Would I notice a difference beteween a clean install versus a upgrade?

I just bought a computer with Vista Home and will be receiving a Windows 7 ugrade disk in the near future. Would it be better to wipe the hard drive and install Windows 7 or just upgrade Windows Vista?

If I wipe the hard drive, what is the easiest way to find all the drivers I need?

 

I just read a review of 7 Clean install vs Upgrade install (I can't recall where it was; ZDnet or Anandtech....) but the consensus was that clean install was better. They commented on some issues with the Upgrade install where some gadgets and other minor windows extras either didn't work or worked funny. They also had other minor issues but they didn't experience any of them when they did a clean install.

 

Windows Update should find recent drivers for most of your hardware. You will need to manually install the driver for your touchpad and possibly audio.

 

A clean install is always the best way to go. Even MS state this is best. If you live in Europe you won't have a choice, the upgrade requires you to do a clean install due to anti-trust IE crap.

 

That is not true anymore. It has been announced already that Windows 7 E will not be shipped, and Europe will receive the same version as everyone else, with the implementation of a ballot for browsers.

 

MSFT announced that those in Europe who pre-ordered 7 Upgrade will in fact still get the full version instead, at no additional cost. They're honouring this only for those who pre-ordered though.

 

Yes, it's best to do a clean install, my experience with performing an in-place upgrade with Windows have been disappointing at best. At worst, there have been odd "glitches" in the updated OS install that doing a clean install got rid of.

Better to get rid of the cruft and start anew.

 

i highly recommend the clean install too. good opportunity to clean out your hdd and create new partitions as well. just rem to backup your stuff and make a list of softwares you want to reinstall...

 

Clean install has been better ever since they invented upgrades.

 

I also agree that a clean install is best. As for the drivers, the manufacturer’s web site for your computer should have these.

 

People still think of XP days.
Going form Vista to Win7 upgrade is just as good as Win7 clean install.
BUT, XP/2000 to Win7 is not good. The problem comes in completely different kernels and how the system works from XP to Win7/Vista... but Win7 (NT 6.1) is based Vista (NT 6.0). Another thing is that based on my experience as a developer, XP registry is REALLY easy to correct, and that is enough to screw up the Upgrade. But, under Vista is incredibly hard (in comparison to XP)even if you try to make it happen via software. Nearly every aspect of Vista is identical to Win7. I like to mention, that Win7 is Vista just optimized, improved, buged fix, and new features. It's not a new construction, it's the same.

Windows XP from 98 upgrade was bad, as well that was Microsoft first attempt, and the Win98 system/registry was very different over Windows 2000/XP. Windows XP to Vista the very same. But, Vista to Win7, should not have any problem.

I was always the clean install type of person, but Vista to Win7 is something that I am willing to do, without any fear.

 

Upgrades have gotten a bad rep due to anecdotal evidence. I had to see it for myself though. I took my laptop and benchmarked an upgrade versus a clean install.

While the clean install did benchmark faster, it wasn't significant at all. The three hours it took to reinstall all my apps alone isn't worth it in my case. The upgrade took maybe 20 minutes and the only program I had to reinstall was daemon tools.

 

+1 Totally agreed on this!

cheers ...

 

Plus, if you are like some of the rest of us who have taken advantage of some of the Give-Away-Of-The-Day stuff, there is no way to reinstall those apps.

Gary

 

I hope this question doesn't sound totally stupid. I'm having some software issues with Vista. Software operated fine for a year but now I'm getting exe error messages with my printer and some games. My question is... if I do an upgrade, not a clean install, will those issues remain?

Thanks.

 

You have a better chance with current Vista software work via an upgrade than with a clean install.

cheers ...

 

If you have HAVE TO do an update, in your case, I strongly suggest to do a clean install of Vista, then upgrade to Win7 after any basic update (ie: Service pack, if any is required).

There is a high chance that the problem will be transferred to Win7.

Upgrade are done correctly, only if you have a perfect Vista installed. Meaning, no spyware, malware, virus, no corrupted registry, no corrupted drive, and the system drivers are all official (no beta's), and your system is working at 100% (no iffy moments). Usually this can be achieved if you are a careful web surfer, and that your Windows was recently re-install up to a few months ago, and that you did not have fun with tweaks and all that.

 

Thanks. That makes sense. Also, I'm assuming that there'll be updated d'loads for printers etc. when vista becomes available to the mass market. Correct?

 

good thing because i updated from vista to the w7 rc
and this will most likely require me to clean install the final version of windows 7 when it comes in the mail. I'm due for a clean install anyway. I have so many games and programs that i don't need.