.
I wish I could give a little more in depth review of it, but like I said my experiences with it have been rather limited… But over all I’m digging it.
Not all security software is compatible with Win7 yet. (VPN, NAC, etc.) It’s caused some problems in our corporate environment, so we’re not ready to roll out just yet.
I hear it’s great for home use though, and it’s better than vista at home or at work.
The in place upgrade problems are with XP. It’s basically a wipe and install. M$ developed a workaround where you back up your files, upgrade, reinstall your programs and restore your files.
You can’t! You have to have the 64 bit hardware to upgrade to 64 bit Win 7. You can upgrade to 32 bit Win 7.
If you have Vista drivers, Win 7 uses the same ones. The UI is a bit snappier than Vista, less memory used.
I believe if you do a complete wipe most new computers (CPU’s) are 64 bit compatible… I don’t think you can upgrade though… I’m pretty sure you need to reformat and start from scratch
this is the only part i didn’t get. what do you mean by hardware? processor, mobo, etc? when i built this system two years ago i went with 32-bit vista due to some program compatibility issues at the time, but i believe it could’ve run 64-bit vista, and by extension, 64-bit win7, no?
i read on various pages that you can’t go from 32-bit vista to 64-bit win7 using an in-place upgrade; you need to wipe clean. i figure if i need to wipe clean, i can just wait until i get a new hdd (i’m running low on storage anyway) and install fresh on that drive, then slowly take my time with moving my old files over.
if i’m unclear or mistaken in any way, let me know.
If you have a processor with two cores then you’re 64 bit compatible. I wouldn’t run 64-bit unless you have 4GB of ram. Also you would have to do a fresh install from 32-bit to 64-bit. Just back up your important files and upgrade if your system can run it.
i have windows 7 but never got around to installing it at home
to be perfectly honest my vista SP 2 64 bit machine at home has been working fine ever since with 4 GB ram, i never had any issues ever, never crashed once or blue screened.
I have tested Windows 7 at work and to me it is Vista R2, MS did not want to call it that or it would never sell. Personally they should be giving it away for free not selling it, since it still uses the same kernel as Vista but I can go ranting some more.
At work I use linux as my main desktop anyway and only use Windows when I have to, not that I hate windows I just prefer linux.
My recommendation is if you are on XP definitely go to Win 7, but if you are on vista and not having any problems why upgrade? you will see very little performance improvements if any.
I originally wrote a long winded message about how terrible my Windows 7 experience has been. However, I experienced the “blue screen of death” before I was able to press the post reply button.
a few reasons, and not all of these will apply to everyone else.
students get it for cheap. the promotion ends soon though so i will pick it up, and rather than have it laying around, i might as well go ahead and install it.
just to be up with the times. who knows, maybe win7 will be loads better than vista and i can recommend it to others, or it will be the same as vista and i can at least play around with the new UI.
it’ll be the driving force for me to upgrade my 32-bit vista box. i’ve put it off for a while because i felt it didn’t warrant my time/resources. the limiting factor on that system is the small storage space and once that’s improved, it should be a beast of a system. or, if parts have gotten cheaper by next year (come on, ssd), i might tinker around with building a third system with a fresh win7 install.
It suggests recommended updates for my onboard sound and network card. After installing, they both cease to function. That is, until I reverse the “recommended” updates. That’s aside from the bluescreens. sigh
I’m sry that you’ve had a terrible experience. I’ve on the other hand have never had a problem since beta. Maybe your hard drive or some other hardware needs upgrading.
Windows 7 is everything Vista was supposed to be.
I own an ASUS 1005HA netbook with upgraded memory and a 32GB Supertalent Ultradrive. I previously ran Windows XP Pro, SP3. Since I installed Windows 7, startup time has been reduced by 10 seconds. Programs run much more smoothly. Games now run on my netbook that would not even load with Windows XP on the machine.
I have had NO problems installing windows 7 on over 20 PCs so far.
As a network specialist I realize that there is always someone who knows more and that I must always be open to new ideas. With this in mind, I have to say that most of my Windows 7 experiences have been excellent. The only problem I have had is that I have not been able to run an application for programming security panels because it was not designed to work with vista/7 (it supports legacy hardware) . Even when running XP compatability mode I have not been able to get this program to work. Oh well, I have XP installed on the system also and i’m sure the vendor will come out with an update soon. Good luck to you all with windows 7. It sure seems nice to me.
Most BSODs are hardware related, usually ram isn’t placed correctly or bad ram, hard drive is starting to fail, drivers were installed incorrectly. Make sure to delete the driver, restart, then install the latest driver without letting windows update install your drivers.
If RAM isn’t placed correctly you will be greeted with electrical popping noises. Followed by the fragrance of burnt PCB, and usually a ruined motherboard.
My seagate HD’s are pre firmware fail fiasco, and my OS drive is WD caviar Black. If these drives were faulty; I’d have lost data, or in the case of the Caviar Black, wouldn’t able to post here at all. I guess I could try another drive for OS, give me a good excuse to buy another lol. See what happens.
Memtest the RAM, try each stick individually, play with the timings in the BIOS. Some of the drivers plain 'ole don’t work. Shitty when developers get lazy on their end. So many possibilities, I got a lot to sift through.
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You can’t! You have to have the 64 bit hardware to upgrade to 64 bit Win 7. You can upgrade to 32 bit Win 7.