Upgrade question

[Antares 531]

I have an older computer that is set up with Windows XP Pro SP3 and
would like to upgrade it to Windows 7. I've been told that the only
way to do this is to do a reformat/clean install. Is this correct?

This computer is a home built with a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard
and an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU 2.66 GHz. Is there any reason Windows 7
would not run on this computer? It has two Western Digital WD5000 AAKS
hard drives with about half the space available on each drive.

Gordon

 

[Bob I]

You can't "upgrade" inplace from XP to Win7. You could go XP-Vista-Win7,
if you have a Vista retail CD.

 

[Antares 531]

Are you saying that I would have to buy a full retail version of
Windows 7, not an upgrade? That is could I do it this way?

 

[peter]

?If your current PC can run Windows 7, you can upgrade it. Note that you can
use upgrade media, but you must perform a custom installation of Windows 7,
which doesn't keep any of your files, programs, or settings.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-CA/windows7/help/upgrading-from-windows-xp-to-windows-7

peter



If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you dont know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate
"Antares 531" wrote in message

Are you saying that I would have to buy a full retail version of
Windows 7, not an upgrade? That is could I do it this way?

 

[VanguardLH]

I have an older computer that is set up with Windows XP Pro SP3 and
would like to upgrade it to Windows 7. I've been told that the only
way to do this is to do a reformat/clean install. Is this correct?

This computer is a home built with a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard
and an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU 2.66 GHz. Is there any reason Windows 7
would not run on this computer? It has two Western Digital WD5000 AAKS
hard drives with about half the space available on each drive.

Gordon

Windows 7 upgrade paths
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyId=e170eba1-5bab-401f-bbf5-00f0ee7fe0fb

There is no upgrade path from Windows XP to Windows 7. You can migrate
but you cannot upgrade. If you have Windows XP (installed or its
install CD), the install of Windows 7 does a *fresh* installation. The
OS partition gets wiped when Windows 7 gets installed. A data transfer
wizard is provided that is to help you move your data files into the
fresh install of Windows 7; however, if you want to ensure your data
files survive the migration, do a backup of them onto other media before
the migration so you can restore them from that backup media.

 

[a]

I have an older computer that is set up with Windows XP Pro SP3 and
would like to upgrade it to Windows 7. I've been told that the only
way to do this is to do a reformat/clean install. Is this correct?

This computer is a home built with a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard
and an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU 2.66 GHz. Is there any reason Windows 7
would not run on this computer? It has two Western Digital WD5000 AAKS
hard drives with about half the space available on each drive.

Gordon

You should also run the Windows 7 compatibility wizard:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor

 

[Ken Blake]

I have an older computer that is set up with Windows XP Pro SP3 and
would like to upgrade it to Windows 7. I've been told that the only
way to do this is to do a reformat/clean install. Is this correct?

It is *almost* correct.

True, you can *not* upgrade from XP to Windows 7. But you can do a
two-step upgrade--first to Vista, then to Windows 7. I don't recommend
doing this, since it doubles the risk of problems, but it can be done.
In fact, I've done it successfully myself (although I was prepared for
problems to develop and then to do a clean installation of Windows 7).

 

[Antares 531]

I have an older computer that is set up with Windows XP Pro SP3 and
would like to upgrade it to Windows 7. I've been told that the only
way to do this is to do a reformat/clean install. Is this correct?

This computer is a home built with a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard
and an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU 2.66 GHz. Is there any reason Windows 7
would not run on this computer? It has two Western Digital WD5000 AAKS
hard drives with about half the space available on each drive.

Gordon

Thanks to all who have responded. I think, in view of the information
posted, I should just leave well enough alone and let this older
computer live out the rest of its life as a Windows XP Pro SP3
computer. It's a bit confusing to have to jump back and forth between
the two and stumble around a bit while my brain makes the transition
form one OS to the other, but that might be less of a problem than
messing the old computer up beyond recovery. It's my genealogy records
setup, and I would be in a mell of a hess if I trashed this
information. Gordon

 

[Jack]

Thanks to all who have responded. I think, in view of the information
posted, I should just leave well enough alone and let this older
computer live out the rest of its life as a Windows XP Pro SP3
computer. It's a bit confusing to have to jump back and forth between
the two and stumble around a bit while my brain makes the transition
form one OS to the other, but that might be less of a problem than
messing the old computer up beyond recovery. It's my genealogy records
setup, and I would be in a mell of a hess if I trashed this
information. Gordon

A lot of the replies you received contained pure bullshit.

