Upgrating 32 bit Vista to Windows 7

[sprint]

I am currently running a Vortexbox base system with a SBT and Mdac.

Unfortunately I find that all the network devices related to the system default to Windows Media Player as the Home Premium Vista version does not support Samba. I have tried a few options to try and install it but without success? Vista is also now no longer supported by Microsoft with any technical problems other than the updates.

An option is therefore, to upgrade my existing Vista OS to Windows 7?

How straightforward is it to upgrade to Windows 7 from 32 bit Vista?

I am not that IT literate and I am concerned about losing all my current data/files and e-mails?

Is it as simple as just loading in the discs?

I understand that you can just do a simple 'upgrade' but that very often it does not do it cleanly and that a great deal of time can be spent sorting it out which would leave me stuck?

The only other option, as far as I understand, would be to do a full 'clean' installation which I am sure would also leave severely stuck at some stage?

Clearly I do not want to lose any of my current data/files or e-mail functions.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

[John]

I recently updated from 7 to 8 with no issues but it always best to back up files if you have issue there a Microsoft help desk to give advice
Vista was a nightmare

[Tim]

My advice would always be to perform a 'clean' install for a new operating system. If you don't have one, buy a portable drive to backup your data before going down this route. Additionally, another option would be to buy a fresh hard drive, which are very cheap these days and do the install on this one. Your old drive could go into a caddy to retrieve data from, should you forget anything during the backup - or you could just pop it back into the same machine?

There are countless options available to you, but a clean install will always give you the best results.

Wherever I install a new operating system, I also perform backups along the way. I do a full backup image (Windows Backup will do this for you in 7) of the fresh install once Windows is activated, than another one when I have installed everything and checked its all working. Then if you have a failure, its a painless task to get back to a fully optimised system. If my system were to suffer a catastrophic failure right now I would be back up and running in under 30 minutes, which would include a full wipe of the drive that failed and re-installation of the optimised operating system with all my programs and settings. It might seem laborious, but I have never, ever lost any data or wasted hours reinstalling the same operating system. A little thought and time spent initially, can save you hours of pain later on ;)

I use Acronis True Image for my backups, but Windows 7 backup should do the trick as well, as long as you restore the backup to a similar hard drive. Acronis will backup anything to anything, be it larger or smaller in size.

Vista does get a lot of bad press, mainly down to people trying to run it on inadequate systems - which in reality was a fault of the manufacturers selling people machines which weren't really up to the job IMO. The final 64bit version on a well configured machine with plenty of RAM is actually a very capable operating system. 7 however is a worthwhile upgrade.

Have you considered Windows 8 - you can get an online upgrade for only £24.99?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/buy?ocid=GA8_O_WOL_Hero_ShopHP_FPP_Null

[DSJR]

And here's poor old me on the absolutely antiquated XP pro...............

We have "7" and Office 2021 - [edit - office 2010 - cough...] at work, and I find it so frustrating that many things I enjoy on the XP GUI either aren't available (or I've yet to find them) or 7 tries to out-guess what I want to do next.. Is it me (probably) just not liking change for the sake of it?????

[Tim]

Is it me (probably) just not liking change for the sake of it?????
I don't really think its change for the sake of it Dave, a modern machine is so much more capable than a 10 year old XP machine, faster, more power efficient and in keeping with advances in other technology. But if you are happy with your XP machine, you are safe with it until April 2014. And if you never attach it to the internet you could 'safely' use it until it breaks.

I tend to keep pace and sell off my old parts before they become totally obsolete on eBay. I often sell discontinued components that are 3~4 years old for more than I paid for them new, as folk like yourselves repair or upgrade old machines, instead of buying a new one - so I'm thankful for folk such as yourself Dave ;)

[Stratmangler]

We have "7" and Office 2021 at work...

Jeez, that's some advanced Beta testing programme your workplace is on :eyebrows:

[brian2957]

Thought it was just me thinking that Chris.

[Tim]

I took it as sarcasm ;)

[brian2957]

That's much too subtle for me Tim :)

[Ashmore]

Thanks for the link to the windows 8 upgrade Tim. I know it's been debated a bit here but would you be able to summarise the best bits of 8?. Am I right in thinking it's mainly for tablet stuff?

I only recently upgraded my desktop to 7 (64bit from vista 32bit) so it'd have to be worth the effort...

[Tim]

Martin would be the best one to ask that, I have only trialled it and am still running 7 at the moment, but that's about to change. It's not just for tablets, it's a very fast O/S and once you get used to the Metro style it is quite intuitive - looks cool too. I found it a little odd at first, but only due to it being a different interface. I do think however they should have released two versions of 8 a tablet one and a PC one, but that's just me.

If you are not sure yet, what you should do is download and ISO image and keep it until you are ready to install it, as the offer expires on 31st Jan. That's what I intend on doing and then install it when ready. I just built a new PC, but have a couple of programs that apparently don't like 8, but I shall test them on a spare drive. If they work then I will go over to 8 as I like it and I need to understand it for work.

If you have a read through the Windows 8 thread there's lots in there;

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=17132&highlight=windows&page=12

[sprint]

Thanks for the replies.

I will have a look at the options.

Currently I have had problems with an Windows Driver Upgrade that simply will not configure correctly when I reboot (7 unsuccessful attempts now at an hour a time can't be sustained) and have had to 'hide' it now.

PC is now running very slow and Microsoft want £70 to sort it out as Vista is now no longer supported beyond the upgrades.

So upgrading to Windows 7 looks to be the sensible option, or would my existing problems be carried over?