What to do, What to do.....

I have Vista 64 Home Edition for system builders. It presently sits (along with all my drivers) on my VelociRaptor HDD as my games are all on my WD SATA II 1TB HDD. Does it pay to upgrade to Windows 7? I built my system back in May. If so, should I get the upgrade for system builders (64 bit Home Edition) or the regular upgrade Home Editon (not the system builders DVD).

Im dreading a clean install because I would have to load all my drivers again, although Im open to this idea because it would give me the oportunity to update my motherboards drivers/chipset. If I do a clean install, would I have to erase all my games and format the other HDD with my games on it?

Message edited by mikeny on 10-20-2009 at 02:44:01 AM

Add a reply

It depends on you! Win7 provides better features, it's snappier, and it will be supported well past Vista. But if you're happy with Vista, there's really no reason. Do what works for you.
As for which version to purchase, OEM for System Builders would mean manually backing up and replacing/re-installing anything that is on the system drive. If that's not much in your case, I would go with that version. Clean installs are better. Just make sure that during the Win7 install you unplug your 1TB HDD to avoid any accidents...
If you want to not have to transfer anything that's currently on the Raptor, go with the upgrade version. (Warning: upgrades can take significantly longer than clean installs.)

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Bolbi

Bolbi wrote :

It depends on you! Win7 provides better features, it's snappier, and it will be supported well past Vista. But if you're happy with Vista, there's really no reason. Do what works for you.
As for which version to purchase, OEM for System Builders would mean manually backing up and replacing/re-installing anything that is on the system drive. If that's not much in your case, I would go with that version. Clean installs are better. Just make sure that during the Win7 install you unplug your 1TB HDD to avoid any accidents...
If you want to not have to transfer anything that's currently on the Raptor, go with the upgrade version. (Warning: upgrades can take significantly longer than clean installs.)

If I pull the plugs (power and sata) on the 1TB HDD and the Raptor gets a clean install, after its done, will Windows 7 be able to read the 1TB HDD since it has my games installed using Vista? Vista does get on my nerves at times. It's already giving me a headache because it's not letting me play a game...PureSim Baseball 2 because of some code; runtime error 339. To be exact: run-time error '339: component COMDLG32.ocx or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid

Im thinking of Windows 7 because I read its better, faster, organizes files better and has multi core support ( I think i read that) Does Windows 7 effect games? Im also thinking of changing to Windows 7 during Christmas so if anything goes wrong, I have time to deal with it lol. You think its wise to do a clean install )dont care about the time it takes)....Im thinking it would get me to update all my drivers including the mobo's

Reply to mikeny

Yup, clean install would make sure you get all drivers updated. Unfortunately, your games would not be recognized. This is true for a clean install regardless of whether or not the 1 TB HDD is unplugged. The only way you can avoid reinstalling all your apps would be an upgrade install. That could carry over unnecessary bloat, registry corruption, and other unwanted leftovers from Vista. That's why clean installs are recommended. Do it if you have time to manually reinstall everything. Note that Win7 will recognize files that are on the 1 TB HDD after a clean install. It's just programs that wouldn't be, due to them being in the Start Menu, using registry keys to let the OS know they're there, etc.

Reply to Bolbi

@mikeny

FYI; If you're going to Win7 I do suggest a format and clean installation of the OP/SYS, I was dual booting the Win7 RC and Vista on the same HDD and had some gaming problems in Win7, however a friend of mine, with the same hardware as mine, had done a clean installation on a single HDD, and had no problems with the same games I had problems with.

------------------------------ Cooling Fan Roundup
Thermal Compound Roundup

Reply to 4Ryan6

i would extremely recommend you to switch to windows 7,you could buy the upgrade, and install it over your system,keeping your ols system in a folder .old but clean installs are better u know.and if you are worried about ur games just make a backup of ur profiles in each game u have,and that should be fine.thats what i ve done.

