SpeedRacer 1 #1 December 15, 2011 I want to upgrade from XP to Windows7, but Microsoft says I gotta transfer everything to an external drive, then install windows 7, then reinstall all my applications using the original discs. The problem is, for many of my apps I don't HAVE the disks. For example, when I bought my PC it already had MSOffice suite installed on it, and there were no disks. So how can I upgrade to W7 without having to reinstall everything? Speed Racer -------------------------------------------------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sacex250 0 #2 December 16, 2011 There's two ways to install W7. A clean install and an "upgrade" install. You shouldn't need to reinstall any apps if you do an upgrade.It's all been said before, no sense repeating it here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 261 #3 December 16, 2011 Wasn't the upgrade install just for Vista etc? I'm not current on this stuff. Didn't XP computers have to start from scratch, or was that only if the XP wasn't itself installed from scratch? I've got an XP PC I've never installed an OS from scratch since starting with Win 3.11. The problem for me wouldn't be simply reinstalling Office or whatever, but installing dozens and dozens of little freeware and shareware apps collected over the years -- that would be a pain to do from scratch. Plus there's the whole 32 vs 64 bit software issue. One almost wants to set up dual booting or have a 2nd computer running the old OS so that one isn't stuck without a desired program after installing W7. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Electronaut 0 #4 December 16, 2011 QuoteWasn't the upgrade install just for Vista etc? I'm not current on this stuff. Correct to keep the existing contents of the hard drive. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sacex250 0 #5 December 16, 2011 Have you tried running the Microsoft Advisor?It's all been said before, no sense repeating it here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedRacer 1 #6 December 16, 2011 QuoteThere's two ways to install W7. A clean install and an "upgrade" install. You shouldn't need to reinstall any apps if you do an upgrade. OK, I thought everyone already knew that you can't upgrade directly from XP TO w7. So, is my only choice to upgrade to Vista, and then to W7? Do I have to pay for the Vista upgrade just to get to W7? Speed Racer -------------------------------------------------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sacex250 0 #7 December 16, 2011 QuoteQuoteThere's two ways to install W7. A clean install and an "upgrade" install. You shouldn't need to reinstall any apps if you do an upgrade. OK, I thought everyone already knew that you can't upgrade directly from XP TO w7. So, is my only choice to upgrade to Vista, and then to W7? Do I have to pay for the Vista upgrade just to get to W7? That's one way to do it. Depending on what version of XP you have and what version of Vista you want to upgrade to, you can do an upgrade instead of a clean install. The extra cost might be worth it in order to save your apps, but it's up to you. Vista upgrades are still available out there for about $50-$70. Check this OutIt's all been said before, no sense repeating it here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rwieder 0 #8 December 16, 2011 I'm not really sure how big you're HD is. But buy a Lacie 500 GB external Hard Drive, copy your "C" drive & everything else you want to keep there, when you get your upgrade installed, plug you're external HD into you're new machine and pick which programs you wish to restore. Be fore warned, I just bought a new CPU w/ W7 on it, and not all of my programs are compatable with it. DOH! The XP Pro was just an upgrade to ME. -Richard- "You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theonlyski 3 #9 December 16, 2011 Quote I'm not really sure how big your HD is. But buy a Lacie 500 GB external Hard Drive, copy your "C" drive & everything else you want to keep there, when you get your upgrade installed, plug you're external HD into you're new machine and pick which programs you wish to restore. Doesn't work that way. The installers copy files/folders that you wouldn't know where to look to find, register dynamic link libraries (DLL's) not to mention the registry entries, and what if the software was only compatible with XP, sure Win7 has 'Compatibility mode' but that in itself is a whole different ball game. Quote Be fore warned, I just bought a new CPU w/ W7 on it, and not all of my programs are compatable with it. DOH! The XP Pro was just an upgrade to ME. Right click on the program, go to 'Properties', then 'Compatibility'... Check the box that says 'Run this program in compatibility mode for: ' and select one of the Windows XP flavors that it has listed (I have SP3 and SP2). Hit ok."I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890 I'm an asshole, and I approve this message Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedRacer 1 #10 December 16, 2011 After further thought, it looks like I am going to have to do a clean install. My computer is slow and has some bugs (ie, you click on a shortcut and the computer doesn't know which app to launch). I hope I can get backups for ms office. Speed Racer -------------------------------------------------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theonlyski 3 #11 December 17, 2011 Quote I hope I can get backups for ms office. If you have the CD key for it, you may be able to find someone that has the install disk and use your key... 100% legit."I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890 I'm an asshole, and I approve this message Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rwieder 0 #12 December 17, 2011 A clean install would be your best bet.-Richard- "You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,050 #13 December 17, 2011 Fuck all that... my days with that bullshit are over. I am now officially a member of the "Cloud." Save your docs and other shit and buy some gigs on Google, Skydrive, Live Mesh and/or Dropbox. Skydrive and Google docs let you use their apps (Skydrive is MS and Google docs is about MS 98ish). Just migrate everything over to one of those and get ya a little $249.00 netbook to start... or even better a tablet. I just took out the S/O's hard drive and pitched the pc's. We are SO done with that silliness. I am a member of the throw it away and get a new one crowd... no more backing up, version controls, WOOHOO!!!Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mdrejhon 8 #14 December 17, 2011 QuoteI just took out the S/O's hard drive and pitched the pc's. We are SO done with that silliness. I am a member of the throw it away and get a new one crowd... no more backing up, version controls, WOOHOO!!!The cloud recently saved my ass when my laptop was stolen (although I eventually got it back). I saved about 99.95% of my 20-year archive of data (only a few batch files and unix/bash scripts I made were missing, as they were in system folders, etc.) However, I'm not a member of the full cloud crowd -- I use a single paid Dropbox 100 gigabyte account to sync my entire digital life (excluding video) amongst all my computers. Dropbox lets me keep all my data offline and synchronizes when online, so it's a good compromise between "I want my data locally" and "I want my data on the cloud". I fall squarely in that old-school crowd where I demand my data locally, but I want my cake & eat it too. It's also great when I modify one file on one computer -- the modification is immediately copied to all my other computers over the Internet. Word document, Excel, a Visual Studio C#/C++ file, an edited html file, a dump of digital photos from my camera, etc. Once it is saved on one of my computers, it's automatically on my other computers in seconds (or minutes, if files are big). And if I accidentally delete a file permanently on one computer, I can undelete it from the cloud (Dropbox) too... One computer gets broken/stolen, I'm able to replicate all my data right back quite easily, either over the LAN or over the Internet. (Once Dropbox has a copy on the cloud, it can sync it over the LAN automatically) Or I can even just copy the files back on a thumbdrive, and let Dropbox sync any differences to the cloud (which often, is none if I make the local copy immediately) to save my time re-downloading the data. And it's Linux compatible too... To gain some application-versus-computer indepndence, I try to purchase off an app store that allow me multicomputer installs. Mac software off Mac App Store (multicomputer installs permitted), PC games off Steam (multicomputer installs permitted), Windows software a bit more tricky but I usually grab free stuff like OpenOffice (Word/Excel) & Picasa (photo albums look same on both PC/Mac) .... That way I don't worry too much about replacing/upgrading a computer and losing my apps anymore. Other times, I just attempt to install from the original disc on two computers -- such as Visual Studio, etc -- and Microsoft doesn't complain for these situations as software licenses are slowly getting more permissive to "1 user, multi computer" installs. I also like app stores because I can reinstall all my apps at one click, if I replace my computer -- very nice feature of the more mature brands of app stores. So my 100 gigabyte Dropbox account meets my needs: - My online backup program (on-the-fly realtime incremental) - My file replicator (keeps computers sync'd) - My platform equalizer (My Mac and PC documents folders are the same) - My paltform-independent time machine (roll back unwanted changes/deletes) - Fits my entire 20 years worth of computer files I've ever created (except video) - Allow me to randomly choose any laptop/PC that I own, and "know" all my data is already on it, even if I worked on a different computer the other night. - It's offline optimized. (I only need to connect briefly to let it automatically sync). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,050 #15 December 17, 2011 Thanks for sharing... I'm using drop box more as a file server and access it from each device to make any changes. Quite frankly if I'd known that purchasing gigs on Google docs was 30% that of dropnox for a year, I'd probably have done that. In either case, one has to do some gig forecating for the year. I still use my laptop with dual monitors for those days that I'm working on major projects... but the Xoom tablet does well for most everything else. The Samsung Galsxy II Skyrocket is great, although I do not like that some of the apps are proprietary and nonremovable from the phone... but they all have their 'gotchyas.' For example, I can't remove the googleailapp and replace its'location (under the bar) with the MS Hotmail appNobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #16 December 18, 2011 Forgive me but I have to ask: What is it about W7 that drives you to want to "upgrade"? Does it provide some functionality that you need? You may note that I am not one of the "gotta have the latest and greatest" crowd.My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sfzombie 3 #17 December 20, 2011 it's not having the latest and greates, that would be win 8 beta...it;s the fact that xp is ancient and not supported by ms anymore. i work as a help desk tech and wish that everyone in ameriprise would get rid of xp. the main difference is that in 7, it's not a dos based kernel anymore, dos is merely an application. with the power of computing doubling about every 18 months, it doesn't take a genius to see the problems in using an os over a decade old.http://kitswv.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
regulator 0 #18 December 21, 2011 Sorry I just saw this thread...so which version of Windows 7 are you upgrading to? If you dont have the original software it shouldnt be hard to contact the manufacturer and get replacement software. I would assume that if you are getting a new PC that most likely it would be a 64 bit version, rather than 32 bit. You can install 32 bit apps on one core of a 64 bit processor, but alternately you cannot install 64 bit applications on a 32 bit processor. I use Belarc Advisor at work and its free and Ive never had any issues with it. Simply run it and it will generate a report of all your software with its license key. And I would suggest that if you go the route of backing up everything on an external hard drive to NOT upgrade...but rather format the hard drive and wipe it from scratch...unless you specifically bought an upgrade disc. Ive had many issues associated with upgrades in the past and honestly dont trust them. If you have any problems shoot me a message and I'll help you out...below is the link for Belarc Advisor. http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
