Gateway FX6800-01e Windows 7 upgrade

[Grandmaster B]

I have been choking along with Windows Vista Home Premium for as long as I can stand it on my Gateway FX6800-01e. I just purchased the Windows 7 upgrade family pack and want to start with this PC. I have seen several forums here about the FX6800-01e, but nothing addressing a Windows 7 upgrade.

My main question is: Has anyone else performed this upgrade on their FX rig? I know these Gateways can be a little tempermental, so I was wondering if I should expect any hangups when performing the install. Any hints or tricks, like updating the bios first, would be very helpful. I have reloaded the OS on different machines in the past, but the thought of it always gives me the chills. Thanks!

i7 920 @ 2.66 GHz CPU
6 GB DDR3 RAM
Corsair 650W PSU
Radeon Sapphire HD5850 GPU
750 GB HDD
Windows Vista HP (at the moment)

 

[fowang]

cant see no reason why your system could not run windows 7

 

[mrmotion]

Had a 6800-11. Ran into some serious BSOD's. Constant couldnt clear them. Reinstalled windows vista, ordered the recovery DVD's, tried xp64. Tried different hardware (except for motherboard). Everything resulted in epic failure. Replaced motherboard and main system drive((Sabertooth/raptor)the raptor was on sale huge on newegg; couldn't resist) Installed Win 7 64 bit home premium. Works like a charm. Runs better than it ever did. Something on those motherboards is messed up. If you can just replace it now and never have to worry about it again.

 

[fowang]

better building the PC yourself

 

[mrmotion]

yeah basically what it came down to. Will never buy store bought ever again. built two since

 

[Grandmaster B]

yeah basically what it came down to. Will never buy store bought ever again. built two since

Oh believe me, I have had my share of pain. I had planned on building a PC myself, or going through a company like CyberpowerPC that does custom builds, but found the Gateway refurbished for $700. At that time, there was no way I could touch these specs for anything close to that price, and my old P4 had nothing left to offer me. In hind site, I would have spent more on better...but here I am.
I have thought about replacing the MOBO, since I agree that is likely the root of all this system's problems. If so, I assume I would have no problems reloading the OS from the original Vista recovery discs I made when the system first arrived (then go through the Windows 7 upgrade) on the new board? Or would I need to do a complete fresh install of Windows 7 with a new license?
Also, are you sure a fullsize ATX board (like your Sabertooth) will fit in the Gateway case? I have read that it is a micro atx board, but it is really difficult to find any good information on this system. It would really be nice to be able to OC the CPU a bit, as well as put in some faster memory. There I go, spending money again...

 

[mrmotion]

No it wont fit in that case, I had an Antec 900 sitting around with nothing to do, so i dumped it all in there. As for the windows install, I sprung for the $120 ish OEM Win7 on Newegg.com and went with that. I would advise the same. It wont be worth the hassle let alone all the misc crap that came on the gateway install (if it even works, which i bet it wont). Buy a new case, board, and OEM Win7 and just go from there. Sucks to have to throw added money in but if you can, do it.

 

[mrmotion]

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Sub or change anything you want, just a ref.

 

[Grandmaster B]

mrmotion...thanks for all the info. My W7 upgrade pack just showed up in the mail today. After I do some "house cleaning" on my HD, I am going to do a full backup. Then I am going to give the upgrade a shot. I am pretty scared at the thought, but we will see what happens. As for your proposed upgrades, that is most definately what I would like to do...but finances prevent that much investment ATM. I will be sure to update my experience after my attempt. I think I will try it on my wife's laptop first...Thanks again!

 

[Grandmaster B]

I case anyone else plans up upgrading their Gateway PC from Vista to 7, I want to share my experience. Since there is little in the way of documents, pics, etc on my wife's laptop, I decided to do the Windows 7 upgrade (from Vista) on that one first. That machine is a Gateway FX P-7805u gaming laptop. It completed the upgrade cleanly and I experienced no hangups whatsoever. Start to finish, including the usual bucket load of windows updates, took about 4 hours to complete.

On to the Gateway FX6800-01e PC. Upon starting installation, it did warn me of a few things. First, I updated the drivers for my Canon MP780 printer. It also warned me of potential conflicts with my old Photoshop Elements 4, so I uninstalled that. No big deal as I think there were conflicts with Vista anyhow but the program still worked fine (will try to reload at a later date). It also warned of conflicts with the ATI Catalyst Install Manager and ATI Catalyst Control Center for my HD5850 GPU. No problem, so I uninstalled all that and loaded the W7 upgrade. It took slightly longer to complete the upgrade on this PC, probably because of the 600+ GB currently on the hard drive. After that, lots of windows updates, loaded the current ATI drivers and associated software and gave it a try. Works like a champ. Next week: upgrade number three. A clean install on my daughters AMD dual core XP machine...then the whole house will be up to snuff. At this point, I must recommend the Windows 7 Family Pack upgrade. I feel pretty good about being able to bring three machines up to Windows 7 for only $100.

Thanks for all the advice. If I run into any issues down the road I will be sure to update.