Thinking About Upgrading

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  1. Posts : 396
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       #1

    Thinking About Upgrading


    First up, nice forum you guys have here. Looks good and has plenty of good info.

    But anyway, next week I start university and I might be getting Windows 7 through MSDNAA for free. Now, I have a laptop that is currently running a 32bit version of Vista premium edition which runs everything I need well enough except I really want Windows 7 for the extra performance and since it's going to be free. Also, I'm wanting to 64bit version too just to be clear.

    But before I dive in and upgrade to it I have several questions I'm hoping some people here can help me with. These being:

    1. Is it worth upgrading to interms of how stable and how many programs work on it without any problems.

    I'm doing web development and so the following programs will be used on a daily basis.

    MS Visual Professional 2008
    Microsoft Expression 3
    Microsoft Office 2007
    Adobe Photoshop, flash, dreamweaver, fireworks etc
    Bullguard Anti-virus software
    Audacity
    Sony Sound forge


    2. I take it I'll still be able to download all the Acer programs that came with my laptop from their site. Just wondering if anyone else here has upgraded their laptop and to download all the pre-installed programs again.

    3. How do games run on Windows 7? Mainly Steam games like CSS, TF2, DoD:S and Battlefield 2.

    4. Will it be possible to upgrade the W7 without having to format my HDD which will probably save me having to download and hunt for all my DVD with my files on them.

    5. I take it the battery life on laptops is increased in Windows 7 when compared to Windows Vista?

    6. Can I still revert back to Vista should I need to for what ever reason?



    I'll probably have more questions later but these are my primary concerns. Cheers.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 75
    Mac OS X / Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
       #2

    QuackPot said:
    First up, nice forum you guys have here. Looks good and has plenty of good info.

    But anyway, next week I start university and I might be getting Windows 7 through MSDNAA for free. Now, I have a laptop that is currently running a 32bit version of Vista premium edition which runs everything I need well enough except I really want Windows 7 for the extra performance and since it's going to be free.

    But before I dive in and upgrade to it I have several questions I'm hoping some people here can help me with. These being:

    1. Is it worth upgrading to interms of how stable and how many programs work on it without any problems.

    I'm doing web development and so the following programs will be used on a daily basis.

    MS Visual Professional 2008
    Microsoft Expression 3
    Microsoft Office 2007
    Adobe Photoshop, flash, dreamweaver, fireworks etc
    Bullguard Anti-virus software
    Audacity
    Sony Sound forge


    2. I take it I'll still be able to download all the Acer programs that came with my laptop from their site. Just wondering if anyone else here has upgraded their laptop and to download all the pre-installed programs again.

    3. How do games run on Windows 7? Mainly Steam games like CSS, TF2, DoD:S and Battlefield 2.

    4. Will it be possible to upgrade the W7 without having to format my HDD which will probably save me having to download and hunt for all my DVD with my files on them.

    5. I take it the battery life on laptops is increased in Windows 7 when compared to Windows Vista?

    6. Can I still revert back to Vista should I need to for what ever reason?



    I'll probably have more questions later but these are my primary concerns. Cheers.
    I would run the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser first to check on your programs.

    1. Most definitely, it's so stable and so much faster, you'll be so glad you did.

    2. Of course you will.

    3. That I don't know but I would imagine better if there is support for them yet, but don't worry there will be next month.

    4. You can do an upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium, any other version would require a clean install. Like 32-bit Vista Home Premium, to 64-bit 7 Home Premium. I however recommend no matter what install you do, that you do a CLEAN INSTALL!

    5. Yes, it does improve battery life.

    6. Of course you can but trust me YOU WON'T EVER NEED TO.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 396
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    MattMJB0188 said:
    QuackPot said:
    First up, nice forum you guys have here. Looks good and has plenty of good info.

    But anyway, next week I start university and I might be getting Windows 7 through MSDNAA for free. Now, I have a laptop that is currently running a 32bit version of Vista premium edition which runs everything I need well enough except I really want Windows 7 for the extra performance and since it's going to be free.

