Topic: Windows 7 upgraded - very neat and clean upgrade (Read 3190 times)

Tom · « **Reply #60 on:** November 02, 2009, 03:06:39 PM »

After reading Microsoft's privacy policy for the Upgrade Advisor, I decided not to run the app. I'll stick with XP on this and another machine, and Vista on two others.

Pat · « **Reply #61 on:** November 11, 2009, 09:34:00 PM »

Just did a clean install of Win7 yesterday. It's even better than the upgrade. Screen fonts are so much easier to see. I backed up well, but it turns out the clean install preserved all my data directories, such as music, audiobooks, personal files. All I had to reinstall was software. I had to reinstall HP Update from the HP Win7 64-bit web page, but running HP UPdate found nothing missing. I have a Touchsmart, and the touchscreen works fine with Win 7. I can't get over how clean, fast, and convenient Win 7 is.

I have to use QuickBooks and WordPerfect for workamping, and both installed better and faster with Win7 than they did with Vista. Intuit tried to tell me I need to buy QB 2010. Every time I reinstall and have to reregister QB, they waste a bunch of time trying to sell me stuff like payroll services. But I digress. QB 2008 is working just fine. The QB updates installed faster than ever.

I think the new video driver is better, and music is excellent. Then, again, this HP Touchsmart probably has especially good speakers or something. Media Player does a nice job with DVD movies. I'm leaving off all the stuff that came with the HP. So far Win7 is doing it all. Haven't written a CD or DVD yet.

--pat

Ned · « **Reply #62 on:** November 11, 2009, 09:49:05 PM »

Pat, thanks for the report. So far, I haven't seen much negative experience in installing Windows 7, either upgrade or clean install. I have 2 machines yet to do, but the MSI Wind runs it just fine. I expect the most problems with drivers for the Toshiba Notebook, but Toshiba has updates for most, if not all, of the hardware. My tower is a quite new, less than 1 year old, Asus system and I don't expect any problems upgrading it from Vista. I just need a day off to find the time to do the upgrade.

edjunior · « **Reply #63 on:** November 11, 2009, 09:53:48 PM »

Yup, I've been running it now for oh...nigh on two weeks with no problems at all. Put it on my laptop about a week ago, and though I don't use it much, it installed great on there also.

Pat · « **Reply #64 on:** November 11, 2009, 10:50:58 PM »

'Nother hint. I wanted to pin Control Panel to the taskbar. I found out I
1. Open Control Panel
2. It appears on the taskbar as an open folder
3. Right click on the folder and select Pin to Taskbar.

Works. I couldn't get the same thing to work for Internet Options, but I'll live with a Desktop icon.

--pat

Jeff · « **Reply #65 on:** November 11, 2009, 11:18:37 PM »

My copy of Win7 caught up with us this week so last night I did a full backup and got ready to install tonight.

Before ordering the pre-release upgrade I ran upgrade adviser that said my 2008 Toshiba was compatible with Win7 and listed about four programs they recommended removing and reinstalling after the upgrade. This seemed like no big deal so I ordered the upgrade.

Tonight I ran the install and got this message:

   The following issues are preventing Windows from upgrading. Cancel the upgrade, complete each task, and then restart the upgrade to continue.

   * For these items, make the following changes:

   Uninstall these programs. Open Control Panel and search for "uninstall a program".

   o Intel PROSet/Wireless

   Upgrading Windows will affect the following devices and/or programs:

   These devices might not work properly after the upgrade. Before upgrading, we recommend updating the drivers for these devices. Cancel the upgrade, open Control Panel and search for "update device drivers", or go to the device manufacturer's website to search for updated drivers.

   o Kernel USB Software Bus by TCP

   These programs might not work properly after the upgrade. We recommend uninstalling these programs before upgrading. Cancel the upgrade, open Control Panel, and search for "uninstall a program". (Note: Programs marked as * can be safely reinstalled after the upgrade.)

   o DIRECTV2PC *
   o iTunes (Please deauthorize computer prior to upgrade)
   o Bluetooth Stack for Windows by Toshiba
   o Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 *
   o Bejeweled 2 Deluxe *

Still not too concerned until I went to the Toshiba website and found out that they only recommend upgrading 2009 laptops (those with the free W7 upgrade offer) and doing a clean install only on their 2007 and 2008 models.

Their software will only support an upgrade to the 2009 models and a clean install to the others. They do not recommend doing a manual install because there are "many" components that have to be individually downloaded and installed for the computer to operate properly.

I just had to reinstall all the programs on this laptop last year and am not very excited about going through this again so soon!

The new Apple TV ad about Win7 keeps coming to mind: "This time it will be different, trust me". (Or something like that).

KodiakRV · « **Reply #66 on:** November 15, 2009, 05:29:07 PM »

Quote from: Jeff on November 11, 2009, 11:18:37 PM

My copy of Win7 caught up with us this week so last night I did a full backup and got ready to install tonight.

