On my laptop i have a limited amount of HD space i currently have 37 gb free of a 160 gb drive. After i upgrade to Windows 7 is there any way i can delete my old vista files? and if so where would they be located and is it safe to delete them?
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I am on Vista Home Premium at present. I bought the upgrade to Windows 7. I have two questions:
1) Is it true that when you upgrade from Vista to Windows 7, all of your installed programs basically remain intact and working, or do you have to re-install everything again from scratch? I believe that the documentation in the box said that if you are on XP, you would have to reinstall MS Office and some other programs. What is the situation in upgrading from Vista?
2) Partly in order to find out the answer to the above, I decided to upgrade my laptop first because it has relatively few installed programs on it compared to my PC. I tried on three separate occasions to do the upgrade. On each occasion, it went all the way through to the very end, completing all of the listed steps. However, it then stated that Windows 7 could NOT be installed on this computer and then unwound the entire thing, leaving me with Vista again.
Why, is a mystery to me because when I ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, it did not highlight any problems that would prevent the installation. Yes, it did point out one printer driver which might not work after the upgrade and advised me to uninstall it (which I did NOT do - might that be the problem?), but apart from that it seemed to be happy with the situation.
3) Do I really need a skilled technician to do this upgrade or can I not just do it all myself? If some major backup and re-installation of complex drivers is necessary, then maybe I need one. But is this really going to happen, or is the whole thing as self-explanatory as it seemed while doing it on my laptop?
I've upgraded all of my computers to Windows 7. Including my wife and children's older computer. I build all of my desktops myself so there's no particular model number or brand name for any of the desktop computers. After loading Windows 7 on my wife's machine I noticed that Windows 7 still seemed a bit sluggish. This is due to the fact that all of the hardware in it is pretty old.
So here are my questions. Is Microsoft going to give me a hard time for upgrading this computer after only a month of 7 use? Or am I going to be able to upgrade motherboard, cpu, graphics and memory with no trouble?
I should add that Windows 7 was installed using an Upgrade DVD if that helps.
I just a purchased a brand new laptop. I have had it less than a week and qualify for the windows 7 upgrade. I would prefer to do a clean install, but not wish to lose certain programs that came default on the laptop (ex: powerDVD for playing blu ray, will cost $160 to replace).
Questions:
1.) With my Vista install as fresh as it is ,will upgrading to 7 be that much worse than a clean install?
2.) If I choose to clean install, is there a way to recover the programs without a repurchase (some way to back up an installed program on a flashdrive in a way that it can be moved or installed on the new OS)?
3.) If i have to upgrade instead of clean install, will running a registry cleaning program like "Clean My Registry" clean out the goop left behind by Vista? Or will it likely cause more issues?
can someone please clarify a few things for me.
1. the upgrade disks and the full disks are exactly the same EXCEPT the upgrade one requires proof that you own a copy of vista or xp.
2. what kind of proof does it require? does it just ask you for an XP/vista serial during the install?
I had no problems with the first two computers that I upgraded from Vista to Windows 7, both were 64bit systems. I'm having post upgrade problems from vista to windows 7 with my 32 bit machine (Sony Vaio VGN-NR430E). THe machine did fine with the compability check for Windows 7.
Problems:
1) Some icons on the desktop are not appearing. Instead of the icon, I just have a white icon in it's place.
2) Taskbar icons are either white or blank. If I click on the white or blank icon the application will run, If I hover over the blank or white icon it tells me what application it is.
3) Control panel icons are not present.
4) Start menu icons and folders are white. If I click on them, it just hangs like it is trying to do something and will remain like that until explorer crashes.
Ideas that I tried but did not work:
1) Tried rerunning the Windows 7 upgrade. But when it gets to the compability check, the check just keeps running. eventually I then must cancel out of the upgrade
2) Tried a chkdsk at bootup. No errors, but it did not fix my problem.
3) Tried rebuilding the iconcache. Did not work
4) Tried some other type of scan (sfc /scannow)that was started from the command prompt. it did not work.
First off, I just migrated over to Windows 7 Forums from Vistax64 and am excited.
I'm currently running Vista Home Premium 64-Bit on a Pentium i7 with 6gigs of Ram and a pretty hardcore video card. Plus, the computer is only 4 months old and i am a pretty tidy user with very little on the drive.
