Is Windows 7 worth the upgrade

[rexh]

My local Fry's has a Windows 7 upgrade "family pack" for $149. With it, I can upgrade three computers to Windows 7 home premium. From what I have read, it includes both 32 bit and 64 bit versions. I have a desktop running Vista Home Premium 64 bit, a netbook running XP home 32 bit and a laptop running Vista Home Premium 32 bit. I would like to upgrade and I think 50 bucks for each machine is not bad, however I did not participate in the RC testing for Windows 7 and I am not certain that I need the upgrade. I would love to hear from people who have used Windows 7 and whether or not they feel like the upgrade is a good idea.

[RickyTick]

Been running Win 7 for a couple of months now and love it. It is noticeably faster and snapier than Vista. The Family pack is definately the way to go.

[chunkylover53]

Yup, so far so good for me too. I bought that same family pack. I installed the 64 bit on my media pc (Intel Core 2 Quad with Vista Home Premium 64bit), and also on my wife's Dell Inspiron 531 that had Vista Home 32bit(which isn't even on Dell's "Windows 7 Approved" list).

I did the clean install option on both, so I don't know how the upgrade will fare yet. It can get time consuming to backup stuff (Outlook files, internet favs, Itunes libraries, etc.) and then reinstall all of the software, but I like to do a clean install of windows at least once a year anyway... and both PC's were due.

I'm going to try the upgrade option on my newest build (Vista 64 bit), since it's only about 2 months old. I'm more curious than anything else.

Only other thing I can say is that the amount of memory on your netbook & laptop might make a difference.

[rexh]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am going to get the family pack upgrade and go for it!

[RickyTick]

Just remember that you can't go from a Vista 32 bit to a Win7 64 bit. It only upgrades bit to bit, so to speak.

With that said, there is a "trick" for making that happen. Read here.
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

[XYZ]

I tried upgrading from XP to Windows 7, ran the Upgrade Advisor, the whole bit. Did a clean XP install as the literature advised, then tried installing Windows 7, and it wouldn't install. Typical Microsoft.

[chunkylover53]

XYZ: You tried to do a clean install of W7 (i.e. boot from the install disc, format the drive, etc.) or tried to upgrade? Everything I've read says that you can't upgrade XP to W7, but as long as you have a valid copy of XP, you can use the W7 upgrade disc to do a clean install. Just curious...

[RickyTick]

Check this out Chunky.
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/upgrade_02.asp
Look through the site for a lot more info on Win 7.

[chunkylover53]

Good stuff...
My only thought above was, the only reason to do the upgrade is because you don't want to lose programs and settings. If you are going to do a clean install of XP before upgrading, you lose that stuff anyway. Question I had was, why bother. As long as you have a valid copy of xp or vista installed, just do the clean install of 7. Right?

[RickyTick]

Good stuff...
My only thought above was, the only reason to do the upgrade is because you don't want to lose programs and settings. If you are going to do a clean install of XP before upgrading, you lose that stuff anyway. Question I had was, why bother. As long as you have a valid copy of xp or vista installed, just do the clean install of 7. Right?

Right. However, since I'm so anal-retentive, if I had XP, I would probably do a format and completely fresh install of Win7. I once did an upgrade from Windows ME to XP, and I never felt like I got a clean install.

[chunkylover53]

Exactly! That's why when XYZ said they did a clean install of XP BEFORE upgrading to W7, I figured, why not just do the clean install?

[Randal1800]

OK I'm ready to install an OS on a new build. I have a copy of XP and an upgrade copy of Windows 7; Can I bypass loading XP first and just load Windows 7. I read the link RickyTick pointed to and it looks like I can just do it by editing:

regedit.exe with Start Menu Search and navigate to:

HKLM/Software/Microsoft
/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/

Change MediaBootInstall from "1" to "0"....etc

What I 'm confused about is whether there are any negative consequences. The discussion gave me the impression that there were, but I not sure I understood them.

Is this the easiest way or should I just install XP and then upgrade to Win7 as designed???

[chunkylover53]

The only negative consequences I've heard of are when you "upgrade" and exiting OS vs. a clean install.

The upgrade version of 7 can do a clean install, and I'm pretty sure you can do it without loading XP first.

[Convertible Guy]

I'm going to be in this situation soon (within the next 2 weeks).

Randall1800, can you let us know how this worked and if there are any gotchas or negative consequences?

[Randal1800]

Convertible Guy,

Still trying to decide how I am going to do this. Not sure I have a good enough understanding if anything goes wrong.

I am currently stuck at the DAta Lifeguard check of my SATA drives. For some reason, the program on the cd won't load (I don't have a floppy drive).

Anybody know how crucial it is to check the drives before loading the OS?

[The Wise Monkey]

Not really - just do a full format when installing the OS, and it should be fine.