Adventures in upgrading ( from Vista to Windows 7 on a Laptop by Ed Morrissey at HotAir )

Hot Air ^ | October 23, 2009 8:05 am | Ed Morrissey

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Hot Air readers if they would immediately upgrade from their current operating system to the newly-released Windows 7.  Only 16% said they would change operating systems immediately, while 37% said that they would keep their XP software until forced to change.  Surprisingly, 10% said they would stick with Vista, which has become a lot more stable, but is still a resource hog.

Because I’m either a tech geek or a fool, I decided to upgrade immediately.  I have a high-powered laptop that consistently underperformed, at least in my opinion, under Vista.  While I wrote that the experience of OS upgrades was as thrilling as “a Barack Obama speech on prime time, or a slow root canal with not quite enough Novocaine to cover the job,” I also got a lot of feedback from beta testers on Win7 that it was worth trying.  I decided to join the 16% that wanted to put Vista in the rear-view mirror immediately.

At the same time, I got contacted by Laplink, which wanted to know if I wanted to test their new PC Mover product.  Normally, this is intended for use when upgrading from an old PC to a new one, to move applications and data files more easily than in the Windows Vista system (and presumably Win7 as well) .  However, Laplink designed their latest version to also handle a Vista-to-7 upgrade process on a single laptop, which they offered to me for free with no commitment to discuss it, which I mention in the service of full disclosure.

The upgrade process is rather straightforward for both programs.  PC Mover only comes into play before and after the upgrade; it does not involve itself in the Windows 7 system upgrade ......

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

fyi....

[Huskrrrr]

Thanks for the post, I’m contemplating the switch to 7.

[ShadowAce]

[Alex Murphy]

In fact, Win7 has been surprisingly good in the few hours that I have played with it. For most veteran Windows users, the changes are subtle and mainly intuitive. You may not notice many of them, in fact; I recommend going through the “Discover Windows 7″ videos to get an idea of how they have changed the behavior of windows and app-switching. The system is undeniably faster, especially in the boot sequence, and thus far has thrown no error messages. The User Account Control on Vista got so annoying that I wound up turning it off, but I’m leaving it enabled on Win7, as it seems much less intrusive. It’s also scalable, unlike the on-or-off choice in Vista, but I’m leaving it at the recommended level.

Ping for later

[4rcane]

there should be no reason to stay on windows vista or xp. Windows 7 is a much better experience

[Congressman Billybob]

I've been mostly satisfied with WindowsXP and based on the technical news, I stayed away from Vista like the plague. However, I have recently read that there is no way to update directly from XP to 7.

Is that true? (Sniff.)

Congressman Billybob

Don't Tread On Me (9/12 photo and poster"

"A Slimy Man, on a Slimy Network"

[4rcane]

you could upgrade to windows 7 from xp, it just wipes everything from your computer and treat it like a clean install. Just move everything important to a backup drive

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Don't know yet,...got to go get my special copy I bought a few weeks ago at Fry's...

I have a Laptop with Vista but I don't use it much.

Do my Browsing and activity on Free Republic with Ubuntu and Linux Mint....much safer.

Just doing this with the latest Ubuntu 9.10 Release Candidate that came out yesterday.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Just move everything important to a backup drive

That is a real pain...unless you have something like the program Ed references....

PC Mover.

[Hodar]

there should be no reason to stay on windows vista or xp. Windows 7 is a much better experience

I'll confirm that. Booting is good, the part that I found surprising is that WinXP's boot time degenerates over time. It will go from booting in 30 seconds, to 1 minute to up to 5 minutes (like mine) over several years of accumulated crap.

Tests by Tomshardware and Gizmondo ran tests and found that unlike WinXP, Win7 doesn't 'degenerate' into slow boot time over a simulated 3 year test. I found that intresting.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Product Features

• Complete Migration: Transfer everything you want--all your programs, files, and settings--in one easy move
• Multiple Transfer Options: Choose from USB cables, Windows Easy Transfer cable, parallel cables, removable media or a wired/wireless network to do the transfer
• Application Selectivity: Choose which applications you'd like moved over to your new PC
• Folder & File Selectivity: Select which folders and file types you don't want to transferred to your new PC
• Easy-To-Use Wizard Interface: Click through a simple wizard to set up the move.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

bookmark for home

[4rcane]

I dunno how ppl organise their hard drives, but I make it a habit to keep everything important in their own folder, thus i can move them around to different drives. 2nd drive, Backup is very important

If they’re all over the place in multiple folders than yea its a pain, but you have to start somewhere

[Just another Joe]

there should be no reason to stay on windows vista or xp. Windows 7 is a much better experience

Other than I ain't got the money to buy another OS from MS.

What I have does fine for what I want it to do.
Until I have something that I NEED to upgrade for I don't see a reason to upgrade.

[corkoman]

Glad to hear you say that and for the other positives expressed for this upgrade.

I am sucking eggs on Team Fortress 2 with damned lag spikes that momentarily freeze me just as I am about to kill someone or be killed. I hate it so much that I have tried everything to figure out whats causing the lag spikes. Nothing has gotten rid of them.

I am perhaps mistaken in hoping that an upgrade like this might eliminate the problem. But if it wont cause more problems then what Ive got then its worth the $115.

[Big Giant Head]

Ditto that.

I’m going to W7 as soon as my disk arrives. However, my wife is NOT moving her Vista machine. She isn’t a Vista fan or anything, but changing OS’s is really, really not her thing. The ONLY reason she’s on Vista is she got my old Vista machine when I went to a 64 bit machine with a better CPU and GPU. I had to force her off W98se to W2000pro where she stayed till Vista.

I’ve upgraded My Vista 64 bit to W7 64 bit the RC, and it is as painless and smooth as one can imagine. But then, I went back to factory settings and Vista, ‘cause I’m a weirdo, and because I have the RTM W7 pre-ordered and I’m going to do a fresh installation. Probably not going to do the “upgrade” this time, but the new installation.

[sticker]

I have been running Windows 7, evaluation copy, for a couple or three months and have only had two issues: HP doesn't have a 64-bit driver for my printer and at least as of a month or so ago Logitech Camera 9000 driver didn't seem to work with 7. Of course any errors may be operator induced

[Blueflag]

I heartily recommend Wondows 7. Been using Windows 7 RC (release candidate) for 4 months. Compared to XP and anything Vista it’s great.

MS tried to make networking ‘easier’ and mangled it, again, with “homegroup” ... but nothing you can’t overcome in an hour.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Great timing! Just stepped away from laptop while files are backing up. Browsing on my phone now. :-(
55 yr old eyes using a phone screen & keypad designed for 18 yr old eyes.

MS has an offer for students with a .edu address. The professional version can be purchased for 29.99. It is called the Ultimate Steal (I think). I just found out about it a few days ago. We took advatage of it for my son. Can’t look up the link on my phone—sorry.