SO: I've elected to upgrade instead of clean install. Now, I'm not looking for any responses explaining to me why I'm an idiot for upgrading instead of doing a clean install because I'm not. I am aware of the drawbacks and I'm ok with them, though they form the backdrop to my question in this post.
There have been a lot of posts about why you should go for a clean install. I hope this post about upgrading gets some intelligent attention, too.
Here's my question: what steps can I (and other upgrading users) take post-upgrade to minimize the "dust" from my (our) old vista OS? For example, a good registry cleaning seems like a good place to start. But what else?
Anyways I've used windows xp happily for years, but I want to make the switch from windows 7 being in a slow, sluggish, crappy virtual pc to being setup as a dual boot. I've never set this up before so I have a few questions.
Firstly I've been trying to use gparted, but its not working. I know how set up an iso for burning and all, thats not the problem. Yes my computer is set to boot from cd first, I know that! But I don't understand why its not working.. Anyways for those that have used it, I've heard that you keep all your files on the hard disc when partitioning? Is this a load of crap? Or do you really? And if I can't get this to work what other program should I use?
Secondly whats the best way to back everything up. I did a complete backup using the backup utility, but at the end it said something about it could make an ASR because I don't have a Floppy Disc. I read online that all that does is help me boot the computer right into the backup incase something major goes wrong. If I ignore this then I will just have to install XP again and then back everything up?
I've got a few questions regarding networking in general and then some issues that have popped up since upgrading (in place) to Windows 7.
1) Generic question: If I were to install a Wireless N router would the wireless network default to the slowest connection on the network? For example, if I had two N wireless adapters and one B adapter would the entire network run at B speeds? If so, would a dual band router allow me to circumvent the issue?
2) Generic question: Would the same issue as outlined in #1 be a problem in a wired network? Can I mix 10/100 and gigE on the same wired network and achieve gig speeds between gig-enabled devices?
3) Specific: I have an HP dv9500t that I upgraded to Windows 7. HP has not released Windows 7 drivers for this machine but I have been able to work around the few issues that I encountered. However, my wireless connection to my Linksys AP (Wireless-G broadband router WRT54G2 with up-to-date s/w) seems to be dropping and recovering on a regular basis. I have not seen the issue on any other wireless network. If I am downloading a large file (say 1G) the d/l will proceed at full speed for ~45 seconds and then drop to zero for ~45 seconds. I'll usually get the "limited connectivity" alert but then the link will restore itself and begin transferring again.
I've run some of the Linksys diags when it is down and it usually tells me that the default gateway is unavailable and resets my wireless adapter and the whole routine starts again. Quite frustrating. I've worked with Linksys tech support (they claim no known issues with Windows 7) and their supposition is that it is an interference issue and they suggest I change wireless channels.
I've tried 6 different channels and the issue does not change. I have tried upgrading the adapter drivers the the latest available from HP (Vista drivers, not Windows 7) and have also tried drivers from the adapter manufacturer (Intel Wireless WiFi link 4965AGN, Win 7 drivers) but the issue is still there. I have also rest my AP back to factory defaults to no avail. It certainly could be that I have burned through yet another wireless AP but before replacing it I wanted to see if anyone might have suggestions.
4) Since, as far as I know, Homegroup cannot be used unless all of the PCs on the network are Windows 7 I am trying to utilize Workgroup settings to config my network. The problem is that my wirelessly connected laptop does not seem to have access to my wired workgroup unless I set the SSID of the AP to the same name as my workgroup. Is this normal operation or is there a good tutorial around showing me how to set this up?
Really know nothing re Drivers, except that it is apparently a good idea, always, to use the latest.
Anyway, was thinking of possibly downloading the latest drivers for my Radeon graphics card from the ATI site.
(But my questiosn really relates to any drivers, not just those for my graphics card)
My understanding is that one is supposed to delete the present drivers from the control panel prior to downloading and installing the new ones.
BTW: I looked in "Control Panel," but it is not clear to me how one deletes, safely, the present drivers for a particular program. How is this done, please ?
So, what happens immediately after the deletion of the present drivers before any new ones are installed ?
Will my graphics card (or any other program where I have removed them) still function even without "any" drivers at this point ? How is it possible ?
If someone could explain this for me, would be appreciative.
Also, I read that one should use in addition a "driver cleaner".
Why is this (also) necessary ?
What would be your recommendation for a good free or inexpensive one that is
also safe ?
