Just saw a super-duper-deal - Windows 7 Family Pack Upgrade for 3 PCs - $99 and free shipping. I so want to do this . . .
Windows 7 Upgrade
- Thread starter The Wizard Of OZ
- Start date
It's from Buy.com I think they're a pretty reliable source. This is a legit deal. I saw the same thing at Staples, but for $129. I like $99 a lot better. Although I only have one PC right now to upgrade.
Bear in mind, that Win 7 upgrades work differently, based upon the OS you are upgrading from...
Vista to Win 7 is pretty straightforward -- XP to Win 7, is not so straightforward. Many folks that are not familiar (computer literate), have had problems doing the upgrade...
I always buy the retail, full version copies myself, when I have to (I have an Enterprise license, but because of my contracts, I can't legally use them on machines I'm not using for development on those contracts). The full retail versions are transferable to different machines, and are not dependent on an existing OS being installed (which may be an OEM copy).
I'm updating from Vista Home Premium which came on my laptop when I bought it from Dell. I have a cloned drive just in case anything goes wrong and every Sunday Acronis makes an incremental backup on my drive in the second drive bay. I wish I had one or two more machines to upgrade . . .
You shouldn't have any problems Wiz.
Whatever you do, don't change you logon userid.
Those virtual folders in Windows, like My Documents, My Music, My Videos, etc. -- all depend on the user id. I've fielded about 10 calls in the last month, where people have upgraded and changed their user id -- all their data was gone! Recoverable if you know what yer doing, but not for them.
Back up your important stuff to a REAL folder, before you do the upgrades.
Well, since I'm the onliest one that uses this PC I don't have a login or user ID or??? I dunno?
That Acronis cloning program has saved my ass on more than one occasion. I will buy it again when I get my new laptop 6 months or a year from now. For me it's worth having a second cloned drive waiting in the wings just in case the C: Drive takes a crap.
That Acronis cloning program has saved my ass on more than one occasion. I will buy it again when I get my new laptop 6 months or a year from now. For me it's worth having a second cloned drive waiting in the wings just in case the C: Drive takes a crap.
The upgrade process was painless from Vista to 7. I backed up all my folders manually to an external but tried the upgrade process just to test it out. Painless. I still formatted and did a fresh install though.
FWIW, I always buy the OEM version. Which is quite a bit cheaper than the full boxed retail because it's locked to one computer.
FWIW, I always buy the OEM version. Which is quite a bit cheaper than the full boxed retail because it's locked to one computer.
What a complicated world. So many twists and turns. No wonder so many people just buy an off the shelf PC and then in a couple of years they give it as a hand-me-down to the kids or to grandpa and go in to the store and buy a new one. Much simpler. Trying to save a few shillings can make things complicated too. Ughhhhh . . .
I got the fam pack and it did a clean install - and was happy about it. Got the system where I liked it and then made an image. Then activated and life is good.
Took image and installed on backup rig - then activated. So far so good. I get a 3rd install left....
Took image and installed on backup rig - then activated. So far so good. I get a 3rd install left....
So how does one go about doing a clean install?
I was considering getting a fresh Western Digital Scorpio Black 7200 rpm drive to try to speed up this old laptop a bit and if I can do a clean install using the upgrade disc that might be a better way to go. Even though I'll have to reinstall all my programs I'd be willing to do that if I could improve performance and ward off potential problems with the operating system that could crop up by not doing a fresh, clean Windows 7 installation.
I was considering getting a fresh Western Digital Scorpio Black 7200 rpm drive to try to speed up this old laptop a bit and if I can do a clean install using the upgrade disc that might be a better way to go. Even though I'll have to reinstall all my programs I'd be willing to do that if I could improve performance and ward off potential problems with the operating system that could crop up by not doing a fresh, clean Windows 7 installation.
Using an upgrade disc to do a clean install can be done, but it can be tricky...
There are a couple ways to do it, so Google "win 7 upgrade clean install" without the quote marks -- you will find numerous tutorials -- happy reading...
DjDennis
RIP- My Dad (2011), Sister (2013) and Mum (2017)
i now use 2x hard drives
one for the os and one for anything created....
so i dont lose anything - works for over 300x clients so far!
one for the os and one for anything created....
so i dont lose anything - works for over 300x clients so far!
The old adage "if you snooze you lose" has reared it's head at me. The deal at Buy . com has gone up to $112.99. I searched around and lo and behold, my old go-to, amazon has it for $99.99. I hate to pay more than I have to, even $12.99 more. I hate the idea of spending $100 on an old PC, but Vista has been acting squirrely again so It's time to plunk down a Benjamin and be done with it. In the scheme of things $100 is worth not having my machine crash as vista slowly goes through it's death throes . . .
Quick fix Wiz...?
I have Vista machines running flawlessly here, years later. Win 7, is simply Vista re-packaged, and renamed for the most part. Yeah, some diffs in the GUI, but essentially the same core.
If you keep running into problems, I would look at what yer doing to these machines, instead of just waxing them when trouble comes along, and starting over each time...
If you install the same stuff onto Win 7, that is causing you grief on Vista -- yer still gonna have grief -- just updated grief...
Wiz from one cheap bastid to another: I didn't have many beefs with Vista other than UAC constantly getting in my way and somewhat sluggish performance. I still spent ~$230 to upgrade both my desktop and laptop to Windows 7. I ran W7's beta's and RC and knew I wanted to get my mitts on the final product. It's was the first time I ever upgraded my OS without buying a new computer. My computer runs smoother and faster with W7, not to mention the little tweaks here and there that made it worth the upgrade just for improvements in work flow.
I'd jump on 3 licenses for $100.
I think there may be more to it than that Danno...
If Vista keeps gettin "squirrely ", more than likely he's got issues with some software installed. I don't see that an update in the OS is gonna change that. I think he needs to figure out what the issue is first, although I agree that moving to 7 is a good thing.
BTW, I turned off UAC immediately on Vista and Win 7 -- I have no need for it, as I'm the only one that uses my machines. I get no popups on either (other than what I want) -- they run smooth as silk...