The upgrade is worth the effort if you have a powerful enough computer. If you can’t install it yourself or if your computer is only marginally capable for W7, you might be better off buying a new computer.

We bought Windows 7 Professional because it claimed that we could run XP software in Windows XP mode. It took some searching to discover that in order to run XP mode, you have to download a couple of programs, and install them. That did not go smoothly. It took me a couple of days to get that accomplished. Installed the key program that we wanted to use while in XP mode. It still doesn’t work. I’m disappointed.

Due to disk limitations I had to move the old system from the internal hard drive after the upgrade in order to restore user files and settings. You also need the media and license codes for your applications to reload them following the upgrade. All worked as advertised.

Here is my advice;

1. If you do not have an external hard drive buy one they are cheap and you can use them for local backup after the upgrade.

2. Download and execute the backup APP

3. Locate all the media for your applications such as Office (or other personal productity package), Quicken, Games, etc. or be prepared to repurchase what you do not have.

4. Upgrade took place over two days with the load of Windows 7 running overnight. (It was waiting for user input (setup) when I woke up.) If you do this be sure to watch long enough that all preload questions are answered.

Enjoy Windows 7.

For Windows 7 itself, restart and shutdown times are much shorter than with XP.

Programs run pretty much the same.

By the way, the machine upgraded was a 4 year old Dell Lattitude D820.

Pop the Windows 7 cd into your CD rom drive, restart the computer. It should give you an option to boot to the CD, select that option. Follow the instructions and bam, you will have windows 7.

Bare in mind that you will also lose all of your personal data when you do this.

Ask the tech how to remove Windows 7 from the machine, and how exactly to deactivate the key.

What you are really wanting to do is transfer the key to a new machine. Make sure that you are not being tricked into deactivating a key, only to find out later that you can not activate it on another machine.

My experience, in activating several dozen computers with various Xp licenses, is that the Microsoft agents will go OUT OF THEIR WAY to try to trick you into saying that the program is on more than one machine at once. This voids the key, and they will have you read the key to them, only to have them lock it out as pirated.

Stand by your guns, and every time they ask if you have installed this software on another machine, tell them the software has been removed from the original machine which has died, and transferred to the new machine.

If you have a full retail version of Windows (not an OEM version), you should be just fine. You will need to call Microsoft to activate, but as long as you have Windows installed on only one machine, you will be okay.

Check out this thread for more information and discussion: http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/31611-upgrading-new-computer-moving-7-license.html.

Cheers,
Cassandra
Microsoft Windows Outreach

a list: http://smallvoid.com/articles/windows-xp/services/

something else. http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1759

There are major differences between Starter and the rest of the Windows 7 editions. This Windows Team Blog post explains what Starter’s purpose is: http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/05/29/let-s-talk-about-windows-7-starter.aspx

“It is important to note that Windows 7 Starter still includes only a subset of the features offered in the higher editions of Windows 7 such as Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional and above. Windows 7 Starter does not include:

* Aero Glass, meaning you can only use the “Windows Basic” or other opaque themes. It also means you do not get Taskbar Previews or Aero Peek.
* Personalization features for changing desktop backgrounds, window colors, or sound schemes.
* The ability to switch between users without having to log off.
* Multi-monitor support.
* DVD playback.
* Windows Media Center for watching recorded TV or other media.
* Remote Media Streaming for streaming your music, videos, and recorded TV from your home computer.
* Domain support for business customers.
* XP Mode for those that want the ability to run older Windows XP programs on Windows 7.”

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Walker
Windows Outreach Team