Should I put Windows 7 on my Laptop?

Hi, I just got a HP Pavillion DV6 1230us and I am getting tired of the hickups I'm getting with Vista. I have a DVD with Windows 7 RC and I'm wondering if I should install. I've tried it on my desktop and liked it but I'd like to know how it worked out on laptops. I also have a couple questions ...

1. Are any programs that are incompatible that might be important for laptops?

2. Also since this laptop only has 1 hard drive should I back up my data and do a clean install or should I dual boot?

3. If I dual boot can I delete the Vista partition and give Windows 7 the whole HD if I like it (and vice versa?)

 

I cannot speak for your specific laptop, only owners and your own research can, but Windows 7 does look promising. I say to definitely dual boot. It is simple to setup and allows you the best freedom to test and choose. Some programs may have issues, but most of the popular titles of today have been updated or alternatives have been found. You can delete Vista if you decide to keep W7, or vice versa. A suggestion, before testing W7 out is to search around for HP drivers/review pertaining to W7 and to backup any documents you do not want to use before setting up your dual boot configuration. There are many quality threads and guides on how this can be setup, use the power of the search button.

This is just my take on it; I love W7 and already have my upgrades purchased, but you will never know if you like it unless you try it. Best of luck!

 

My best advice is to back everything up and install a clean copy of Vista. You've probably had the OEM-flavored version of Vista, and should try the real deal.

If you're afraid of hiccups, why jump to a pre-release version of Windows that will time out in March?

 

1. There is always a chance that some essential system software or driver might not work under Windows 7. If you try the RC you'll find out.

2. I would use a partition manager to split the C drive into two partitions, then install 7 on the second partition. There are tons of guides on how to partition a hard drive.

3. Yes, using a partition manager (the Windows partition manager won't resize the active partition). There are guide on how to remove Vista/7 in a dual boot configuration.

 

You haven't tried Windows 7 have you?

Thanks for the tips I'm working on dual booting windows 7 now. :]

 

I would like to try win 7 on my laptop some time for 2 main reasons..

1.) Better efficiency and a snappier performance
2.) I have heard the power management is better, meaning better battery life.

 

Okay, so here's what I did.

I backed up my data, and instead of clean install I did upgrade because I'm too lazy to reinstall all my stuff. The transition was so easy. I let Win7 upgrade while I went to work then when I came back I just had to enter the product key and was set.

So far I am loving Win7 on my laptop. Firefox launches 10x faster now than on Vista. Changing from Vista to Win7 on my laptop wasn't much of a difference in performance on my desktop but for my laptop it was.

Edit: I noticed I can't change change power setting easily from the taskbar but I also have sme better features now and I also get Windows Mobility Center. So its a good trade off for now, besides I hardly ever change my power settings.

 

Changing power settings in Win 7 is the same as in Vista. Click the battery icon, then select what you want. Just as in Vista, only two options are visible.

 

When I click or double click the battery icon nothing happens I have to right click.

 

Something is amiss, then, because a single click on the battery icon should allow you to select a power plan.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Power-plans-frequently-asked-questions

 

Sometimes that happens to me also, but rebooting fixes it. Also sometimes it has problems with my Cyborg X joystick, it messes up all of the USB devices; but I just had a new driver pushed to me by update and it seems to be fine now.

 

Restarted my computer and still nothing. It doesn't bug me though so it's no big deal.

 

Don't double click.. just single click on it.
Double click is considered 2 single clicks, so he first one will appear it and the second one hide it, but faster then the system could draw ut so you don't see anything.

 

I've used it since Beta 1, though not for anything important like actual work. Sheesh.

 

That's how I was, but when I installed the RC and found out that all of my work stuff was completely compatible (DoD CAC reader, scanner, printer, forms software, etc), I started using it as my primary OS. I still have Vista on my other partition, but I haven't booted into it in over a month.

 

Yea that's what I was doing before and nothing came up. Again it's no big deal I hardly change my power settings. Thanks for your help though.

 

Er I just tried this and there is just no way I can double click fast enough so I don't see this pop up. Perhaps that's just age and arthritis for you.