"Peter" _almost_ gave you a good answer, but it DOES save all your XP stuff
in a folder called \Old Windows.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Thanks to all who have responded. I think, in view of the information
posted, I should just leave well enough alone and let this older
computer live out the rest of its life as a Windows XP Pro SP3
computer. It's a bit confusing to have to jump back and forth between
the two and stumble around a bit while my brain makes the transition
form one OS to the other, but that might be less of a problem than
messing the old computer up beyond recovery. It's my genealogy records
setup, and I would be in a mell of a hess if I trashed this
information. Gordon

Sounds like a job for Backup Man!

There must be a way that you can save all of that info in a way that
lets you get it back safely. You just can't be sure when your old
computer (hard drive) will fail...

Backing up your whole system drive onto an external drive using a
program like Macrium, Acronis, or Casper is one approach that comes to
mind, but you could just learn where your genealogy data is and copy it
to a CD or DVD every once in a while.

 

[xfile]

My two cents,

Your original question, essentially, consists of two parts: (1) are you
eligible to purchase an upgrade version with Windows XP, and (2) must you
use a clean install?

The first question is a simple one - Yes, you are eligible to purchase an
upgrade version and to use this upgrade license.

The second question for installation mechanism could also be a simple one,
and that is - Yes, you have to do a clean install either by letting Windows
7 do it for you or do it yourself, unless you wish to make it complicated by
doing an upgrade install to Vista first and then doing another upgrade
install to Windows 7.

There are arguments and discussions for which clean install mechanism is
more appropriate which I won't want to get into, but as a general rule
though I am by no means a lawyer, unless the publisher has explicitly stated
which installation mechanism is prohibited and will void the license (in
which case, this certain installation mechanism(s) usually will be blocked
as well), otherwise, installation mechanism and license are two separate
issues and should not be mixed together.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[Antares 531]

Sounds like a job for Backup Man!

There must be a way that you can save all of that info in a way that
lets you get it back safely. You just can't be sure when your old
computer (hard drive) will fail...

Backing up your whole system drive onto an external drive using a
program like Macrium, Acronis, or Casper is one approach that comes to
mind, but you could just learn where your genealogy data is and copy it
to a CD or DVD every once in a while.

You're right, and getting all my important files backed up is my first
objective. I'm thinking an external hard drive back-up system might be
the way to go.

Gordon

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

You're right, and getting all my important files backed up is my first
objective. I'm thinking an external hard drive back-up system might be
the way to go.

Gordon

I couldn't agree more, and I encourage you to do it today. Seriously...

 

[Marty]

No reason not to replace XP with 7.
All are correct, you can not "upgrade" from xp to 7 but
you can install win 7 into the same partition that xp was
installed on.

When you do the install all files on the OS partition are deleted
with the exception of the windows directory. That directory is
renamed to windows.old and remains intact so you can access it if
needed.

When I did this on 3 machines I used lap link utility to to save
all of my windows xp and program settings settings and then import them
into win7. Worked like a charm. Now to be fair I do not use
the program folders provided by the OS, I always created a separate
partition on the hard drive where I stored my applications and data.
That way when I upgrade/replaced/fresh installed the next OS all
needed to do was reinstall the apps and off I went. If you
did not do this then you will need to reinstall the applications.

With the win 7 replacement of XP the lap link utility was able
to save all of the registry entries for my applications and OS and then
put them back after the win 7 replacement was completed.

Very happy with win7 stable as heck and not all that different the
win xp. I fact every application I had with win xp ran under win 7
with no problems. I even have an application bought to run under win98
and it runs just fine.

Marty

 

[Char Jackson]

Now to be fair I do not use
the program folders provided by the OS, I always created a separate
partition on the hard drive where I stored my applications and data.
That way when I upgrade/replaced/fresh installed the next OS all
needed to do was reinstall the apps and off I went. If you
did not do this then you will need to reinstall the applications.

