Planning to Switch from XP to W7...a few questions

Welcome sblev99 to SF. You'll only need one copy of W7 and when I got my first copy I went for W7 Ultimate but in reality it's overkill in most instances. I've settled on W7 Home edition but maybe for you the sweet spot would be W7 Professional.

This one copy will likely be a OEM version and it's registered to the mobo but if you have issues with the mobo and it needs to be replaced you can call and explain this to MS, should have no issues as it's done all the time. If you have a system crash or virus or malware attack and need to re-install the OS you will only need that original disc and product key.

Your existing software should have no problems and in fact once you get the hang of the new W7 OS you'll love how it looks and functions. I would look to installing W7 and all your software on a SSD and suggest min. 128gb to 256 gb and look to a Samsung, Intel or Crucial SSD you'll thank me later. Then use your three HDD's for your data and back plans.

Your spec's show 32 bit XP and that is old school so make sure you go 64 bit W7 and for sure max your ram with as much as the mobo can handle. Go for minimum 16gb matching sticks and get at least 1600 Mhz. or as high as the mobo can handle and you can afford. Your Photoshop will totally love the SSD and maxed ram.....huge improvements.

Your hardware is 32 bit, so you won't get the memory advantage from Win7 x64
Your hardware is 64 bit, so you will get the memory advantage from Win7 x64
Memory Limits for Windows Releases (Windows)

linnemeyerhere and King Arthur give some good advice - the XP mode might be something you'd be interestedin (it might also be a crutch )

Home Prem or Pro x64 x32 retail version - it might be a cost basis decision.

edit: Derek makes a good point on the retail version......

I haven't seen a W7 retail copy offered for some time, it all seems to be OEM. If someone can source retail copies please let us know.

I believe LadyFitzgerald had a link post on her profile,
But it isn't cheap
You can most likely get three oem's for the same price,
Cheers.

The guide I read mentioned something about having to buy a new installation of the OS if my system crashes so badly that it can't be restored. Is that true?

This is BS. What you do is make frequent images - e.g. to one of the other drives.

Imaging with free Macrium

Also,since I have 3 drives would I have to buy 3 separate installations? Is there an option for multi-drive systems? I saw a reference to a "Family Group" feature. What's that?

Why would you want an OS on each drive. That sounds like an overkill.

I regularly use Photoshop, Corel Paint, and Manga Studio to do my work and the files are usually around 15 to 35 megabytes in size. The one I'm working on right now is almost a full Gigabyte! What are the chances I'll need to purchase new versions of those programs?

Those files are not really very large. I don't see the relevance of the filesize to the program versions. Check whether the product keys for the XP versions of these programs are valid for the Win 7 versions. It could be that you need new product keys - meaning you might have to buy the one or the other program again. But that is very program specific.

What you might need is bigger disks. But those are inexpensive these days. You can get 1TB for $60 (on sale at Newegg).

Why retail. I have never bought a retail license in my whole life and never saw a disadvantage in that. Newegg had OEM versions for $80 - hard to beat.

You might consider Win8.1 (only $10 more)
Operating Systems | B&H Photo Video

You'll have to check your hardware for either Win7 or Win8.

You should do your own research on Win8 before deciding. BH photo has both Win7 and Win8, they're fair priced and might have any hardware components needs for either upgrade.

That's all I have... good luck with the upgrade.

Bill
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