HP windows 7 upgrade program

[QUOTE=ThumperSD;361150]Win7 will work fine on your laptop. I suggest a clean install. Here are the instructions:
1. Pop in the HP Win7 Upgrade Advisor and follow instructions
It will direct you to use the Win7 upgrade assistant which may ask you to uninstall some programs before upgrading to Win7. It will also ask you to upgrade your Windows Vista. You will also be directed to back up all of your data. There is 1 more step HP advisor asks you to do, i forgot what it was.
2. Pop in the Win7 disk, restart, and boot from the disk.
Here you will be asked if you want to do an upgrade or a custom install. If you want to do a clean install, then select custom.
3. Wait while it is installing Win7
This should take anywhere from 30 min to many hours(especially if you do an upgrade). More reasons to do the clean install.
4. After installation is complete and you go back go to the desktop, pop in the HP Upgrade Advisor disk again and complete the installation

Viola.. you are done[/QUOTE

OK the last thing I want to do is start any controversy but this is blatantly false. There is no viola you're finished.
1. You're supposed to have completed the Windows UP Grade Assistant and removed the recommended Programs before you even input the HP Upgrade Assistant DVD. There is no difference in the prep in the instructions for the recommended upgrade or the custom upgrade
2. You are correct then until you get to item 3. You can not let the Windows 7 installation complete, you reinsert the HP Upgrade Assistant when the system boots into Windows 7 and You have to remove your data cable going to your nic card. The HP drivers all have to be installed before you allow Windows 7 to complete. See Step 3 Post Installation 1.Remove Lan connection, the Lan connection will be reconnected in step 3.3
3. There is no guarantee that the HP Upgrade Assistant or the HP Update will pick up the latest software or drivers. Some of the updates can not be completed until Windows 7 OS is the installed on your computer. My thing is cause no harm, I've now completed the upgrade on two of my computers with no problems. See Post Installation go to Hewlett Packard Technical Support - select a country or region to check for new drivers and software.
4. Remember the kit includes 2 DVD and a 22x22 instruction sheet, you may want to give this some though

I've received the upgrade for my laptop and it has been a nightmare. The touchscreen does not reload properly if you have to revert to Vista, and HP forces a bios reversion if you have upgraded the system bios. (This caused a system failure because each time you reload Win 7 it forces the bios downgrade.) HP Support Assistant does not pick up the updates after completion. Several applications after the conversion do not run/load. The compatibility report that is generated by the upgrade lists information to be updated but does not specifically tell you what to upgrade. If you run the custom upgrade, you lose all the applications that were installed prior to the upgrade. If you back up the Windows, SwSetup, and several other directories before the conversion, you may be able to recover the applications - look for completion time of at least 6-8 hours for a complete upgrade and then if it works, consider yourself lucky.

An in-place Upgrade is an inferior install which imports corruption.

Try booting from the Win7 Upgrade Media DVD to do a clean install. Get drivers from the Support Downloads webpage for your model computer. Applications like webcam and touchscreen should be there, too, or on a drivers/apps disk included in Upgrade kit.

If you have any questions about how to boot the DVD or do a clean install, check back here.

I have an HP dv7 1245dx, bought in Mar 09. It came with Vista Home 64. As a student who is taking technical courses, I am eligible for a free copy of Win 7 Pro. Took advantage of that and promptly installed it on the HP. This is my story...

The DL went well, was billed as an "upgrade".

I loaded the disk and went through the install process (painless, took the opportunity to blow away the HP recovery partition). Didn't have a single problem, Win 7 was even nice enough to sequester my old Windows install in its own little folder.

In fit of extreme Linux-itus, I installed Ubuntu 9.10 on the laptop. Hated it. Reinstalled Win 7 Pro.

This time I did a clean install, fully expecting to have to go to HP's website and load half-a-dozen proprietary drivers. Not even close. Win 7 did a full install, never asked for my Vista disk or key, and installed almost every single HP device driver (the only exception was the card-bus reader). I was beyond impressed. Best install ever.

I hope this helps you - my advice is to do a clean install every time.

loaba said:

I have an HP dv7 1245dx, bought in Mar 09. It came with Vista Home 64. As a student who is taking technical courses, I am eligible for a free copy of Win 7 Pro. Took advantage of that and promptly installed it on the HP. This is my story...

The DL went well, was billed as an "upgrade".

I loaded the disk and went through the install process (painless, took the opportunity to blow away the HP recovery partition). Didn't have a single problem, Win 7 was even nice enough to sequester my old Windows install in its own little folder.

In fit of extreme Linux-itus, I installed Ubuntu 9.10 on the laptop. Hated it. Reinstalled Win 7 Pro.

This time I did a clean install, fully expecting to have to go to HP's website and load half-a-dozen proprietary drivers. Not even close. Win 7 did a full install, never asked for my Vista disk or key, and installed almost every single HP device driver (the only exception was the card-bus reader). I was beyond impressed. Best install ever.

I hope this helps you - my advice is to do a clean install every time.

Yes, although you may need assorted manufacturer crapware, such as the service to switch between the 2 GPU's in the laptop in my specs.

I bought the HP Pavilion dv7-1261wm and it came preloaded with Vista. Immediately ordered the free Windows 7 upgrade. When the discs arrived, I followed the instructions, did a custom (clean) install, and everything worked just fine

If you have an HP computer, here is a way to extract needed apps from the bloated Recovery Disks so you can add them to your clean installed Win7:

https://www.sevenforums.com/installat...tml#post488270

One good reason to make Recovery Disks before wiping that partition, too.

It also may be adaptable to other brands: try it and let us know.