Since you have to reinstall the apps either way, I'm not sure I'm
seeing any benefit. I used to do it your way years ago, but I don't
anymore. Am I missing anything?

 

[Antares 531]

No reason not to replace XP with 7.
All are correct, you can not "upgrade" from xp to 7 but
you can install win 7 into the same partition that xp was
installed on.

This is where I'm a bit confused. If I can install Windows 7 into the
Windows XP partition without disrupting anything else, it is a go
situation, but if installing Windows 7 will somehow mess up the other
partitions and destroy all my client software files, it is not worth
the trouble. Gordon

When you do the install all files on the OS partition are deleted
with the exception of the windows directory. That directory is
renamed to windows.old and remains intact so you can access it if
needed.

Can I copy the files on the Windows XP partition to a back-up hard
drive, then copy them back to the new Windows 7 partition after the
installation is complete? That is, would the client software work at
all after doing this? Gordon

When I did this on 3 machines I used lap link utility to to save
all of my windows xp and program settings settings and then import them
into win7. Worked like a charm. Now to be fair I do not use
the program folders provided by the OS, I always created a separate
partition on the hard drive where I stored my applications and data.
That way when I upgrade/replaced/fresh installed the next OS all
needed to do was reinstall the apps and off I went. If you
did not do this then you will need to reinstall the applications.

I've set up my client software programs in a separate partition, too,
but had been led to believe that these would also be deleted when I
install Windows 7. Gordon

With the win 7 replacement of XP the lap link utility was able
to save all of the registry entries for my applications and OS and then
put them back after the win 7 replacement was completed.

This lap link is unfamiliar to me. Am I just out of the loop, or is it
some software that one can buy to link a laptop to a desktop computer?
Would a home workgroup, or a hard drive in a separate case do the same
thing? Gordon

 

[R. C. White]

?Hi, Gordon.

This is where I'm a bit confused. If I can install Windows 7 into the
Windows XP partition without disrupting anything else, it is a go
situation, but if installing Windows 7 will somehow mess up the other
partitions and destroy all my client software files, it is not worth the
trouble. Gordon

It's not enough to have all an application's files intact and available to
the new OS. You must also run the app's Install or Setup program in Win7 so
that it can make the proper entries into the NEW operating system's
Registry.

Until you INSTALL Word. for example, into Win7, that word.exe file is "just
another file", like a .doc or .txt file, and Win7 has no idea how to load it
and run it. Double-clicking on word.exe will just get you an error message
that the app must be installed (or something like that - I haven't tried
this specific situation). It's just like trying to run any other app
without installing it: some will work, but most require installation.

The Windows Easy Transfer (WET) program can smooth the transition
considerably. Run it first in WinXP, pointing its output to some storage
device that will be accessible to Win7 later. This can be a USB flash
drive, an external HDD, or another partition on your main HDD; just be sure
that it's some location that will not be reformatted or otherwise erased
during the transition. Then, after Win7 is installed and running, run WET
again in Win7 to retrieve your data. WET will not actually re-install your
applications, but can help you "re-tweak" them.

Except for updating the few small startup files (bootmgr instead of NTLDR,
for example) in the System Partition, Win7's Setup.exe will not write
anything to any partition except the Boot Volume (typically C - which is
where it will write the C:\Windows folder tree with all its gigabytes of
subfolders and files. It will not disturb your data files on any other
partition. (Reformatting the boot volume is highly recommended, but not
strictly required. If you choose not to reformat, then your data files and
other content outside C:\Windows will remain intact. If it were my system,
though, I would backup my files and reformat that partition. Or even delete
the partition and re-create it.)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-9/30/10)
Windows Live Mail Version 2011 (Build 15.4.3502.0922) in Win7 Ultimate x64
SP1 RC


"Antares 531" wrote in message

No reason not to replace XP with 7.
All are correct, you can not "upgrade" from xp to 7 but
you can install win 7 into the same partition that xp was
installed on.