    But before I dive in and upgrade to it I have several questions I'm hoping some people here can help me with. These being:

    1. Is it worth upgrading to interms of how stable and how many programs work on it without any problems.

    I'm doing web development and so the following programs will be used on a daily basis.

    MS Visual Professional 2008
    Microsoft Expression 3
    Microsoft Office 2007
    Adobe Photoshop, flash, dreamweaver, fireworks etc
    Bullguard Anti-virus software
    Audacity
    Sony Sound forge


    2. I take it I'll still be able to download all the Acer programs that came with my laptop from their site. Just wondering if anyone else here has upgraded their laptop and to download all the pre-installed programs again.

    3. How do games run on Windows 7? Mainly Steam games like CSS, TF2, DoD:S and Battlefield 2.

    4. Will it be possible to upgrade the W7 without having to format my HDD which will probably save me having to download and hunt for all my DVD with my files on them.

    5. I take it the battery life on laptops is increased in Windows 7 when compared to Windows Vista?

    6. Can I still revert back to Vista should I need to for what ever reason?



    I'll probably have more questions later but these are my primary concerns. Cheers.
    I would run the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser first to check on your programs.

    1. Most definitely, it's so stable and so much faster, you'll be so glad you did.

    2. Of course you will.

    3. That I don't know but I would imagine better if there is support for them yet, but don't worry there will be next month.

    4. You can do an upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium, any other version would require a clean install. Like 32-bit Vista Home Premium, to 64-bit 7 Home Premium. I however recommend no matter what install you do, that you do a CLEAN INSTALL!

    5. Yes, it does improve battery life.

    6. Of course you can but trust me YOU WON'T EVER NEED TO.
    Cool, thanks.

    Also about the product keys. Can they only work once on one machine. Like if I have to format my HDD can I still use the same key? Or if I swtich back to vista, then install windows 7 again will it be good to use? Just that I know some of the dreamspark software I use is real tight when it comes to where, when and how many times you install it.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 11,840
    64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro
       #4

    I believe the key does not expire...
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 75
    Mac OS X / Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
       #5

    Yes only one product key will work on one machine. Whatever key comes with the 7 upgrade you can use as many times and it will not interfere with the Vista one or your hard drive. If you need to install vista again you can use the win 7 upgrade disc as many times as you want.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 5,795
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #6

    They key you get with Windows 7 would continue to work. That would get quite costly if you had to buy a new license each time you reinstalled, wouldn't it?
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 396
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    DeaconFrost said:
    They key you get with Windows 7 would continue to work. That would get quite costly if you had to buy a new license each time you reinstalled, wouldn't it?
    It's the fact that it's free that MS might have attached some strings to it.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 5,795
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #8

    QuackPot said:
    It's the fact that it's free that MS might have attached some strings to it.
    Check out what the MSDNAA license are about. You may not be paying for it now, but considering your school paid Microsoft for the MSDNAA access, and you are paying tuition to attend that school...you might want to reconsider when you call it free.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 49
    Windows 7 RC 7100 x64
       #9

    DeaconFrost said:
    QuackPot said:
    It's the fact that it's free that MS might have attached some strings to it.
    Check out what the MSDNAA license are about. You may not be paying for it now, but considering your school paid Microsoft for the MSDNAA access, and you are paying tuition to attend that school...you might want to reconsider when you call it free.
    Geez, ruining the guy's delusion that its free.... how dare you... poor guy...
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 1,011
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 (Retail)
       #10

    May not apply to you but I just thought I'd mention that as hard drives are so cheap these days, I think it's worth considering keeping a recent backup clone of your hard drive after you get it all installed and set up (or you could just do a compressed back up image. I do both, but I like clones better.) Anyway, if you do that, you can always just pop in a recent cloned drive of your installation and then you can avoid reinstalling or reactivating, assuming the clone is going into the same machine that the clone was made from.
      My Computer


 
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