Upgrade from Windows Vista to 7

If I use the upgrade in place feature to turn my Windows Vista into Windows 7, does it keep all of my programs, shortcuts, files, and system settings exactly the way they were before so as soon as the install finishes I can go back to using my computer like normal right away, or does it just do the windows.old thing I've been reading about, which seems to be essentially useless.

I've read other threads here which recommend doing the clean install from the start, but I really don't want to go through the hassle of reinstalling and reconfiguring everything so I'd prefer to keep my current install and upgrade if it works like that. I will, of course, make a full backup image of my current Vista install in case something goes wrong.

 

I used the upgrade path on mine and yes it kept everything the same as it was on Vista. Didn't take that long either, about 1-1 1/2 hours.

 

Before you start the upgrade, try to minimize amount of files and folders in the user profiles. The upgrade process itself first backups everything and then restores files after upgrade. If you have dozens of gigabytes of data, that will take many extra hours time.

 

Lol ...
I wouldn't really do an upgrade.
I simply put all my data on a second partition and/or on a USB hdd and I only have to worry about reinstalling an OS and programs (if I'm doing everything a new).

However ... in answer to your original question, yes, the upgrade will keep all your shortcuts, programs and files intact.