A painless installation

Roddy

New member
Power User
Local time
10:49 PM
Messages
97
Location
Perth Australia
Hi

I did a lot of reading about the subject. I am a IT-wannabe. I LIKE doing things with and TO my PC.

I have been running a Vista Home Premium PC at home since, well, when Vista came out. I did a fresh Vista install and had hiccups with my printer, my I-Pod and my Tablet being recognised. (The printer STILL has issues - an HP Scanner/Printer/Copier that continually gets "USB Device NOT installed" when I try scanning using the scan button on the printer - if I use the "Toolbox" software that came with the printer, scanning is no problem)....but I digress...

So I thought I'd like to give this Win7 a go, but did not want to trash my Vista install. Dual-boot? Scary for me to contemplate but I did some reading and thought give it a go.

It was totally painless.

I used Vista's Disk Management tool to repartition my D Drive into a D of 300GB and a W of 200GB (C is Vista). No problem.

Downloaded and then burned the .ISO file, inserted the disc into the drive and from within Vista, went thru My Computer, found the disc, and hit it...

Did a clean install onto my recently created and formatted W Drive, 3 reboots and 40 minutes later I was presented with a Boot Screen,

1 Windows 7
2 Microsoft Vista

Picked 1, logged in and bingo, absolutely no problem. Printer, I-Pod, removeable HDD, Tablet, Office 2007 and EZCD Creator all loaded and operational.

Only hiccups...AVG Free would not install -it somehow "knew" it was on my Vista C Drive (how?) - and popped up a message that said it couldnt be concurrently installed. So I "uninstalled" it, downloaded and am using Avast Free. And NO sound. So in Device Manager, I clicked on my Audio Controller (Yellow Exclamation Mark), Update Driver, Search for Driver, pointed the search to my C Drive and bingo...installed driver from Vista into Win7 and all good!

Windows 7? A big TICK from me for install. I had seen the preview copy of it and did not like the look or feel of the new Taskbar. In the RC version though, with setting to smaller icons, I actually do like it. It's quite functional. Sidebar...or lack of...and having 'floating' gadgets took some getting used to. But I do like it.

What shall I use for newsgroups though? Windows Mail not being present?

I like the way Win 7 remembers how I size and position windows too, Vista a bit flaky on that.

I think I'll be getting the released version to upgrade my Vista when the RC stops functioning. I REALLY cant believe how painless it went. And on a 7 year old box (PCI - NOT PCI Express!) with 4gb RAM, 512MB Video card and dual DVD Drives and (now) "three" internal and one external drive.

Rgds
Roddy
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
System Model: HP d530 CMT(PD203PA)
OS
Dual boot Win7 Home Premium and Vista Home Premium SP2
CPU
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Motherboard
System Model: HP d530 CMT(PD203PA)
Memory
4GB
Graphics Card(s)
Radeon X1550 Dual PCI (NOT PCI Express!)
Sound Card
C Media PCI
Monitor(s) Displays
ASUS VW192T
Screen Resolution
1440x900
Hard Drives
1x750GB Partioned into C Drive 500GB Vista and W Drive 250GB Win7

1x500GB D drive for storage
1x1GB Removable USB Drive
PSU
?
Case
Tower?
Cooling
none
Keyboard
Microsoft Wireless 1000
Mouse
Microsoft Wireless Laser 5000
Internet Speed
DSL
Other Info
Wacom Bamboo Tablet
HP C4280 Printer/Scanner/Copier
Nice job on the work. I was in the same boat a year ago (or two)

A lot of people would like to be able to do this but are scared.....

What's the worst that can happen? If you back up your data, the worst thing that can happen is you loose the ability to boot your computer. You may screw up and delete your entire OS.

About a year ago I got the PC I have now. (nothing special but no slouch) for $350. I thought.....If I mess up my computer....I can buy a new one. haha

Dual-booting and installing Windows 7 21 times and XP 3-4 times has taught me a lot.

Congrats on the install and good luck in the future. Also welcome to the forum!
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Keeps changing - (Custom)
OS
Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU
Intel Core i7 860
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P
Memory
4GB DDR3 Mushkin 1600Mhz @ 7-8-7-20
Graphics Card(s)
MSI GTS250 1GB DDR3 Twin Frozr
Sound Card
Onboard realtek
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung SyncMaster 24" P2450 + Samsung 20" 2033
Screen Resolution
1920 X 1080 and 1600 X 900 (#2 system 1440 X 900)
Hard Drives
Patriot Inferno 120GB SSD + 3 WD Blue 640GB drives
PSU
Corsair 750 HX Modular
Case
Lancool PC-K62
Cooling
Cooler Master TX3 CPU cooler and 4-140mm and 1-120mm case
Keyboard
Gigabyte USB keyboard
Mouse
Microsoft wireless laser mouse 5000
Internet Speed
7 Mb down 1.5 up
Other Info
System #2: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T (Freezer 7 Pro cooler) - Gigabyte 880GMA-UD2H - WD 500GB Black - 9500GT (1GB) 500W OCZ modular PSU - Antec 200 case. System #3 (LapTop) Core 2 Duo T6670 - 320GB 7200RPM HD - 4GB DDR3 RAM.
Yo, about your printer... I use HP DeskJet F4280 AIO myself and I always keep my printer drivers, files up-to-date. Also there are updates like





Critical Update to Enhance Reliability of Network and USB Connectivity and Improve System Responsiveness While Printing

Critical Update to Correct a PC to Printer Communication Issue





In your case, there should be similar updates like mine listed on HP official website for your model, you should really download them and try.

