Windows 7: Upgrade to Win 7 over Vista

I'm thinking of installing win 7 over Vista on a HP laptop. I would do it as an upgrade in order to keep all the included software, drivers etc that came with the machine. Has anyone tried this approach and what problems am I likely to encounter? If evereything goes belly up, can I then revert to vista by uninstalling win 7?

Cheers

Hi there

I do pondering the same sitation as well. I'm currently using Vista Business edition(laptop) and Vista Ultimate running on my desktop, is it advisable to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional n Ultimate respectively??

Please advise................

No, no, and NO. Whilst is indeed possible (unless moving from x86 Vista to x64 Windows 7), upgrading is NEVER the best option and can result in some Frankenstein build of Windows. Besides that, many of the drivers will have undergone many an update since you first booted up Vista (most of which you no-doubt do not have... gotta luv those OEMS's).

Best bet, dual boot for now if you can, as Windows 7 is yet to hit final release, and will give you the perfect opportunity to source out a collection of drivers. When Windows 7 hits the market, do a FRESH install (of course, copying all your files to external source) and do a manual install of drivers.

May sound like a pain, but will give the best performance and save a lot of headaches resulting from incompatibilities and driver crashes that can arise from the "upgrade" path.

And yes, UPGRADE disks can be used to perform a fresh install, so long as you have your Vista serial at hand.

Yes you can upgrade but, its never the best idea. You import any problems, bloat, and virus you have on vista. Plus the drivers are different, setting can change. In short it is possible. I know a clean install is a PITA, but worth it.

Ken

As the others have already pointed out, yes, Windows 7 will do an "in-place" upgrade, as MS calls it. This is also known as a "dirty" upgrade.... for a reason.

If problems occur down the road with a "dirty" upgrade, there will always be that nagging suspicion, "Is this a real Windows 7 problem or is it caused by some conflict left over from the Vista install?".

So yes it can be done, I have done some myself in the past (98-XP, XP-Vista) but doing it successfully requires:

a) The BIOS and Chipset need to reviewed for compatibility and updated as needed.
b) EVERY other driver must be reviewed for compatibility and updated as necessary.
c) Each and every application should be reviewed. Though you can just "let 'er rip" and discover which ones fail after the upgrade, the danger lies in that some software MUST be uninstalled BEFORE the upgrade for a successful re-install after the upgrade.
d) Before the upgrade, clean the registry, defrag the disk and backup the system IMAGE.

So yes, it can be done, but after doing all of the above it is not that much more work, and sometimes less, to do a clean install.

And you won't be left with that nagging "Is this a real Windows 7 problem or is it caused by some conflict left over from the Vista install?".

Bewarned that, and I tell my clients this, you may (will) lose some of the OEM bells and whistles apps that companies like Dell and HP include in an OEM configurations. But most of those were uneeded to begin with and often the client does not even know they were there (Dell Support, etc, etc). Also, people will have often LOST the 3rd party apps' installation CDs and license keys that came with the original PC (Roxio, PowerDVD, etc). Sometimes the Product Keys can be retrieved with apps like Belarc Advisor, etc. But the OEM installation CD is still needed.

So, in short...... I suggest you do a clean install. It takes a lot of work to ensure a successfull dirty upgrade.

Personally, I am anticipating an abundance of new clients/work in the near future from Windows 7 Upgrades. The smarter (unskilled) users will come to me for help before they do the upgrade. The others will come to me for help after they do the upgrade. I charge the same rate either way....

thanks for the lovely replies................

looks like I have to do a new installation compared to upgrade. I was wondering, wouldn't it be better if I simply get a new harddisk and replace the existing one so that I don't have to lose the previous license key and I can use it as an external drive as a backup since the harddisk cost is very minimum.............any advise on this?

It is always advisable to have a backup on a second HDD, internal or external. JMO. It is also inexpensive to do so at today's HDD prices.

P.S. Regarding laptops: One app/driver laptops have/need that desktops do not is the one that drives the laptop's keyboard functions (screen brightness, etc) . This is almost always an OEM provided app. Best check for its availability, compatibility and, if applicable, whether it is available in 32 bit.

The OEM install (including licence key) is tucked away on a hidden secure partition, so install a fresh OS won't touch it unless you specifically remove/format the partition. And have hear ppl (with Dell at least) in removing original HDD then trying to reinstall at a later point - will sometime activate a "locking" feature.

thanks for the lovely assistances.............great appreciated!!

question about drivers, once i get windows 7 shipped in, im doing a clean install, and so, i need to know if i need to just back-up my existing drivers or if i just need to download ones off the internet.