Windows 7

[ciufoc]

I took the liberty to download the Windows 7 RC and I went through all the steps.

1. Download the ISO file.
2. Burn the file on a DVD.
3. Install.

I followed all these steps except it wouldn't let me upgrade from my Windows Vista Home Premium (only Custom, clean install), and it told me to boot with the installation disk so I did that, but then it told me to run windows normally and do what I first did again. I did it but then it told me to boot again. I don't want to do a clean install because I have some bought programs, anyone know how I can get the Upgrade to work?

 

[torrentg]

You didn't say why you can't upgrade from the Vista desktop. Is the selection for it unable to be checked or something when you try? Any errors etc...?

 

[ciufoc]

Oh right sorry, that's what I forgot. It gave me the option to upgrade, but it brought up a message saying that i should reboot using the installer and choose custom, but when I did that and chose Upgrade, it said that I should restart my computer normally, put back in the disk, then open upgrade from there again. The problem was that I did that and the message to reboot came up again and whenever I try clicking upgrade, either message appears.

 

[Day24]

Are you sure you're upgrading to the same version? I mean... are you upgrading a 32 bit vista to a 32 bit windows 7 or a 64 bit vista to a 64 bit windows 7?
If not, that's your problem. You can only do the upgrade if you pick the same bit version.

 

[scaramonga]

32bit to 32bit or 64bit to 64bit Upgrade wise, but if I'm correct?, the RC will not let you upgrade from Beta anyway?? (unless you edit a certain file) but I do not recommend upgrading from any Beta version to RC

 

[Night Hawk]

How large is the hard drive there? If the drive is large enough you may want to consider dual booting for the present time until 7 is final. 7 would be custom installed to a second partition or even to a second hard drive if present to get the upgrade problems at this point.

A clean install of 7 is recommended from the start. That can see Vista replaced as the single OS or using the custom install option to see 7 go on one of the above with a clean install for the best results. Even the RCs have to be considered a temporary OS at this point.

 

[swarfega]

Its probably better to do a clean install, you're less likely to have problems that way.

 

[johnwillyums]

I agree with the above, a clean install is best.
Also I think you would be better doing a dual boot as this is not a final version, may yet have unforseen glitches and will stop working next year after the final version goes on sale.

A dual boot sounds daunting but is a lot easier than it sounds. Basically you need to download a partitioning tool like gparted, burn it to disk and boot from it.
You can then shrink your Vista install and create an unallocated space. Then boot from the W7 disk and custom install to the empty space.
When you boot up you'll get a choice of W7 or Vista and can boot into either.

I've simplified this a lot so have a look at the tutorials section on this forum for detailed instructions.

Good luck, John

 

[Night Hawk]

The latest 0.4.4-1 release of GParted seems to have solved one problem seen when shutting that down to reboot and the drive tray closing back up before you can be quick enough to grab the disk out of it. The latest stable build opens up and leave the tray open until you press the enter key like it should. A few of the other more recent builds would simply open the tray up fast and cloose it automatically in only a few seconds.

There's no change in the gui while seeing that one thing corrected is a big relief! If you want the latest that's available at SourceForge.net: GParted: Files

 

[ciufoc]

Well, I'll try parting off a part of my hard drive, but i still don't get why it won't upgrade for me. I don't want to do a clean install because I have some bought programs that I don't want to lose.

 

[myzr7]

Well have you tried burning another dvd? That could be a bad burn you are working with. I myself think ms wants you to upgrade from vista? right? They do not want an upgrade from 7Beta but they do from Vista, Surley they will be selling upgrade versions shortly? Reburn with the slowest speed posible and try again.

 

[baarod]

Well, I'll try parting off a part of my hard drive, but i still don't get why it won't upgrade for me. I don't want to do a clean install because I have some bought programs that I don't want to lose.

Any, and I mean, ANY modifications that "optimization" utilities might have done to your WinSxS will prevent upgrade. And if you played around with vLite or anything you can be sure you've blocked your upgrade path. Dig around for your disks and serials for those bought programs and/or contact the manufacturers if you've lost either of them. Do a dual boot as suggested by others. Run Easy Transfer from 7 and tell it to write the Easy Transfer app to the Vista volume. Boot to Vista and run it. Save the transfer file somewhere that 7 can get to it. Boot back into 7, install your programs and then run Easy Transfer again to restore your files and settings to the 7 volume.

