HP windows 7 upgrade program

[keeners]

Haven't done it yet, cause I'm still trying to figure out how to keep Windows Mail.

Just switch to using Windows Live Mail. It runs circles around Windows Mail, and has even gotten me to switch from using Outlook for my personal e-mail.

I still haven't upgraded the hp pavillion due to lack of time. I am still hesitant about WLM because I am not a fan of Hotmail. I've used Outlook 2000 for many years and was quite happy with it.

I haven't had any problems using WM but I see a lot of people have problems with WLM.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Windows Live Mail has absolutely nothing to do with Hotmail, unless you set it up to use a hotmail address. I don't have any Microsoft sponsored e-mail accounts, and I use Windows Live Mail.

 

[jimmy1one]

You guys are making things more complicated than necessary. A Custom Install will erase the data from the HDD. That's as Clean as it gets.

I think you are misunderstanding slightly what I want to do, and I believe ssujee has the same intention.

We cannot do a Custom Install from the HP upgrade kit, as we do not yet have the HP upgrade kit.

We want to install Windows 7 RTM now, and use it under the 120 day trial mode. Only when our HP upgrade kit finally arrives will we be able to insert the Windows 7 key -- assuming that works, which is our question.

WOW that's a good question, short answer I would not do it. The license from HP for Windows 7 is an upgrade license I'm sure about that. Now back to the Clean Install, remember I'm just a windows user I'd rate my level of expertise as moderate. If you want to keep your HP software intact doing a clean install is a bridge too far unless you are beyond my level of expertise. I'm just being honest, my system is up and running and I just don't see how it could be more stable. It just flat out rocks and has been rock steady. I have the system tricked out from the performance tweaks here on the forum and a 16G flash drive dedicated to Ready Boost, my cache is on a 2nd HDD and I have 8G of ram.

Here is the thing the install of the upgrade is different from any upgrade I've ever been involved in. After you get everything done you will see what I mean. I have a fast broadband connection and the updates from Windows and HP took 4 hours. The download speeds were 1.5 to 2MB/sec Today I had another 2.5G of updates from the HP support center that the HP Updater did not pick up on it own. I can not tell you what to do but I would not fool around with anything outside my comfort zone.

 

[Zen00]

I have the system tricked out from the performance tweaks here on the forum and a 16G flash drive dedicated to Ready Boost, my cache is on a 2nd HDD and I have 8G of ram.

Since you have more than 4gb's of regular RAM, then you're not really going to see any performance boost from Ready Boost, you might want to use that 16gb's for something else.

 

[hp8qer]

Ok, I know this thread has been ongoing for long, and that windows 7 is supposed to be able to run on practically any pc. But i wanted to know whether this laptop I ordered would run perfectly smoothly with no problems, and if any what I should upgrade. Or what software would be handy to download. Its an HP HDX16, P8700 2.53Ghz 3MB Cache, 4Gb ram, Vista home premium (with the upgrade), 320gb HHD 7200rpm, HD screen, Blu ray drive, 12 and 6 cell battery, T.V tuner and backlit keyboard. O, and a GeForce 9600GT M graphics card. I think it should be adequate, but your opinions would be nice, anything better I could get? Thanks

 

[keeners]

Windows Live Mail has absolutely nothing to do with Hotmail, unless you set it up to use a hotmail address. I don't have any Microsoft sponsored e-mail accounts, and I use Windows Live Mail.

Thanks for your input Deacon.

 

[Zen00]

You're living the high edge of the notebook market, you'll do just fine, hp7Windows.

 

[ThumperSD]

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

 

[hp8qer]

Nice, thanks, that doesnt sound too complicated. I take it the hp advisor installs all the programs for me? So then I wont need to reinstall vista before windows 7, or still yes?

 

[gregrocker]

The trick will be to get the clean Win7 Upgrade on there without having to use the disk larded with their bloatware.

Especially since the bloatware disk contains some needed apps like (perhaps) Works, although Adobe reader/flash and Java runtime can be gotten from their websites.

You are compromising a flawless featherlight OS by loading ANY bloatware. Use a lightweight free AV like Avast and the Windows Defender which is already turned on at startup. The Windows firewall is optimized for no-impact performance.

All of the drivers are in the Win7 installer, newer will follow in first Windows Updates. Rare ones can be googled along with any needed software for webcams, printer, etc.

 

[jimmy1one]

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

 

[ninja660]

HP Upgrade/laptop

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.

 

[gregrocker]

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.

 

[loaba]

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.

 

[Frostmourne]

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.

 

[garrettnichols]

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

 

[gregrocker]

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:

http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...are-after-clean-win-7-install.html#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.