Uping to 7

So I have decided to do it. Tomorrow or friday I am buying Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade from best buy. I look forward to installing it. Anyway, I am wondering, is there anything I should do to prepare for my migration to 7 (Aside from back up files). Any programs I should get ready? Or any special gadgets I should look into? All help is appreciated

 

Besides backing up your files not really. Make sure you do a clean install with the upgrade version. I'm not sure exactly how that is done with the upgrade version.

Otherwise Windows 7 really is good to go. There really isn't any tweaking that needs to be done. Just clean install it and go. It really is that good!

 

Your laptop should handle 7 very well. Hope you like it!

 

Why should I do a clean install?

 

It's usually best to do a clean install to make sure you'll get rid of all the crud and junk that builds up with time in a typical Windows install. I've seen odd things happen with upgrade's of windows that weren't clean installs.

 

Agreed. Unless you recently for whatever reason re-installed your current OS and restored all your backed up files.

 

'Not-clean-installing' Windows 7 would be idiotic.

 

Not idiotic at all. Win7, for all intents and purposes, is nothing more than a service pack to Vista. There was not a single change to the architecture of the OS, the only thing that happens if you do an inplace upgrade from Vista to Win7 is some codebase items are overwritten (the same as what happens with a service pack). It was only called a "new" os and not a service pack for marketing reasons, plain and simple.

With every other OS transition I would agree with you guys, but this is the first time we have had a transition where the architecture didn't change. And that is the ONLY reason why I (and others) have suggested that many folks can do an inplace upgrade without any issues whatsoever. Until the Vista to Win7 switch I have ALWAYS done clean installs.

It comes down to a matter of time. If you have the time to inventory all of the applications you have installed (over 100 for me), locate the installation media for all of them, make note of critical setup info for all of them, reinstall them all and then reapply that critical setup info in each app, great do a clean install. Or if you are like me, (and MANY other folks) make an image of the partition in case anything goes awry, and do an inplace upgrade and be done with the entire process in a matter of a couple of hours. For me it would have taken two or three days to do a clean install, including reinstalling and reconfiguring those 100+ apps.

You will find that an inplace upgrade will actually recover a LOT of wasted space from Vista, due to the consolidaton of the WinSXS that occurs. In my case it was several gigs of drive space.

I detailed all of this in another thread here, a link to which is in my signature line below.

Gary

 

If I don't have an external hard drive to back up my full c: drive, would I be good just backing up all my crucial files? music on ipod. everything else on flash drives? I have all my restore media still.

 

Good, no. Adequate, sure. Worse case, if you backup as you suggest and for some stange reason the upgrade in-place goes wrong, you are going to have to do a clean install anyway. And having the sort of backup you suggest is all that you would need to get your files back after a clean install.

Make sure you have a list of all the applications you now have so you can reinstall them IF you wind up having to do a clean install.

Gary

 

I'm proud to report insallation when great without any snags.

 

Installing Windows 7 is very easy.
Like you I have the Upgrade edition.

When you install Windows 7 upgrade, load the disk (64-bit disk, NOT the 32-bit, to really enjoy your system) from your current Windows, and follow the wizard. When you will be asked to Upgrade or Custom Install, select Custom install.

Custom install, means clean install.

Why not Upgrade?
Upgrade is ideal for those who recently installed Windows, and about to upgrade to Win7. We all install/remove programs and update our drivers over time, after several years, the system, still working great and fast, can cause problem during the Upgrade process and break Win7 setup, causing Windows 7 to not work properly (or even finish the setup for that mater).

Beside, doing a clean install forces you, in a way, to clean your files up and keep your system well organized.

Please remember things:
- To unlock the fully your hardware, it is best to install Windows 7 64-bit. It will give you a nice performance boost and increase battery life compared to the 32-bit version, as it's easier for your CPU to process information. Eve if all your software is in 32-bit, having your drivers, OS, and video/audio codecs (many of the popular ones are built-in Windows and are superb), will benefit you. 64-bit OS helps 32-bit applications a bit, and as for the rest, it provides you a better system response, and increase battery life. (of course nothing major, but anything that helps, helps).


If you are looking for great video codec, I suggest Shark007 codec pack.
Don't be fooled with the meh website. This codec pack offer thumbnail preview, and works with your Windows 7 excellent built-in codecs and doesn't override them. Moreover, it comes with an easy control panel, that allows you to change settings affecting all it's codecs for easy configuration, and has a mode to enable Windows Media player 12 64-bit, for you to use the 64-bit codecs (it is set to run the 32-bit version due to codec compatibility issue, which was present during Vista release).
Just install Shark007 32-bit codec pack first, and then the 64-bit component.
Shark007's FREE Codec solutions - Windows 7 codecs

If you decide to boot from disk to do your clean install for the first time follow this Microsoft tweak: http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp
Basically, Microsoft wants to know that you have a old Windows, this small tweak is for those who don't have Windows disk and/or replace their HDD and at the same time wants to install Win7 and/or do a clean install out of upgrade license. This tweak will tell Windows activation that you have a previous version of Windows.

Enjoy!