Before ordering the pre-release upgrade I ran upgrade adviser that said my 2008 Toshiba was compatible with Win7 and listed about four programs they recommended removing and reinstalling after the upgrade...

Ouch. I think I have a similar Toshiba laptop model -- Satellite P105-S6197...

Please report back how it goes...

scottydl · « **Reply #67 on:** November 15, 2009, 07:33:04 PM »

2008 Toshiba here too... P205D-S7802

I'll wait to upgrade (if I do at all) until I hear back some status reports from other Toshiba owners.

tswms · « **Reply #68 on:** November 15, 2009, 09:10:43 PM »

I upgraded to 7 on my Toshiba L305. I did a clean install. Was easy and it works great. Check out Toshiba's website for instructions.
I can't wait to gety rid of Vista on my desktop.

Tony

John Canfield · « **Reply #69 on:** December 01, 2009, 02:29:49 PM »

Okay - I'm aboard... Just ordered an OEM version of W7 Pro 64 bit. My CPU will support XP Mode Virtualization so I'll be able to run my Adobe CS2 suite in XP Mode. Also all of my 8Gb or ram will be used (I run 64 bit Linux now, but 32 bit XP.) Also going to order Adobe CS4 so I'll have lots of stuff to play with this winter

.

Ned · « **Reply #70 on:** December 01, 2009, 03:46:31 PM »

I upgraded Lorna's notebook yesterday after installing Vista on it first. The upgrade to W7 was easy and everything was converted properly. After that experience I decided I would upgrade my desktop today. I have a LOT of software installed on this machine and a botched upgrade would be a serious problem as this is my development system. I did uninstall VMWare Desktop as I was going to upgrade that to version 7 anyway. I also uninstalled my backup software on the recommendation of the Windows 7 upgrade program. The actual upgrade took a couple of hours but everything works except my scanner. But that didn't work under Vista either, so no surprise there. This was from Vista 64 to Windows 7 64, both Home Premium editions.

John, I suggest rather than use the XP Virtualization mode, you get VMWare. It's on sale for 30% off today and tomorrow. Or if you don't want to buy a virtual machine program, get the free Virtual Box from Sun. Run CS2 in one of those, you have more than enough memory, but you do need a Windows XP or Vista 32 license. I'm sure you have one of those around that you're no longer using

Jeff · « **Reply #71 on:** December 01, 2009, 04:05:09 PM »

Ned:

Is that Lorna's Toshiba? If so did you follow their recommendation to do a clean install or did you do an upgrade? If you did upgrade did you use Toshiba's software to upgrade the drivers?

I still have the Win7 package sitting here.

My Xmas present was a HP Mini netbook with Win7 Starter installed that seems to work nicely.

John Canfield · « **Reply #72 on:** December 01, 2009, 04:06:15 PM »

Ned - glad W7 worked out okay for you. I might ultimately install it on my Satellite Pro. I don't anticipate needing to run Virtualization mode very much - only until I get CS4.

I'll totally blow away my XP partition on my big tower and start fresh with W7 - I was running out of room anyway and I can easily reinstall the few apps I run in Windoze.

I'm really looking forward to running CS4 in a 64 bit OS - I looked at the specs on the Adobe website and the CS4 apps are written for 64 bit

John Canfield · « **Reply #73 on:** December 01, 2009, 04:07:15 PM »

Quote from: Jeff on December 01, 2009, 04:05:09 PM

My Xmas present was a HP Mini netbook with Win7 Starter installed that seems to work nicely.

It's not Christmas yet! (You'll love having a netbook!)

Jeff · « **Reply #74 on:** December 01, 2009, 04:10:07 PM »

Quote from: John Canfield on December 01, 2009, 04:07:15 PM

It's not Christmas yet! (You'll love having a netbook!)

John:

If I get what I want around Thanksgiving everyone backs off spending money on me for something I will probably return.

Now I will get books and shirts.

John Canfield · « **Reply #75 on:** December 01, 2009, 04:11:52 PM »

Or maybe <gasp> underwear

Jeff · « **Reply #76 on:** December 01, 2009, 04:14:58 PM »

Quote from: John Canfield on December 01, 2009, 04:11:52 PM

Or maybe <gasp> underwear

Nah, I have three weeks supply.

Ned · « **Reply #77 on:** December 01, 2009, 04:16:37 PM »

Jeff, yes, it's Lorna's Satellite and I installed Vista clean, but upgraded that to 7. I did have to install the 2 Vista service packs first. Toshiba says that model doesn't support Windows 7 but everything is working. It even installed drivers for the fingerprint reader that never worked right under XP. I did not use the Toshiba upgrade software, just let Windows handle everything. There were several driver updates after the upgrade as well as a load of security fixes.

