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    Vista to Windows 7

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by xTank Jones16x, Jan 22, 2010.

  1. xTank Jones16x

    xTank Jones16x PC Elitist

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    Just a quick question here.

    I was thinking about picking up Windows 7. I am running Vista 32-bit Home Premium.

    I was thinking about getting Windows 7 Ultimate.

    How will the merge over process go? Do I have to manually install all of my drivers? Will my programs/games/files be copied over? Will Win7 recognize all of my devices (GPU, speakers, RAM, etc etc)?
     
    xTank Jones16x, Jan 22, 2010
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  2. redrubberpenguin

    redrubberpenguin Notebook Consultant

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    Windows 7 is actually pretty good about proprietary drivers, so for the most part you won't have to do any driver installation besides running Windows Update. All the hardware will most likely be recognized, although you might want to play around with graphics drivers for the best result. As for programs/games/files, they'll be copied over if you choose the upgrade option (not a clean install). As with any OS switch, some programs might not work 100% but your files will be fine.
     
    redrubberpenguin, Jan 22, 2010
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  3. Amnesiac

    Amnesiac 404

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    Well, do you want to do a clean install, or an upgrade? An upgrade will leave everything in place, and programs will still be installed, as will files still be available. After the upgrade or clean install you will need to go to the website of your manufacturer and download the necessary drivers and software to get everything working. To get the proper graphics driver you will need to go either NVIDIA's or AMD"s site (depending on what yours is), and download and install it. I would recommend doing this over the Windows Update way because Windows Update uses older drivers, and you will not get the software suite that is packaged with the driver. Unfortunately, I learned that the hard way.
     
    Amnesiac, Jan 22, 2010
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  4. shakennstirred

    shakennstirred Notebook Evangelist

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    i upgrade a 3 year old laptop from vista 64 bit to win 7 64 bit and for the first time since owning PC`s(since 1995) i didnt need to install 1 driver win 7 found the lot and at the time HP didnt even do win 7 driver for the laptop and infact still dont
     
    shakennstirred, Jan 24, 2010
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  5. Ghosthostile

    Ghosthostile Notebook Consultant

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    Good luck with the install, windows 7 is so much better than vista.
     
    Ghosthostile, Jan 24, 2010
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  6. xTank Jones16x

    xTank Jones16x PC Elitist

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    Guess I should of mentioned how the install went, lol. Forgot about this thread, been busy playing with Win7.

    Ya, the process went smooth. Backed up files just incase, but it saved pretty much everything upgrading. Even saved my Rainmeter configs, lol.
     
    xTank Jones16x, Jan 24, 2010
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  7. TSE

    TSE Notebook Deity

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    It should go alright... just be safe and backup your data.

    Doing a clean install over an upgrade is always more recommended.
     
    TSE, Jan 25, 2010
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  8. Amnesiac

    Amnesiac 404

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    No it isn't.
     
    Amnesiac, Jan 25, 2010
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  9. Mikazukinoyaiba

    Mikazukinoyaiba Notebook Evangelist

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    Yes it is

    A clean install is far better than an upgrade
     
    Mikazukinoyaiba, Jan 25, 2010
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  10. Melody

    Melody How's It Made Addict

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    It all depends on your situation. I haven't yet experienced a so-called "buggy upgrade" so upgrades to my knowledge have been very efficient in terms of keeping data/applications if the user has lots and lots of them(i.e. too many to backup, reinstall or list properly). The main reason for wanting a clean install is to "start fresh" and rid yourself of softwares you might not use and all those kinds of stuff.
     
    Melody, Jan 25, 2010
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  11. Amnesiac

    Amnesiac 404

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    It most certainly is NOT always better. It depends on your situation, there are many reasons why people would choose Upgrade over Clean Install, but I can't be bothered listing them all right now.

    Hell, an Upgrade isn't all that much slower than a clean install, in terms of speed when using the OS and booting up.
     
    Amnesiac, Jan 26, 2010
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  12. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    Far better??? Depends on the OS upgrade. From every OS transition starting with Win 1.1 thru the transition from XP to Vista, yep, by all means tis FAR better to clean install. From Vista to Win7 not so much. The underlying architecture didn't change. Only the code base did, therefore for the first time we CAN (I didn't say must or should) consider this upgrade as the code equivalent of a service pack. The ONLY fundamental difference in this upgrade and a service pack is the marketing.

    As another poster said, the choice comes down to time if you have lots of apps (like me > 100) and would need to not only clean install the OS but also all of those programs and reconfigure each. Sorry no thanks. Not when I could spend 40 minutes to image my c: partition, 1 hr to run the inplace upgrade and find out if it would act like a service pack install. Truth be told the outcome was just like I had applied a service pack. Went smooth as silk. That 's not to say EVERYONE can do this without issue. We've all seen stories of folks who had issues doing it this way, but I remind you we also saw similar problems folks moaned about after EVERY service pack too.

    So I'd agree that clean install is the PREFERRED method if you have the time. If not, clean install is not ALWAYS "far better".

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Jan 26, 2010
    #12