Windows 7 forum: Upgrading my laptop from Windows Vista to Windows 7, please advise

no problem just check if you have enough memory at least 2 gb , if you can afford 4 gb it would be very good.
Roger.

Well from my experience I have found what has worked the best is create another partition and install
Windows in there. When that is completed go to my computer, select the drive that Vista was on and format
that partition. Vista is not like XP which will allow you to format while still using the O/S.
Vista is a pain in the butt.
The other way would be to pull the hard drive and start with a new freshly formatted one and install 7 on that.
I have been told that works the best. But each to his/her own.
Personally the system I used worked well and doesn't cost you another hard drive, unless of course you want to
upgrade to a larger amount of GBits

Hope this helps.................

I advise against installing W7 over Vista as an "upgrade"
Do a clean install of W7.
Also, W7 64 Bit is the WAY to go if you have a CPU that can support a 64 Bit operating system, and also upgrade the RAM on your lappy if you can, to 4GB at least.
A 64 Bit operating system allows for all the RAM to be used, 32 Bit is fine, but all your RAM is not being used to run the apps and programs and anything else. This means that a 64 Bit system will run faster and smoother than a 32 Bit system.
Doing the clean install is really easy.
First backup anything you want to save that is personal, don't worry about saving any files that have to do with Vista etc.
Here's the basics:
Turn on the PC, and enter the setup BIOS before the O.S. loads, on some PCs it's the delete button, some it's F2. Next, find the boot sequence, and set it to start up with the Optical drive as the first boot device. Insert the W7 disk, save and exit setup. Then carefully follow the screen directions to install W7.
Don't worry if you mess it up, you can always try it again.
There are plenty of places online to find help in doing this clean install of Windows 7, you do not have to be a computer geek to accomplish this!

Microsoft does a good job of making sure the upgrade process works as well as can be expected from version to version, but with today's operating systems and the myriad of system configurations, it is really impossible to make it foolproof.

I heartily recommend you go to EBay and buy an 2.5" external hard drive enclosure, and a new hard drive. Take the old hard drive out of your laptop and install the new one. It's not that hard.

Install Windows 7 on the laptop with the new hard drive, then install the old hard drive in the external enclosure. You can then copy your personal files from the old drive (external enclosure) onto the new system. When you are finished, put the old drive in a filing cabinet somewhere until you are sure that you have gotten everything of importance off of it, then later, you can reformat the old drive for use storing pictures, or for transferring files from home to work, etc...

I also recommend you install Carbonite on the Vista system and give it a few days to archive all of your important files before making the switch. After Windows 7 is installed, you can install Carbonite on the new machine, and it'll restore all of your personal data files while you sleep.

Hi, Jean,
The last comment you made "being your only computer and you needed to be working as soon as it's updated".

The first thing that i would suggest to you before you begin the Upgrade, is that you go to the Toshiba Site and check for Windows 7 Drivers and Updated Programs.

It's kind of strange that you bought the Laptop last year and it didn't come with Win 7 already, i would not pass by the opportunity to check the website.

We don't have detail information from your post about the Hardware and Software you have on your Laptop right now. I have to tell you in advance that while is easier to Upgrade, some programs can cause problems. Most programs that work with Vista work with Win 7, but that is not what i am refering to, is the entries made to the Register in Vista that could cause error with the Upgrades.

I would conclude that you purchase a retail Upgrade disk for Win 7.
I would prefer that you do a clean install, and that way, there would nothing on your drive that would allow Win 7 to be install clean, hense giving you a better experience because Windows would not have to deal with transfering so many settings. Because of your statement, i would recommend that you do the following :
Make sure you Backup all your Data to an External Drive or CD's or DVD's - Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos.

Also, if you have any specific purchased Programs, eg. Photoshop or any other - That you make sure you have the License Numbers before you do the Upgrade - If you are planning to use them with Win 7.

It's very important that you don't have any Antivirus Software running while you do the Upgrade, preferably, you should Un-install the Antivirus from your Laptop as Antivirus Software hook on to the Master File Table, also Callled MFT, and the Windows Boot Process.
Because of this, Antivirus Software can see changes to both of these files and create a problem while you are Upgrading.

If you feel confortable, download Revo Uninstaller from Cnet/Downloads - Install it on you Laptop and use it to Uninstall the Antivirus.