I am going to dual boot Windows 7 (Home Premium) using a separate new Hard Disk Drive, with XP already installed on the old existing Hard Drive and using the instructions in this link:-
Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP
As it is the first time I have tried something like this could someone answer a couple of questions for me?
1: The XP drivers (Chipset, Graphics, LAN, Audio etc.) and an Antivirus, together with any required software/programs, are already installed on the original XP HDD.
When I have installed Windows 7 on the second/new HDD, do I then boot the Windows 7 OS and install the Windows 7 drivers (Chipset, Graphics, LAN, Audio etc.) and an Antivirus together with any software I want to run on Windows 7 (even if that software was already installed previously for XP?) It seems funny having two sets of drivers (XP & Win 7) and Antivirus on the one machine.
2: XP runs all the programs that I need and I am just trying out Windows 7 at the moment so Win 7 restore points are not very important to me.
If that is the case, can I just ignore the fact that XP may delete the Win 7 restore points, in a dual boot, and not bother with the procedure (explained in the above link) to prevent this from happening?
To stop XP from deleting your Windows 7 System Restore Points everytime XP is started, then see System Restore Points - Stop XP Dual Boot Delete to hide Windows 7 from XP. I intend to drop XP and move over to Win 7 eventually so this will just be a temporary setup. Many thanks for any replies.
Homegroup or Sharing?
Which should I do. Its my home office computers. I'd like to be able to access files between both machines. Doing this, what precautions should I make that noone can get into my system? I'm a little hesitant to share ALL files on both computers between each other. But i'd like to!
I'm playing with Sharing now but i'm noticing that sometimes when I save a file on one computer it isn' accessible to the other computer until I right click and SHare it. I thought by sharing the folder it would just share every new file. Is there a way to do that?
Basically i will have:-
HDD no 1 with 1 partition;
C:/ - Win 7 Pro x64 installed
HDD no 2 with 2 partitions;
D:/ - Data (files.....pictures, documents, programs i've d/l etc) around 80Gb of data
E:/ - Recovery partition (Vista HP x64 factory recovery, as the laptop came supplied)
If you run the Windows 7 system image only backup and do all your HDD's and partitions can you restore individual files from that image?
Or do you have to do the data backup of all drives and tick the system image tickbox as well and then still you can only pick from the files you chose to be backed up from under the data backup?
If you understand that.
Basically can i back it all up and choose what i want to re-install upon recovery eg booting from the Windows 7 DVD and choosing repair?
Also i have a netbook with Windows 7 Ultimate RC installed, trying to back up to my laptop over the network it still asks for a username and password when setting it up (OK box is greyed out otherwise) but i dont have a username or pw (single user so didnt input a pw). what do you do in this case?
When a link is launched from IE9 and needs to open in a different application, then a couple of security questions are presented before launching it for the first time. How can I reset these questions? (the selection made) Preferably, just for that type of link. Or alternatively, for all such questions.
View 2 Replies View RelatedI currently have an old P4 running 32-bit Windows 7 RC. I don’t think I can put 64-bit on that machine, but I am considering 64-bit on the retail version when it is released in October. I tested about thirty 32-bit shareware and freeware applications on 32-bit Windows 7 RC and they all work well. My questions concern 32-bit drivers and unsigned 32-bit and 64-bit drivers on Windows 7 64-bit retail.
I have seen references to a BCedit command. I ran Bcdedit /set Bcdedit nointegritychecks ON on my Vista SP2 machine and it ran successfully. I have not tested what it will let me do as I now have no Vista driver issues. Here are my questions:
Which of these is the correct command to disable the signature check on Windows 7 RC?
bcdedit /set loadoptions DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
bcedit –SET TESTSIGN NO
Is there any reason to use the correct command rather than using F8 during the boot process?
Does the correct command work for both unsigned 32-bit and unsigned 64-bit drivers on a 64-bit Windows 7 system?
Is the correct command useful on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 for driver signing issues generally?
I assume the command works for only 1 boot cycle. Given that, is there any reason to run a command to re-enable the driver signing check if one reboots again after the driver installation?
Is there any other solution other than third party software, which I would prefer to avoid as I don’t expect to run into a driver issue frequently?
