Windows 7 - Nightmare with Vista to 7 "easy upgrade".

I recently purchased an upgrade CD. WHAT A NIGHTMARE.

I used the "easy upgrade" option as I know little about computers. Everything went fine until it was done. Some of my issues:

1) The keyboard isn't right - the keys aren't in the right places. It's set to UK but seem to shunt me to the end/middle of lines etc when typing and erase whole lines/sections at random.
2) It's put all my old stuff in a "windows old" folder and doesn't recognise any programs at all. All shortcuts have disappeared, desktop icons etc. The control panel > programs list is empty, the start menu > all programs is limited (accessories, games etc). Even my graphics/sound card and trackpad etc programs aren't there though laptop seems to be running okay.
3) It isn't showing user accounts on the welcome screen, it defaults to my account even though it allows me to switch to others using the "switch user" button.

My laptop was perfect before and a year of getting it just right is wasted. I want to cry. Any help would be so appreciated!

Hey

I'm sorry to hear that Unfortunately when using computers one must take in the fact that there are always risks involved !

Anyway I wish everyone could know this little tip but I'll say it now :

"As a rule of thumb it is always BEST to install a clean installation of an Operating System"

Also backing up is extremely vital as well and should always be undertaken before upgrading anything.

Even though MS provides the option of "in place" upgrade, which I don't know why, one should never do an upgrade and rather a clean installation.

- Backup all your files and data
- Format the HDD
- Install a Fresh clean copy of Windows
- Restore your files and install all your programs and software !

Voila ! It takes more time, yes however in the end it's the best way to go. It will save you 99.9% of problems and frustration.

Anyway just a thought for the future.

If I we're you, I would just salvage whatever data I can keep, I would back anything left that's important. Then I would format the hard drive and install a FRESH clean copy of Windows.


Here, this is what you should have done :
Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

lol anyways I hope all will be well nevertheless. Live and learn eh ?


Cheers


JordanJP

To be honest it hasn't deleted anything important, it's kept all our documents etc (I backed those up anyway) it's all the sound and video drivers/vital software etc i'm worried about. Will it have touched those? I'm very concerned that there's NO programs in the control panel "uninstall programs" list. Not even ATI/Realtek stuff.

Edit: I'm in the process of reinstalling programs - would i be better just reformatting and deleting the "windows old" folder?

The Upgrade CD is exactly the same as the Full Install disc, content-wise. Follow this guide to do a clean install using your Upgrade disc:

Clean Install Windows 7 With Upgrade Media and Product Key on Formatted or Empty Blank Hard Drive My Digital Life

Well...

I double backed up all our stuff today, formatted and did a clean install of Windows 7. It was still awful, keyboard issues, doesn't recognise the CD/DVD drive, won't show user profiles on the welcome screen, can't get the sidebar to open at all, the list goes on and on and on and i keep finding more.

Tonight I got fed up and used the laptop recovery CD to reinstall Vista. Which is running perfectly as it always has for me. My experience of Windows 7 was brief and traumatic. At least I had the good sense to backup first!

You should have used your Vista drivers on 7. They work fine.

if you would like to tell us what make and model your laptop is, we will be able to help you install Windows 7 in a less traumatic way

laura2001,

Did you rum the Microsoft compatability to see if all your hardware would work with Windows 7 ? Windows 7 Compatibility Center home

There is no sidebar in Windows 7. Right click desktop, select Gadgets and drag them off menu to where you want them and they will not bother you again.

If you only have set up one User Account without password then it conveniently starts to Desktop. Set up other User Accounts and/or Password in the Control Panel.

If you are missing Drivers in Device Manager, you can find them on the Support Downloads webpage for your computer model, or by browsing from Device>Driver tab>Update driver to windows.old>windows/system32/drivers or driverstore.

Hi all thanks for the responses,

The laptop is a Samsung R720.

Yes I ran the compatability centre and it was all compatible. Given the laptop came with a voucher for a Samsung Windows 7 Update CD I would hope this was the case anyway.

I can't even find the CD/DVD drive in the device manager to update the drivers, nor can I find them on my support/downloads website. The drivers folder in the "windows old" folder means nothing to me, here's hundreds of files and I don't know which one is the CD/DVD driver. All other hardware seems to be working okay (except the keyboard).

The user accounts both have passwords but when I started up only mine showed on the welcome screen, even though my other half's showed under the user accounts on the control panel and I could "switch user" to his.

Thanks for solving the sidebar issue!

Laura

Edit: The E:/ drive did appear briefly on the "my computer" screen but when i clicked it i got an error saying it wasn't available, please check it's connected properly etc.