When you Launch Revo Uninstaller, the first window you see, is everything that you have isntalled on your Laptop. From this list, you can pick any program that you have never use and Uninstall them if you don't need them.

While using Revo, a program like an Antivirus would prompt you that you need to reboot the Laptop in order to finish the Uninstall. Just say no to the prompt and let Revo continue looking for entries on the Register that pertain to the program being Uninsall.
Revo will present the entries in Black Bold - Read the instructions and it tells you to only select those in Bold, you can safely select all presented to you and click delete. Revo will Proceed to find Folders, select all of them and delete them as well. You may get a message that some folders will only be deleted after a reboot.

Now you can reboot your Laptop, and you just got rid of the Antivirus that could cause an Upgrade to fail or any other junk that you have on your hard drive.
Now - The second thing I would recommend is that you don't have any application loading at Startup.

You can launch Revo Again, and the top row of icons will show you one named - Tools, click on that, a vertical row of icons will open up. One named - Autorun Manager.
Click on Autorun Manager and it will show you all the applications that you having running at Windows Startup.

Just Uncheck everyone, you don't have to save anything, as Unchecking with Revo, will immediately turn them off from the Register and from launching when you start Windows.
Now you can reboot your Laptop one more time, and those programs would not be an issue.
I guess since you will be doing an Upgrade, then insert your Retail Win 7 Upgrade DVD into your DVD Player and beging your Upgrade Installation.

I am not suggesting that the upgrade will not finish properly without doing the above, i am just trying to make sure that no program for some reason interrupts the Upgrade process.
After one year of use, you may or may have not install a lot of programs, we don't know that, but starting with a Clean installation is good, since it returns your machines as brand new. Which is the reason why i said to check for Windows 7 Drivers and Software at the Toshiba Website, So that if you select a Clean Install, you can then update the drivers for your hardware in your Laptop.

I hope that everything goes well, and have fun as Win 7 is very nice to use.
Geo

Note: This post was edited by its original author to add some line breaks in the post on 10/07/2011 at 1:19 PM PT

Hi Jean,

You've made the right move in Upgrading your Vista Operating System to Windows 7. I've read through the posts so far, and while many possibilities are mentioned, you're the one who has to live with the consequences. So here goes.

First of all, you're using the word Upgrade but we're not sure exactly what you mean. Are you planning on using an Upgrade disk to update your laptop? Are you installing a new, fresh version of Windows 7? I'll try to walk you through the possibilities.

First of all, check and see what version of Vista you're using. If you plan to upgrade, you have to use the same version as you're using in Vista. For example, if you're using Vista Home Premium, 32 bit - and you use an upgrade disk, you have to install Windows 7 Home Premium, 32 bit. You can't install an upgrade over a different version such as Vista Business or Vista Home, and you have to stick with 32 bit to 32-bit or 64 bit to 64 bit.

Your next question which has been thoroughly discussed so far, is Clean Installation or Upgrade? Well, first of all you need to know that you can't use an Upgrade Disk to do a clean install (or at least not without an hour on the phone with Microsoft later). Let me clarify here before the sharpshooters start bombarding me with negative comments. If you use the Upgrade disk, you must have an existing qualified operating system installed and activated. You may elect to do a clean install during the process or you may elect to do the upgrade, retaining all of your data and programs. You must pay very close attention to avoid losing your data if you haven't backed it up.

So if you want to use the less expensive Upgrade Disk, you'll need to install it over the existing Vista installation. By the way, that goes for upgrading from XP to Windows 7 as well. Don't worry though, the upgrade disk does a very good job in transferring all of your data and programs into the new Operating System. And that brings me to my next point.

Before you attempt to do any installation of any kind you MUST BACK UP YOUR DATA!!! That means pictures, music, program data, Outlook PST files, other email program files, your Favorites folder, your Desktop Folder, any Downloads you may want to save from your Download Folder, or any other files that you consider important. You should be doing this anyway as routine protection against data loss. If you don't know how to do this, you should find a program that will back up the entire partition for you. EASUS is a free download here on CNET that will copy a partition for you to another partition or to another drive. Then you'll know all of your data is safe.