KodiakRV · « **Reply #78 on:** December 01, 2009, 09:52:05 PM »

Quote from: Ned on December 01, 2009, 04:16:37 PM

Jeff, yes, it's Lorna's Satellite and I installed Vista clean, but upgraded that to 7...

Was that W7 32-bit or 64-bit?

Ned · « **Reply #79 on:** December 02, 2009, 07:33:09 AM »

32 bit on the Satellite, but 64 bit on my desktop.

scottydl · « **Reply #80 on:** December 02, 2009, 08:54:23 AM »

Quote from: Ned on December 02, 2009, 07:33:09 AM

32 bit on the Satellite, but 64 bit on my desktop.

How does a person know which "bit" version they are running, and why does it matter?

tvman44 · « **Reply #81 on:** December 02, 2009, 09:07:23 AM »

I installed my Vista to "7" upgrade night before last on my new Toshiba laptop and it went smoothly and seems to work well. Have not used it enough to say it is any better or not. But have been told it is faster but I don't see how.

Ned · « **Reply #82 on:** December 02, 2009, 09:12:47 AM »

Control Panel | System and it will tell you if you are running a 32 or 64 bit version. It matters because 32 bit operating systems (not just Windows) can only address up to 3.3GB of memory while a 64 bit OS can address more than you can put in the computer. Also, not all peripherals have 64 bit drivers available, so if that's a consideration, it limits you to a 32 bit OS. If you have any very old 16 bit programs, they won't run under a 64 bit OS.

scottydl · « **Reply #83 on:** December 02, 2009, 10:20:53 AM »

Thanks Ned - I'll stick with 32bit for now, as I do have some older games that the kids play and I'm sure probably wouldn't handle the new software. My laptop memory tops out at 4gb of memory anyway (which I'm planning on doing soon, currently at 2gb) so I won't lose too much of that max.

Jeff · « **Reply #84 on:** December 02, 2009, 04:19:27 PM »

I have 64 bit Vista with 4GB of RAM on my T5800 Core Duo processor Toshiba and was concerned that Win7 with 1GB on my new HP Mini would be really slow. It handles what I bought it for very well running Firefox, Streets & Trips, and VMSPC while we are traveling.

I thought about selling the Win7 upgrade I bought for the Toshiba rather than reinstalling all the software but I guess I'll bite the bullet one of these nights and do a clean install.

John Canfield · « **Reply #85 on:** December 04, 2009, 10:43:56 PM »

Just loaded W7 on my primary tower and it went really well EXCEPT it wrote over the master boot record where Grub is installed (I dual boot into Linux and Windows, at least I used to do that.) Thank you very much Bill G. So now I need to start again (I guess) with installing Ubuntu.

W7Pro 64 bit is way faster than XP Home 32 bit, but that is to be expected. I think the Aero desktop is okay, but it has nothing over KDE or Gnome. 64 bit Ubuntu was a screamer as well.

One really neat thing was W7 had a driver for my pen tablet - that was a totally unexpected and pleasant surprise.

Ned · « **Reply #86 on:** December 05, 2009, 07:44:49 AM »

The boot record situation has been discussed at length in various Linux and Windows forums. I don't think you need to reinstall Ubuntu, just Grub. A Google search should turn up the discussions.

I was pleasantly surprised when Windows 7 had drivers for just about everything on the Toshiba notebook. I was planning on installing lots of additional drivers, but the only one that was critical was the Toshiba Raid controller driver that was needed to do the Windows install. I had to load that from a flash drive during the installation and update the BIOS to the latest version.

John Canfield · « **Reply #87 on:** December 05, 2009, 09:02:30 AM »

Quote from: Ned on December 05, 2009, 07:44:49 AM

The boot record situation has been discussed at length in various Linux and Windows forums. I don't think you need to reinstall Ubuntu, just Grub. A Google search should turn up the discussions.

Ned - after I realized Bill G messed with me, I then remembered reading about the situation a year ago when I initially set up the tower. I'll see what I can do to get Grub back into action - thanks for the suggestion.

KodiakRV · « **Reply #88 on:** December 05, 2009, 09:53:26 AM »

Quote from: Ned on December 01, 2009, 04:16:37 PM

Jeff, yes, it's Lorna's Satellite and I installed Vista clean, but upgraded that to 7. I did have to install the 2 Vista service packs first. Toshiba says that model doesn't support Windows 7 but everything is working...

What model # is Lorna's Satellite? Although I bought my P105-S6197 in March 2007, the second digit of "6" in the serial number means it was made in 2006, which knocks it out of the time period that Toshiba says they support for W7 installation...

Ned · « **Reply #89 on:** December 05, 2009, 11:42:55 AM »

The Toshiba is a Qosmio (not Satellite, my mistake) G35-AV650 and it's a 2006. Even though Toshiba doesn't officially support Windows 7 on it, doesn't mean you can't install it.

News:

Author Topic: Windows 7 upgraded - very neat and clean upgrade (Read 3190 times)