Reply to damian86

Ok thanx everyone. I'll do a clean install. I figure to wait till December. To prep my drives for Windows 7, do I format them before I put in Windows 7 disc or leave everything on it and Windows 7 will format everything.

Does it matter: I was going to get Home premium 64 bit full version instead of the one for system builders. There's only a $10 difference and I heard the system builders disc seems like your pretty much on your own. The full retail version seems easier.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to mikeny

mikeny wrote :

Ok thanx everyone. I'll do a clean install. I figure to wait till December. To prep my drives for Windows 7, do I format them before I put in Windows 7 disc or leave everything on it and Windows 7 will format everything.

Does it matter: I was going to get Home premium 64 bit full version instead of the one for system builders. There's only a $10 difference and I heard the system builders disc seems like your pretty much on your own. The full retail version seems easier.

The difference between OEM and Full Retail is not $10; that's the difference between OEM and Upgrade Retail. If you use the Upgrade version, it will de-activate your Vista license. That's fine, as the license is only valid for your current PC anyway.
If you use OEM, you will format the drive yourself during the install process. If you use Upgrade, there is no need to format. The installer will move all your old data into a folder called Windows.old and then install the new OS. There won't be any junk left behind except in that one folder, which can be deleted.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Bolbi

Bolbi wrote :

The difference between OEM and Full Retail is not $10; that's the difference between OEM and Upgrade Retail. If you use the Upgrade version, it will de-activate your Vista license. That's fine, as the license is only valid for your current PC anyway.
If you use OEM, you will format the drive yourself during the install process. If you use Upgrade, there is no need to format. The installer will move all your old data into a folder called Windows.old and then install the new OS. There won't be any junk left behind except in that one folder, which can be deleted.

If I get the Home Premium (non OEM or upgrade), do I just put the disc in, restart and will a prompt format my drives?

Reply to mikeny

If you don't get OEM or Upgrade, then the only other option is Full Retail ($200). Yes, you just pop in the disk and reboot. That should bring up the Win7 installer. If not, you will need to go into your BIOS and set it to boot to the DVD drive before the hard drive. It will be pretty obvious how to install Win7; just follow the on-screen instructions. When you install it, there will be a screen that allows you to change "Advanced Options". Click that, and it will take you to a screen where you can play around with the partitions if you want to. Good luck! (As I type, I'm installing Win7 on a relative's computer. )

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Bolbi

Bolbi wrote :

If you don't get OEM or Upgrade, then the only other option is Full Retail ($200). Yes, you just pop in the disk and reboot. That should bring up the Win7 installer. If not, you will need to go into your BIOS and set it to boot to the DVD drive before the hard drive. It will be pretty obvious how to install Win7; just follow the on-screen instructions. When you install it, there will be a screen that allows you to change "Advanced Options". Click that, and it will take you to a screen where you can play around with the partitions if you want to. Good luck! (As I type, I'm installing Win7 on a relative's computer. )

Great Thanx! I forgot to ask, I think Im always screwing it up but, when you do the partition, lets say on a 1TB SATA 2 <32mb cache> you set it to 968GB? I moved the slider all the way till it cant go no further and it stopped at 968. You don't get the full HDD amount right?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to mikeny

mikeny wrote :

Great Thanx! I forgot to ask, I think Im always screwing it up but, when you do the partition, lets say on a 1TB SATA 2 <32mb cache> you set it to 968GB? I moved the slider all the way till it cant go no further and it stopped at 968. You don't get the full HDD amount right?

Right; 968 GB sounds right for a drive that's 1 TB. Formatting and other factors always reduce the partition from it's original "raw" capacity. I'm typing this on my 250 GB laptop, and I only have 232 GB available. Keeping the same ratio, a 1 TB should have 950 GB available, so you're doing pretty well!

Reply to Bolbi

Great, thanx everyone.

Reply to mikeny

What to do, What to do.....

Forum Windows 7 : What to do, What to do.....

General Discussion

Configuration & Customization

Drivers

Security

Please mind