This is where I'm a bit confused. If I can install Windows 7 into the
Windows XP partition without disrupting anything else, it is a go
situation, but if installing Windows 7 will somehow mess up the other
partitions and destroy all my client software files, it is not worth
the trouble. Gordon

When you do the install all files on the OS partition are deleted
with the exception of the windows directory. That directory is
renamed to windows.old and remains intact so you can access it if
needed.

Can I copy the files on the Windows XP partition to a back-up hard
drive, then copy them back to the new Windows 7 partition after the
installation is complete? That is, would the client software work at
all after doing this? Gordon

When I did this on 3 machines I used lap link utility to to save
all of my windows xp and program settings settings and then import them
into win7. Worked like a charm. Now to be fair I do not use
the program folders provided by the OS, I always created a separate
partition on the hard drive where I stored my applications and data.
That way when I upgrade/replaced/fresh installed the next OS all
needed to do was reinstall the apps and off I went. If you
did not do this then you will need to reinstall the applications.

I've set up my client software programs in a separate partition, too,
but had been led to believe that these would also be deleted when I
install Windows 7. Gordon

With the win 7 replacement of XP the lap link utility was able
to save all of the registry entries for my applications and OS and then
put them back after the win 7 replacement was completed.

This lap link is unfamiliar to me. Am I just out of the loop, or is it
some software that one can buy to link a laptop to a desktop computer?
Would a home workgroup, or a hard drive in a separate case do the same
thing? Gordon

 

[Antares 531]

?Hi, Gordon.


It's not enough to have all an application's files intact and available to
the new OS. You must also run the app's Install or Setup program in Win7 so
that it can make the proper entries into the NEW operating system's
Registry.

Until you INSTALL Word. for example, into Win7, that word.exe file is "just
another file", like a .doc or .txt file, and Win7 has no idea how to load it
and run it. Double-clicking on word.exe will just get you an error message
that the app must be installed (or something like that - I haven't tried
this specific situation). It's just like trying to run any other app
without installing it: some will work, but most require installation.

The Windows Easy Transfer (WET) program can smooth the transition
considerably. Run it first in WinXP, pointing its output to some storage
device that will be accessible to Win7 later. This can be a USB flash
drive, an external HDD, or another partition on your main HDD; just be sure
that it's some location that will not be reformatted or otherwise erased
during the transition. Then, after Win7 is installed and running, run WET
again in Win7 to retrieve your data. WET will not actually re-install your
applications, but can help you "re-tweak" them.

Except for updating the few small startup files (bootmgr instead of NTLDR,
for example) in the System Partition, Win7's Setup.exe will not write
anything to any partition except the Boot Volume (typically C - which is
where it will write the C:\Windows folder tree with all its gigabytes of
subfolders and files. It will not disturb your data files on any other
partition. (Reformatting the boot volume is highly recommended, but not
strictly required. If you choose not to reformat, then your data files and
other content outside C:\Windows will remain intact. If it were my system,
though, I would backup my files and reformat that partition. Or even delete
the partition and re-create it.)

RC

I'm considering buying a new hard drive to replace the primary drive,
then install Windows 7 onto this new drive...then re-install all my
client software. If for some reason this fails I could just remove the
new hard drive and replace the original one, then use the new hard
drive, after clearing everything off of it, as a back-up storage
means.

Gordon

 

[bettablue]

"Antares 531" wrote in message

I have an older computer that is set up with Windows XP Pro SP3 and
would like to upgrade it to Windows 7. I've been told that the only
way to do this is to do a reformat/clean install. Is this correct?

This computer is a home built with a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard
and an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU 2.66 GHz. Is there any reason Windows 7
would not run on this computer? It has two Western Digital WD5000 AAKS
hard drives with about half the space available on each drive.

Gordon


FWIW... There are some third party programs you can run to effectively
upgrade directly from XP to Windows 7. Z-Install is one that comes to mind
and it seems to do a pretty good job. Just don't believe all of their
claims. I don't know if I would completely trust a program like this
though. I can see too many fail points.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I already colorize lots of different types of posts so I'll have to come
up with a scheme that's unique to this test (so I can later look at the
properties of a colorized post to then look through my long list of
filters to see which one got used).

I suggest stripes

Yeah, the WLM quoting (none) drives me a bit more crazy that I might
already be.