windows 7 ultimate installed over xp Pro

[samIOW]

Hello everyone,

I need some help please,

My wife has bought the above and installed it over my XP Pro (she thought she would surprise me)

Anyway my problem is that everything had disappeared now, Is there anyway that I can retrive them,

Thanks,

Sam

 

[ken9122]

Check and see if you have a folder named 'windows.old'.

ken

 

[samIOW]

Hello Ken,

Yes I have.

Is that a good thing, if so How,

Sam

 

[M17x]

Well your wife certainly surprised you didn't she?

 

[samIOW]

She most certainly did

 

[bobkn]

Hello Ken,

Yes I have.

Is that a good thing, if so How,

Sam

How to restore a Windows 7-based computer to a previous Windows installation by using the Windows.old folder

The Win7 installer is set up to not permit an upgrade-in-place from any version of XP to any version of Win7. A custom (clean) install is required, which would lose all installed programs and settings.

 

[samIOW]

Hello Ken,

Yes I have.

Is that a good thing, if so How,

Sam

How to restore a Windows 7-based computer to a previous Windows installation by using the Windows.old folder

The Win7 installer is set up to not permit an upgrade-in-place from any version of XP to any version of Win7. A custom (clean) install is required, which would lose all installed programs and settings.

I think she did a custom install on a computer which has 3 hard-drives, Hence the problem, I shall try the option you posted and hopefully it will revert back to XP and then I can install windows 7 on a clean drive,

 

[gregrocker]

If the issue is that you simply want your old files which were overwritten, then they are in the windows.old folder.

You don't need to roll back to XP to access and retrieve your files from the windows.old folder. You can do that now, or at your own pace, then delete the windows.old file when you are sure you have them all.

However, as pointed out you still need to reinstall your old programs. Their folders may be in the windows.old folder, too, but they cannot run on your new OS until reinstalled using their installers/disks.

If you need any help finding any of the programs you're missing, ask back here.