What is a decent estimate of how many of my 32-bit applications that work well on 32-bit Vista SP2 will install and work well on 64-bit Windows 7 retail, assuming I use the correct command to disable the signature check?
i was really hesitant since XP worked what i at least THOUGHT was well. But Windows 7 is so much quicker and seamless. Anyways, 1st question is on XP i would drag a shortcut to the taskbar and it would then be usable and work as the original shortcut did. With windows 7 it doesn't wok.
For example, i have a text file that i keep on another drive and i put a shortcut to it on my taskbar. In XP i'd click it and the file would pop up as you'd expect. On windows 7 if i drag that text file to the taskbar, when i click the resulting shortcut instead of the file i just get a new empty notepad.
If i right click it (i THINK it was by R/clicking) then a list of various notepad files i've viewed pops up and i can choose it from there. But i just want it to be a shortcut to the particular txt file. Is there a way? second, i see shortcuts don't have the file's pathway or "address" if you will in them. I miss that for a number of reasons such as being able to tell where the file it's pointing to is, or adding switches in the target line etc etc. Is there a way to make them show the pathway?
My 350 gig HD has 7 partitions. C: is Vista (186 GB) D: (87GB) is HP factory image. The others have most of my programs, files, photos, etc. I have avoided installing most of the larger important programs on C: and they are on other partitions. I plan a clean install of 7 upgrade on C: (also considering 64 bit as my comp qualifies). By "clean" I assume that you and I both mean that partition C: has been formatted prior to inserting the 7 DVD to begin installation.
First, am I correct with this assumption? Second, if only C: is going to be affected by the formatting and installation of 7 is there any mandatory reason to backup all of my programs and files that reside on the other partitions? (other than just being prudent, that is). Also, how much can I reduce the size of C:, as it currently has 132GB free? I also intend to empty D: when this is over.
1) I currently am running Vista on a laptop on which it is the only OS. I want to install 7 on a second partition for dual boot. However, to keep things tidy, I would like to make Windows 7 Drive C: (which currently contains Vista). Is there a way to image the hard drive then reload it onto drive D: after I install 7 on C:?
2) I guess my other option is to install 7 on the formatted HD, then create a D: partition to run the Vista recovery disks on at least that would restore my drivers, etc. But I really wanted to keep my current configuration around for those programs that are slow to catch on to the new OS. (Or do I even have to worry about this?)
3) If all this dual boot stuff is too complicated or if I really don't need to worry about the driver/software compatibility, I might just do away with that idea and clean install it on the C: drive and forget about Vista. (reluctant to do so since I rely on this computer for school). I will be keeping my C: drive image that I took yesterday so taht I can recover to Vista if need be.
Edt: 4) I just had anther thought. If I install Win 7 clean could I then take my Vista hard drive image and make it into a VHD? that would pretty much solve all my troubles I think. Unless I would need to reinstall Vista onto the VHD.
Computer posts, then checks hard disk RAID status (Healthy), then a white blinking cursor appears on upper left corner on black screen, and hangs there forever, UNLESS i put in a Windows bootable CD, then based on my boot priority order (CD ROM, HD) it reads the CD, then it displays "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD...", for which i don't press anything, and the computer proceeds to boot Win 7 OS correctly. So basically it doesn't boot unless i just have a bootable CD in tray.
View 3 Replies View RelatedThe problem is minor and it's just a bit of an annoyance I've been dealing with from time to time.[CODE]Basically, If I were to I put my computer to sleep(using the sleep function, not hibernate) and try to wake it up within a few seconds, the computer would go into an automatic reboot loop that would continue to boot, shut down, boot, shut down until I turn off the PSU completely. I'm trying to figure out which component might be causing this problem, if any. I've updated my bios, drivers, and ran memtest but nothing seemed out of the ordinary and it didn't fix the problem.
View 2 Replies View RelatedI've done a search for issue and found none. I have a 2 Terabyte Seagate USB drive.When I try to boot with this USB drive connected to computer the POST hangs. Once I remove the USB drive the system boots as normal. My system also has a USB RF Transceiver for the keyboard and mouse. It causes no problem though just the drive.
View 9 Replies View RelatedI have what may be an unusual question. How do I post a plain text-only page up on the internet? An example of what I want is url...There's no html on this page. Only plain text.I tried to do this on Google Sites using the "Add Files" feature, but when I go to the link it goes right to a "download file" dialog box which is not what I want. url...