Also keep your OS up-to-date too :)
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Built
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Motherboard
ASUS P5-KPL/1600
Memory
Kingston ValueRAM 2GB DDR2-800 RAM Retail x2 (Total 4GB RAM)
Graphics Card(s)
XFX GeForce 9800GTX+ 512MB
Sound Card
VIA HD Audio rear output
Monitor(s) Displays
SyncMaster T220/T220G(Digital)
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
Western Digital Caviar Black | 750 GB | S-ATA II | 32MB Cache Buffer
PSU
Enermax Tomahawk ETK500AWT
Case
CoolerMaster Centurion 590
Cooling
5 CoolerMaster 120mm LED fans
Keyboard
MobileGear KB17 Slim Multimedia Keyboard in Silver Colour
Mouse
Razer DeathAdder
Internet Speed
DL: 1Mb/s | UL: 512Kb/s
Tks...will check back on HP site. Had been doing so with no luck so just forgot about it....

Rgds
Roddy
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
System Model: HP d530 CMT(PD203PA)
OS
Dual boot Win7 Home Premium and Vista Home Premium SP2
CPU
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Motherboard
System Model: HP d530 CMT(PD203PA)
Memory
4GB
Graphics Card(s)
Radeon X1550 Dual PCI (NOT PCI Express!)
Sound Card
C Media PCI
Monitor(s) Displays
ASUS VW192T
Screen Resolution
1440x900
Hard Drives
1x750GB Partioned into C Drive 500GB Vista and W Drive 250GB Win7

1x500GB D drive for storage
1x1GB Removable USB Drive
PSU
?
Case
Tower?
Cooling
none
Keyboard
Microsoft Wireless 1000
Mouse
Microsoft Wireless Laser 5000
Internet Speed
DSL
Other Info
Wacom Bamboo Tablet
HP C4280 Printer/Scanner/Copier
hey. painless install as well. then another.
but is it normal for windows to make reserved partition of ~100MB's?
i found that odd, considering it didnt do that the first time i installed it.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
eMachines W3502
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x32
CPU
Intel Celeron D 3.2 Ghz 533 fsb (LGA 775)
Motherboard
Intel D101GGC
Memory
1 GB (2x512MB) PC-3200 DDR @ 200Mhz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce 9400GT- 1GB
Sound Card
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreame Gamer
Monitor(s) Displays
19" LCD HDtv
Screen Resolution
1360x768 @ 60Htz
Hard Drives
SeaGate Barracuda 750GB
SeaGate Barracuda 100GB
Toshiba CD/DVDW/ TS-H552D [DVD+R, DL]
PSU
stock (idk)
Case
The busted remains of the stock case
Cooling
Dust cooled, waitwut?
Keyboard
Stock. Missing a few keys.
Mouse
Logitech LX8 5-btn mouse (wireless)
Internet Speed
TWC 10Mb
Other Info
Keeps going, and going, and going.......
hey. painless install as well. then another.
but is it normal for windows to make reserved partition of ~100MB's?
i found that odd, considering it didnt do that the first time i installed it.

Yes, normal.
 

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Apple
OS
El Capitan / Windows 10
CPU
i7-4980HQ
Memory
16GB
Graphics Card(s)
Iris 5200

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Apple
OS
El Capitan / Windows 10
CPU
i7-4980HQ
Memory
16GB
Graphics Card(s)
Iris 5200

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
eMachines W3502
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x32
CPU
Intel Celeron D 3.2 Ghz 533 fsb (LGA 775)
Motherboard
Intel D101GGC
Memory
1 GB (2x512MB) PC-3200 DDR @ 200Mhz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce 9400GT- 1GB
Sound Card
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreame Gamer
Monitor(s) Displays
19" LCD HDtv
Screen Resolution
1360x768 @ 60Htz
Hard Drives
SeaGate Barracuda 750GB
SeaGate Barracuda 100GB
Toshiba CD/DVDW/ TS-H552D [DVD+R, DL]
PSU
stock (idk)
Case
The busted remains of the stock case
Cooling
Dust cooled, waitwut?
Keyboard
Stock. Missing a few keys.
Mouse
Logitech LX8 5-btn mouse (wireless)
Internet Speed
TWC 10Mb
Other Info
Keeps going, and going, and going.......
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