redwake wrote: what do i get running windows 7 over xp? (i currently run niether i'm using linux).
for christmas my wife and kids are problably going to get some gifts that require a Windows OS from me so i need to get windows running on our primary home computer. i see 3 options
if i call microsoft they want $75 to talk about my licensing problem (restore cd won't accept the license stuck on the side of the HP computer).
buy a new copy of XP home full $95
buy windows 7 home full $170
is it worth the money comparing xp to 7 not linux to 7 or linux to xp.
More options:
Buy new computers with Win 7 installed.
Thats' what I did with two of our three computers we use. Bought a dual processor Compaq 4 GB ram and 500 GB HD with a DVD burner for $299.99 about two weeks ago (wish I'd have bought two at that price!!). Bought a new dual processor laptop today to replace my 5 year old 17" unit.
Now I have tow Win 7 upgrades to sell to a friend. I preordered them froom Costco for about $54 each after tax and shipping so I got a really good deal on them. Friend has a pistol I want so maybe a trade is in the offing.
If you're satisfied with XP I don't see a real pressing need to buy a new version. It does offer some features that XP doesn't but not enough to justify the paying the full price unless you buy the 3 pack ($150)they're offering for a short time.
I am plenty happy with my four machines on XP and plan to stay with it for a while. If I need to move to 7 I would get a new machine with it preinstalled rather than going through all the hoopla to upgrade.
For the XP users out there, there is no "upgrade" to Win7. M$ calls it a "migration" as you can't do an in-place upgrade. You do a fresh install, install all your apps, and then Win7 will migrate your documents, settings, and some registry info for your apps but it won't copy the actual apps.
A tip for "full" vs "upgrade", you can do a clean install of Vista or Win7 using the upgrade DVD and key. The basic process is install Vista/Win7, don't enter the key or activate, let the install finish so your PC is up and running, then upgrade your fresh install to the same version using the same DVD. Once this "upgrade" is done you can activate using the upgrade key and you're all set.
Win7 has much better hardware support than Vista, uses less memory, and is generally faster/snappier than Vista. If Win XP does everything you want then there's no reason to upgrade, but having gone XP -> Vista -> Win7 I can tell you Win7 is everything Vista should've been and, for me, works as well as I can remember XP working if not better.
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Yahooligan wrote: For the XP users out there, there is no "upgrade" to Win7. M$ calls it a "migration" as you can't do an in-place upgrade. You do a fresh install, install all your apps, and then Win7 will migrate your documents, settings, and some registry info for your apps but it won't copy the actual apps.
Would someone please explain to me how this is different from buying a new machine with Win 7 on it? You still need to migrate your data and reinstall all of your apps no?
Dave
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Some other options for the OP. You could also buy that new hard disk you are wanting (or other hardware) and get an OEM version of Windows 7 or XP.
If you have a smaller monitor, one disadvantage of using Windows 7 (and Vista) is that everything uses more screen real estate than Windows XP. So, I will probably keep XP on my laptop. The main things that I like about Windows 7 instead of XP is that you can right click to add a new folder. And when copying and deleting a large number of files, when you get an error, you can skip the error and continue. Other than that, it doesn't matter too much as long as you have drivers.
My home computer has been upgraded from XP to Vista to 7 (64 bit). At work I use Vista, 7, Linux, and even VMS.
For my home computer upgrade, I used Laplink's Windows 7 upgrade product since I was also going to 64 bit. http://www.laplink.com/media/press_releases/pressreleases_0031.html. It worked pretty well, but not perfectly, mostly because of the different program files directory for 64 bit. They have a product for upgrading the same computer or for transferring programs to a new computer.
Yahooligan wrote: For the XP users out there, there is no "upgrade" to Win7. M$ calls it a "migration" as you can't do an in-place upgrade. You do a fresh install, install all your apps, and then Win7 will migrate your documents, settings, and some registry info for your apps but it won't copy the actual apps.
Would someone please explain to me how this is different from buying a new machine with Win 7 on it? You still need to migrate your data and reinstall all of your apps no?
Dave
That's correct, the only difference here is that Win7 installs to the same drive as your XP install so the migration is faster and you still have access to anything that didn't get copied as part of the migration. With a new PC you have to do the migration either over your network or via a USB sync cable. Whichever the case, the process uses the same "Windows Easy Transfer" tool.
You can upgrade from XP to W7 if you borrow a Vista disk first, do an upgrade to Vista but don't activate it, then do the upgrade to W7. Just make sure the versions are compatible based on the upgrade chart mentioned in dsteinman's post
It's a long process but i just did it on one of my 3 PCs that I upgraded to W7, and didn't want to reinstall all the apps on.
lots of responses thanks.. to provide more detail this would not be an upgrade this would be a clean install i have nothing to migrate (other than documents/images etc) i'm ditching linux for an MS OS.
The CD i have been atempting to install from is an OEM CD i dont have the hp restore CD lost it durring a move... re-isntall was needed after an HD failure MS tried to tell me the license was HD specific not computer specific and i said a few choice words and hung up on them while they demanded a credit card number before continuing to speak with me.
that was almost a year ago i'm going to give them one more shot.
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The CD may not be correct for your COA. The issue is with HP, not microsoft. You will get much futher getting a restore CD from HP. HP got the licence from MS. MS doesn't have a dog in the race, just HP. OEM CD's from other vendors and upgrades will not work.
If you want to do a clean install, without the fluff from HP that can be done. You will have to get the hardware drivers from HP download and install the ones that XP doesn't get.
Two things identify the install CD you are using. The disk name that of the CD, should be WXHOEM_EN. The other is the PID. It is listed in the setupp.ini file in the I386 folder on the CD. Format is Pid=xxxxxOEM. The xxxxx futher identifies the disk.
* This post was
edited 11/10/09 03:14pm by garym114 *
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