Upgrade for free or Buy Full DVD?

[Hondajt]

I just recently purchased Vista Ultimate x64 OEM edition. It came with the free Windows 7 upgrade code.

However, I HATE upgrading. I would much rather do a fresh install of W7.

Is upgrading still bad enough that I should purchase the full DVD? Or should I stick with my free upgrade and just try and suffer through it?

 

[DeaconFrost]

I'd wait a little longer, until the official release date, or closer, until we know for sure how the Upgrade will work. The good news is, Windows 7 won't need to be reinstalled often like XP. Nothing has been made official, so sit tight for now.

 

[ken9122]

Upgrading is a viable option if you have a clean Vista install on a newer computer with good drivers. I've done it on several systems in beta testing. Wait for the final release to see your options. You may be able to do a clean install just using the Vista DVD for authentication. that's how MS has done it in the past.

Ken

 

[Antman]

Free. Where is the mystery?

Use the savings to buy a new toy. SSD?

 

[DeaconFrost]

You may be able to do a clean install just using the Vista DVD for authentication. that's how MS has done it in the past.

That is how it worked in the past, but Microsoft had some blag pages up about how the previous OS would need to be installed and activated, and that previous license would become invalid once upgraded. Allegedly, the loophole has been closed that allowed a double install with an upgrade disc, which essentially allowed a clean install with an upgrade disc. No one knows the official upgrade paths as of yet, unfortunately.

 

[ken9122]

You may be able to do a clean install just using the Vista DVD for authentication. that's how MS has done it in the past.

That is how it worked in the past, but Microsoft had some blag pages up about how the previous OS would need to be installed and activated, and that previous license would become invalid once upgraded. Allegedly, the loophole has been closed that allowed a double install with an upgrade disc, which essentially allowed a clean install with an upgrade disc. No one knows the official upgrade paths as of yet, unfortunately.

I heard rumor that also, but if they do that there will be a lot of pi**ed of people.

 

[pparks1]

I've heard the rumor too, and I believe this time it's going to be true. They never mentioned with Vista in the past that it would have to be activated...it just said installed. Now, they have been pretty clear that you have to have a previously installed copy of the OS which has been activated.

To the OP, you can do a "clean" install with the upgrade media. You just have to have Vista on there and activated. Then, you perform the clean install and are left with a windows.old directory which you can then delete. From there, use the free backup tool "system image" that is included with all versions of Windows 7 to image your machine. Use that image going forward to restore and you never have to deal with the double install again.

Use the Money saved for something else.

 

[Antman]

All said and done, that is not a bad method. It protects MS' interests. The image is a solid and quick method for future installs - even a better way than a future clean install. The image can contain any or all of your supporting apps.

I kind of like it.

 

[pparks1]

I'd create multiple images if I were interested in saving apps and such. See today, it might seem like you always want Office 2007...but later if you have Office 2010 and want that instead, you would have to restore your image, delete office 2007 and then install Office 2010.

So, make 1 image with nothing (pure clean install) and then another with the apps you believe you always want. Best of both worlds and very little time to setup.

 

[Hondajt]

My computer currently has a 1TB SATA drive, with only Vista Ultimate x64 on it. Everything else, is on my 2nd drive. (Games, files, etc...)

So an upgrade might not be out of the question after all....Thanks. I guess I'll just wait till it's released, then we'll see...

 

[Perrybucsdad]

I'd wait a little longer, until the official release date, or closer, until we know for sure how the Upgrade will work. The good news is, Windows 7 won't need to be reinstalled often like XP. Nothing has been made official, so sit tight for now.

Frost, I think you need to write to the Admins to see if we could have your post address this point. I think we see it at least once a day, but if we had a sticky that was titled "Upgrade or Full License" I bet we can answer some of these posts before they happen. Now, I'm not saying I don't like answering these posts, but if I were the one with the question, I'd prefer to find that answer fast.

 

[sup3rsprt]

Yes but it's so fun pretending to know the answer. Thanks Microsoft for adding to the suspense! :sarc:

[OT response]
Since when does XP need reinstall often? 10 years ago maybe, but tell it to my computers that run XP for over 5 years strong (and even system restore is disabled...)
[/OT]

 

[Perrybucsdad]

Sup, you got that right. XP in 2009 is about as Stable as DOS 6 is still (Only, DOS 6 boots almost instantly on a P4)

 

[DeaconFrost]

If properly maintained, XP can run for just as long as Vista and Windows 7. The problem is, XP doesn't do very much self maintenaince out of the box like the two newer OSes. How many times have you worked on a friend or family member's computer, and decided performance had degraded enough (due to the lack of cleaning) that a reinstall was the quickest way? Many for me. Vista and Windows 7 at least help out the average joe by doing things automatically.

I would certain hope, on what's supposed to be an enthusiasts forum board, that the readers and members could maintain their own computers, regardless of OS.

 

[Antman]

...The problem is, XP doesn't do very much self maintenaince out of the box like the two newer OSes... Vista and Windows 7 at least help out the average joe by doing things automatically.

Interesting. Can you please list some these automatic actions?

 

[DeaconFrost]

Well, for one, both the new OSes schedule their defraggers out of the box to run. Second, I've noticed they keep the disk from becoming fragmented much better than XP. Still not as well as Linux, but better than XP.

Also, as your usage may change over time, or new apps are install/removed, SuperFetch adjusts to your usage, keeping your most common apps performing fast. This is the single biggest reason....because Vista and Windows 7 self-tune to your needs.

The UI also doesn't get bogged down as you load up on shortcuts, start menu items, etc. A older XP system drives me crazy at the delays in expaning menus and start menu items.

It would take a long time, but as a test, you could give a set of users either XP or Vista systems or identical hardware, and after 6 months of daily usage, see which ones are performing nearly the same as the day they were given out, and which are slowing down quite a bit.

 

[Perrybucsdad]

Antman, take a look at Scheduled Tasks. If you expand out Windows, you will see a ton of things that are scheduled. Very nice indeed, and I give many kudo's to the Vista and W7 Engineers for this. This was one of the pet peeves that I had with XP.

We still have to use XP at the hospital that I work for, but I must have a dozen cleanup/maint scripts that I run on my laptop. It was fun building all the scripts, but it's nice having them built for the average Joe/Jill.

 

[WiFi Ed]

I'd create multiple images if I were interested in saving apps and such. See today, it might seem like you always want Office 2007...but later if you have Office 2010 and want that instead, you would have to restore your image, delete office 2007 and then install Office 2010.

So, make 1 image with nothing (pure clean install) and then another with the apps you believe you always want. Best of both worlds and very little time to setup.

That's about what I do. I have a "clean" fresh install of Win 7 (activated) imaged, and then one with just Photoshop CS4 (activated), and one more with PS and Office 2007. No updated video drivers, no AV, etc. Takes less than 5 minutes to restore any of them (I use Acronis TI, but Windows own backup app works fine too).