Finally Jean, since you've already been up front about not being very computer literate, I would highly recommend you take your laptop down to the local computer shop and ask them to back up your data and install Windows 7. Most shops will do this for you for a very reasonable price and you can usually get your laptop back in a day or so. If you want to get your feet wet, which isn't a bad idea, then make sure you back up first, last, and always.

You can follow this link from a previous CNET Forum subject to see how I install new operating systems:

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-6138_102-535872.html?messageId=5177020#message5177020

Enjoy your new Windows 7 Operating system.

Sorry Infortran, but you are flat out wrong. A clean install is an installation with a completely empty formatted hard drive. So get your jargon straight. If you try to use an upgrade disk to do a "clean" install (for example, on a new hard drive), the product will not activate properly and you'll spend an hour on the phone with Microsoft if you happen to have the correct phone number. I know this because I've done it on numerous occasions where the customers hard drive was fried and had to be replaced. Good time for an upgrade.

You cannot upgrade a 32 bit Vista OS with a 64 bit Windows 7 OS. Period. They aren't compatible, and there's a high probability that the devices will not cross over. You can do a "Clean Install" of Windows 7, but you'd be well advised to run the Windows 7 Upgrade adviser first. Even then it's a crap shoot with some laptops.

As far as upgrading XP is concerned, you aren't really doing a clean install as much as it is a Custom Install. When upgrading from XP to Windows 7, the upgrade disk conveniently creates a folder called Windows.old with all of your backup files in the new Windows 7 installation. Not so in a Clean install.

Finally, Windows 7 does NOT work fine with all Vista Drivers. That is why you run the Upgrade Advisor first. It will tell you what programs and drivers may not be compatible with a Windows 7 installation.

Readers....Please don't be discouraged by my comments here. Installing Windows 7 should be an easy task for most users. Upgrades usually go off without a hitch. Simply check with the Windows Upgrade adviser first to be sure your computer is going to work with your desired new OS. The adviser will tell you what may not work, then you can decide for yourself.

Good Luck to All

....article on this subject. I am sure you are correct. The whole meaning of "upgrade" has changed at Microsoft anyway.

Dear Jean,
Although I have no direct experience with Vista (from all that I have heard and read that is a good thing), I have always found it is much better to do a clean install of an OS. Upgrading, or even reinstalling the same OS, always seems to leave some setting or data behind that later comes back to bite you.
I recommend that you do a Google search for "clean install of Windows 7." This will bring up many articles and instruction sets, many even from Microsoft. A little research through these results and you should be able to proceed with your installation with a good set of instructions and warnings about any tricky spots too.
Most important is following the instructions for backing up your files first. No shortcuts here.
Good luck!

Things to remember
> Check first for the compatibility of the laptop. (Check it on the manufacturer website)
> Check and download the drivers (Video, Audio, Lan, wLan, webcam, and etc.) for windows 7
> Do a clean install (clear the Hard Disk)
> After installing Windows 7 make sure to use Error-Checking and Disk Defragmenter

I want to share my experience after i upgraded an ACER Windows Vista desktop (Aspire M1610) to Windows 7. After the installation, i got a big trouble on my newly updated Windows 7 (hanging to be exact) and I do not know which one cause the problem. After a while i just disabled my aero and go to Windows 7 Basic theme then problem solved!.

Hi.
I updated my wife's Toshiba laptop last fall.
No sweat. But, in order to have all the required drivers, i bought a software: "Driver Navigator" for $ 32.
http://www.drivernavigator.com/
When Windows was installed, I ran Driver Navigator and installed the necessary drivers. To be on the safe side, you should have at least 100 MB on drive C.\ to do it.
You should save before the upgrade: Your Documents, Internet Explorer Favorites, Microsoft Outlook "save" and your Passwords. You will find Windows 7 a lot easier than Vista, especialy if you share documents between PC's.
Have fun.

Unless there is a reason (big one) to drop Vista, there would be little point in the exercise. It could easily be counterproductive.

If you can get your percentages so wrong, would it not be good to stop a little while and think things through?
Haste is not a good adviser.

You do. Misleading? No, plain wrong. Speedreading (which is what it started with) is as bad as speedwriting. Think before you leap, to rephrase my advice. And thanks for your good wishes, although in fact I do not enjoy Vista. It works most of the time. I just use it, as I would any other OS. It is not about sentiments or "opinions". It is about practicalities, which is what you seem to overlook.