 

[Night Hawk]

The thing I do here from the start is not upgrading over but seeing a clean install of each to avoid problems like this to start with. 7 is still not a finished version where you can easily upgrade over any previous version at this point.

Right from the start when the first betas were out the MS warning was simply to try and run it as your main OS but install it separately. They still recommend a clean install for the RCs as well. I ought to know that one from multibooting across more then one drive seeing a fresh install of everything as a rule.

 

[Shak 10]

just use easybcd or a program that will allow you to create hardrive partitions and just install win 7 rc on the partition u created. Don't bother with upgrding as it just has the potential to go wrong.

 

[Night Hawk]

EasyBCD won't allow you to created partitions but see entries made in both the Vista and 7 boot loaders for each of the other or an older version like XP or other legacy version as well as seeing Linux or Mac added in. The full documentattion for the free tool can be seen at EasyBCD Documentation Home - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

 

[bodmas]

what amount of empty space left on the vista partition? for upgradation there should be at least 15 GB (to be prcise, 130% of the occupied space as during upgradation process, old windows and other third party program files are dumped and saved for later retrieval) empty space left on the vista partition. if less than this, then you can't go for upgradation, only for custaom(clean)install.

 

[Night Hawk]

When going to install 7 and using the custom option for the same partition Vista will be packed up into the Windows.old folder just the same. The custom option simply sees 7 replace Vista entirely not perform any upgrade.

The best options are either setting up a dual boot or making room to see Vista replaced entirely. With enough free drive space on the main Vista primary you can use a tool like GParted live to see that shrunk down in size for a good 30gb second primary with some room onhand for seeing various programs installed on 7 plus the room for the default paging file.

 

[johnwillyums]

How's it going Mike (OP)? Are you getting anywhere?
There's lots of good advice here and I'd still favour a dual boot.
That's what I have done and I'm loving it, although I'm spending less and less time in Vista.
I still have my games in Vista, largely because I read some people were having problems with Steam in W7 on these forums.
This will no doubt get sorted out but illustrates why a dual boot is a good idea at this stage.
The gparted tool is easy to use and once you have got your partition created the dual boot setup is also easy to do.
As I said before there are step by step tutorials on this and other tech forums. If you can't find one on here you could google it and find one you like.

best wishes, John

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
To UPGRADE

1) run the install (setup.exe) from WITHIN VISTA
2) it will first do a compatability check - it will then probably give you a message saying WINDOWS NEEDS TO RESTART to continue.
3) REMOVE THE DVD and re-boot.
4) After re-boot start setup again FROM WITHIN VISTA
5) Now it should work fine -- DO NOT PRESS a key at when the system re-boots again at the boot prompt

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Night Hawk]

While RCs are in much better shape then the beta stage 7000s I still wouldn't recommend an upgrade over Vista but simply upgrade to repair the RC if any problems come up. For seeing a working dual boot or replacing Vista entirely you have two highly recommended options of seeing 7 installed either by custom install to see Vista packed up or by installing 7 to a second primary being made the default OS at first.

Since both versions use the same type of boot loader there is no unhiding and copying of protected system files over from one primary to the other. The entire installation will be automatic. Later you can opt to use the BCD editor itself a separate tool to set which will be default as well as removing the "previous version of Windows" item from the boot options screens as well as renaming entries.

The BCD 1.1.1 tool is available at BCD 1.1.1 free download. BCD is a command-line utility that builds and burns a bootable or non-bootable CD-Rom fully automatic, from any workstation in your network that has a CD-Rewritable or CD-recorder device. That will work quite well for taking care of the previous version entry as well as setting which will be default. The default can also be set in the mconfig boot tab there as well as setting the boot options display time often lowered from the default 30 seconds.

For the more advanced setup across two drives or adding in another OS then the recommend for the EasyBCD tool would be the obvious choice. Download EasyBCD 1.7.2 - NeoSmart Technologies I'm still waiting to see if the next version of that will preserve the 7 splash screen at boot over seeing the Vista screen instead for the present version.