Upgrading to windows 8?

[terazbox]

Hey all!
got some questions. Since they're offering a fairly decent price on an upgrade for Windows 8, dear hubby thinks he wants to install it on our laptop and give it a try.

I told him that I would be interested in "trying" it, provided I was happy with a few answers that I hope you all can be kind enough to provide.

I'm not great with technical computer lingo, but I shall try my best to give you all what is needed for replies.

We have a Acer aspire 7535, running 7 home prem 64 - it came preinstalled with and I actually have made 2 different copies of the backup/restore disks at 2 different times and I had done that factory reinstall thing.

I did do the compatibility check thing and this is what we came up with:

install an app to play dvds - may need to install
sidebar gadgets aren't supported
secure boot isn't compatible with your pc so you won't be able to use it with windows 8

what exactly is that and what does it do and will it be a concern?


adobe activeshare 1.3.1 - go to app website for help

microsoft security essentials - go to app website for help

webroot secure anywhere - says it isn't compatible

internet explorer - update available - We don't like internet explorer anyhow, LOL and prefer to use chrome or mozilla -or godzilla as hubby refers to it

hp deskjet f2400 series - update available


the other things that it looked at say they are compatible

so, my questions are:

laptop came preinstalled with Works - does that stay on the computer?

I purchased a fully functional office 2010 home & student as a download - no backup cd copy - will I need to reinstall it after the upgrade?

other programs that are on laptop - do we need to reinstall these or do they stay? I was a little confused with what microsoft site said, but I "think" they do?

Acer has a games section that I created a wild tangent account with and have several games - bejeweled, collapse and some others. Not sure if they will work - anybody else know?

we don't do any other gaming except for a few on my facebook account and the ones that came with microsoft games - solitaire and what have you.

Anyone know how that all comes out?

And last, yes...I have backed up just about every file/folder that exists on C drive onto a backup hard drive - lol, probably have multiples of many as I learned the hard way to keep backups from my older desktop and purchased a 1tb backup last year that I use as a USB rather than going through their backup software - it is a WD product.

And then, if we give windows 8 a try and decide that we don't like it, how hard is it to switch back to windows 7 using the recovery discs?

Any suggestions, comments and anything helpful would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read and assist!!!!!

 

[johnbl]

if you were running 64 bit windows 7 then 64 bit windows 8 should work pretty good for you. Microsoft will do a good job updating their own software, it is mostly 3rd party software they have issues with. Office, works, things like that should be fine.

you don't have secure boot, so that is not a issue to worry about. (it is a method to block booting bad OS images)

going back to windows 7 should be pretty easy but you would have to use your restore image. (make sure you know how to do that)

 

[geofelt]

What do you hope to gain by changing to windows 8?
There are not many things that I can think of.
It looks like there are a number of issues for you, and what do you gain?
Faster boot time perhaps is the only one that comes to mind.

I installed Windpws-8 on a pc with a touch screen intended for my computer illiterate wife.
I hated it so much . I had to go on the internet to find out how to find the button to turn off the PC!!
I could not in good conscience turn it over to her.

My suggestion for laptop performance is to install a SSD for the os.
I have done this on several laptops, and the transformation is stunning.

It is hard to switch back. If you want to try w8, I suggest you remove your current os drive and substitute a new one that you can experiment with. If you need to go back, reinstall your old drive which was untouched.

 

[geofelt]

What do you hope to gain by changing to windows 8?
There are not many things that I can think of.
It looks like there are a number of issues for you, and what do you gain?
Faster boot time perhaps is the only one that comes to mind.

I installed Windpws-8 on a pc with a touch screen intended for my computer illiterate wife.
I hated it so much . I had to go on the internet to find out how to find the button to turn off the PC!!
I could not in good conscience turn it over to her.

My suggestion for laptop performance is to install a SSD for the os.
I have done this on several laptops, and the transformation is stunning.

It is hard to switch back. If you want to try w8, I suggest you remove your current os drive and substitute a new one that you can experiment with. If you need to go back, reinstall your old drive which was untouched.

 

[SchizTech]

I did do the compatibility check thing and this is what we came up with:

install an app to play dvds - may need to install

Windows media player loses the ability to play DVDs in Windows 8, but there's free software like VLC media player that can do it

sidebar gadgets aren't supported
secure boot isn't compatible with your pc so you won't be able to use it with windows 8

what exactly is that and what does it do and will it be a concern?

secure boot is a new feature in new Windows 8 certified PCs that helps prevent tampering to the OS but Windows 8 will run fine without it

microsoft security essentials - go to app website for help

webroot secure anywhere - says it isn't compatible

Windows 8 comes with a much stronger version of "Windows Defender" which means it comes with a built-in, free antivirus. You can still install another antivirus though you're still better protected out of the box, so to speak.

laptop came preinstalled with Works - does that stay on the computer?

I purchased a fully functional office 2010 home & student as a download - no backup cd copy - will I need to reinstall it after the upgrade?

other programs that are on laptop - do we need to reinstall these or do they stay? I was a little confused with what microsoft site said, but I "think" they do?

As long as you do an upgrade installation, existing programs (those that are compatible, at least) will be kept.

And then, if we give windows 8 a try and decide that we don't like it, how hard is it to switch back to windows 7 using the recovery discs?

You would have to do a clean install, in other words you would lose whatever you have and start from scratch when you use the Win 7 recovery disks. SInce you have external backup you're prepared, though you also would have to re-install programs that didn't come with the laptop.

 

[maarkr]

I would check the price thru Acer to see if they have their own Win 8, since some laptops have some quirky manufacturer specific software added for some buttons or other features for that model.