View 3 Replies View RelatedSeems to be Deadand now other other HP desktop (with the identical motherboard) is now failing as well. This one is a pc6000, and all I ever get is the screen that displayes the BIOS, processor, CPU speed and the 4 memory banks. So far, so good.Then it says Initializing USB controllers.DoneThen several blank lines before it says Press <F10> to enter SetupThen nothing... although sometimes after the 'Done' line it says 1st Drive: None2nd Drive: None3rd Drive: None4th Drive: None00 USB mass storage devices found and configuredbefire going to a new screen where it sayseboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot media in selected Boot device and press a keyPressing any key just redisplays the msg.What could possible be going on with these 2 nearly identical HP desktops with the same mobo?
View 9 Replies View RelatedUsually POST screen would show up first with a laptop company logo, but now Windows 7 startup appears first instead. Then, the Windows 7 startup screen freezes immediately. What's the problem? Motherboard or corrupted BIOS?
View 9 Replies View RelatedI found this document to be quite interesting:Install Windows 7 FAST without a DVD or USB device[2]=General Tips..Now when you get a computer from Dell, HP, ect. they have prepared a factor key combination to acess the recovery partition to start it up.Is there a way to make your own key combination during post? For instance, what if you make the perfect image...having it on a disk partiton is so much faster than a usb disk or even a dvd.
View 2 Replies View RelatedI am trying to reinstall XP (I dont think OS matters) on my computer, but I dont have my disk with me. no one else seems to have it either. fortunately, I had copied my disk onto my hard drive a long time ago, and have an empty flash drive, so I copied the files onto the flash drive and tried to get it to run for me. My computer said boot error. How do I get it running? I really need to wipe my computer.
View 9 Replies View RelatedI installed Virtual xp by folling all steps in the document [URL]however, in 7th step i.e. open and run windows xp mode..when i click on start-> program -> windows virtual pc i am not getting sub menu consisting windows virtual pc and windows xp mode.instead i m getting explor window showing desktop.ini file.
View 1 Replies View RelatedFor starters this is not my computer, I'm attempting to fix a friend of mines laptop. I have no idea what he was doing prior to this meltdown but the computer will no longer boot so far as to get to the windows login screen. I have tried booting in safe mode on all different settings but after the bios readout it just goes to a black screen with the pointer (same as reg boot).
View 8 Replies View RelatedI cannot due to the fact I cannot access anything except the f8, f10/alt, f2 and f12 screens which no matter which selection I attempt I end up back to this dreadful blue screen and errror message. I am posting from a nearby desktop computer with hopes you will be able to guide me in using either my Windows operating system reinstallation disc, or a boot/repair disc I have with restore tools included.I have changed the boot order a few different ways, with no luck. I have tried windows debugging and every other option in the f8 menu, with no luck. I have tried the f12 selections, with no luck.As I've learned, the PC is a Gateway NV59C with 4GB DDR3Mem, 320 GB HHD, Intel HD graphics, Intel Core i3-330MHD with Windows 7 and 64bit.
View 9 Replies View RelatedI have on my laptop (a thinkpad, from Lenovo) Windows 7 Professional, obtained via something called "MSDN Alliance" and my university. A few weeks ago, I finally had the opportunity to upgrade my hard drive. Thus, I placed the new disk in a USB case, plugged it in via USB, and performed a disk clone via a software from a company called EASUS. I then removed the old disk, placed the new one in its location (that is, inside the laptop), and removed the USB equipment. Good as new, I though. And everything appears to be working fine -- except the "nag screen" that seemingly randomly pops up out of nowhere and tells me that I am using a (I don't recall the text exactly at this moment) less that legal/legitimate installation of Windows. I can check if Windows has been activated -- and it has (of course, I did this after having installed it) (i.e., on the "old" disk), I have tried searching for solutions, however I only find issues when similar clonings have changed the drive letters.
View 9 Replies View RelatedI recently attempted an install of Windows 7 onto a friends PC. The specs are listed below. Here is a link to a screenshot of the problem www.ronnarozny.com.
This occurs after a Windows 7 install. The system boots to the Windows 7 setup, where personal options are selected. After this, a reboot will begin the POST, and prior to completion, this screen appears. I do not believe the POST has finished, and I do not think it is handing boot duties to the OS.
What I have attempted so far is:
Memtest - checked out ok.
Replaced CORSAIR mem with other sticks.
Reformat from command prompt on boot disk.
Removal of all hardware, including video card.
I am completely stumped on this issue, and any help would be appreciated.