Besides, when mine messes up it's a different colour, instead of having the white filled battery it shows a black battery. I know it's messed up when I see that.

 

Well I suppose it depends on computer including GPU speed, then mouse, running process, and so on...
For some reason now that I try, I see it flicker. Oh well..
[edit]
Nha, I double click faster with my mouse then the laptop touchpad[/edit]

 

By all means try out WIndows 7 Release Candidate. It is free to try and you can download it until the 20th of August. Get it over here: http://tinyurl.com/832nco . However, there are caveats like some others have mentioned. One is that it will only work until June 1st of 2010, but it will also start doing reboots every two hours starting on March 1st of 2010. The official release of Windows 7 will be out on October 22nd of this year, so that gives you over 4 months to switch over. Secondly, there is no way to do an "in-place" upgrade from Windows 7 RC (or beta or pre-RTM) to the final version. You can do a clean-install kind of upgrade, but not an in-place upgrade where you keep all your programs and settings.

 

I installed Windows 7 RC 7100 64 Bit onto my NP8662 laptop which now has 4Gb RAM and it is the best thing I have ever done. Even my old games like Tiberian Sun run without crashing. Everything is faster, installing, finding files, playing games etc. I can't recommend it enough and I can never go back to XP again. Windows 7 X64 FTW!

 

Hm, according to your sig, you have 3 gb ram...
Did you try 32 bit, btw? Any different?

 

64bit runs faster than 32bit if you use programs written specificly for 64b.When you have ram thats no the same size the system runs slower since its not dual channel.

 

Why would he or anyone use 32-bit Windows?
The way I see it is like if you turn off the "Turbo" button on these old computers, and go "Yea, I disable Turbo because the computer is too fast for me." This is just plain idiotic.

64-bit advantage:
- Unlock the 64-bit processor and use it's full potential.
- At worst you will get about 10% increase in performance (so that means 32-bit application under 64-bit OS.. of course it all depends on the application).
- Use 4GB and more of RAM.
- Reduce battery life. 64-bit applications and codec can show (depending on the program/file) a reduction in CPU usage for the same task performed on a 32-bit version of the program/codec, which leads to an increase in battery life. Of course, you need to use a 64-bit application. And of course I am not talking about hours.. I am talking about minutes, but for many.. anything that helps.. well helps.

They are NO advantages in sticking in 32-bit Windows, UNLESS you have some old (most likely older than 2006) peripheral that doesn't have 64-bit drivers, and can't buy a new one for some reason.

In fact Win7 will be the last 32-bit Windows, is what Microsoft said.

 

I didnt know this, thanks for pointing it out.I have an iso of win7 64bit but havent installed it im using the 32bit version.

 

You mean increase.

 

Yes, thank you

 

Yes, I had been using Windows XP SP3 with 3GB of RAM up until a few days ago so I will update my sig. Initially I installed Windows 7 RC 7100 32 Bit and when I found out how much faster this ran and how much better gaming was I started thinking about installing the 64 Bit OS along with an extra 1GB of RAM taking it to a total of 4GB.

So I downloaded Windows 7 RC 7100 64 Bit, loaded it on a blank DVD and installed all again from scratch.

The difference is very noticeable, I have found that installing games, software and programs is much faster than before, everything is just as stable and of course, all of my 32 bit games still work just as well and you can take advantage of 64 Bit games too.


On both versions of the OS, I have found that a few old games would not run (BIA EIB, BIA RTH30) due to their great copy protection methods trying to install a lovely driver that Windows 7 blocks due to it not being signed

Apart from that all other games work, my favorite ones such as GTA IV, Saints Row 2 (runs too fast it is weird), Crysis, Prototype, Ghost Busters and many more, all run much better and so far so good.

I highly recommend Windows 7 X64!

 

Win7 x64 is awesome... really stable and very fast so far.

 

My battery icon suddenly works now

 

I can't wait for 64bit only Windows/programs/drivers.

It's the future!

 

Good news, Office 2010 (and all Windows software) are in 64-bit flavor.
(Office 2010 will also come in 32-bit.. both on 1 disk). It's not big.. but it's a start from a large company