Upgrade: Hers or Mine?

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jerreece

jerreece

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Sep 7, 2006
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So here's where I'm at. Hopefully you folks will have some honest input to help me decide what the best path is. My wife's computer has gotten to the point it freezes and locks up while she's browsing websites. So I decided to format and re-install windows. I've ordered 2 copies of Windows 7 Home for us, and will install that once we get our copies.

I'm running Win 7 RC right now, and have an additional key for her system. However, I found out last night that the Win 7 RC disk will NOT read in her computer. Win XP 64bit works, Vista 64bit works, but it just won't read the Win 7 RC disk (in windows, or at boot). Here's what she has:

Athlon X2 64bit 4400+ (2.2Ghz)
Asus A8N-SLI
2GB Corsair XMS DDR
ATI X1950 GPU

This is an old system, I'm quite aware. But it seems to run Vista 64bit fairly smoothly (this after one evening). This system is eventually going to need replaced for sure, however my wife rarely plays games at this point since we have very young kids. I however, do nothing but game on my machine. Right now I'm mainly playing Age of Conan, using DX10 settings. My system is listed in my signature at the bottom of this post.

I'm wondering if I should find a cheap upgrade for her system (AMD PII or similar) to get her a quick system, or if I should upgrade my system (obviously at higher cost) and give her my Q6600/680i setup. For now, I'd probably continue to use the GTX 260 myself, and let her keep the X1950 she's using since she doesn't game.

I'm not really into the price on the new i5/i7 systems, but I can't see upgrading my system unless it's a substantial upgrade.

All I'm looking to upgrade in either direction would be CPU/Mobo/RAM. All other components I should be able to keep.

EDIT: Sorry, my signature didn't show up. Here's my system:

Q6600 @ 3.2Ghz / XFX 680i / 4GB Corsair XMS2
MSI GTX 260 Core 216 / 2x 1TB HDD Raid 0
Xigmatek HDT-1283 / Antec TPQ-850
 
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Outlander_04

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Nov 18, 2008
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Theres no reason why win 7 wouldnt install but vista does . The OS kernell is identical and 7 has better driver support so just being win7 is not the problem .

Make sure her computer has the dvd drive set to be first boot device in Bios .
[ it is a dvd drive and not just a cd?]
Put the win 7 disk in the drive and reboot using the reset switch .

All data will be lost so make back ups before you do it , or call a divorce lawyer
 
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jerreece

jerreece

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Sep 7, 2006
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Way ahead of ya. I actually took her existing DVD drive out, and replaced it with a newer DVD drive I had as an extra. Still no go. Double checked the boot priority, etc. The system will boot from the XP disk, and the Vista disk, but will tell me the Win 7 disk is not a valid boot disk.

Also, from within Windows (xp and Vista) the CD & DVD drives both read empty. I can put the Win 7 disk in, take it out, put it in, and it will still act like the drive is empty. Never auto-runs, can't explore the disk. If I right click the drive icon, hit Explore, it'll eject itself and ask me to place a disk in the drive.

Have uninstalled, and reinstalled the drivers for the DVD drives, nothing still. The same Win7 copy works fine in my PC, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

I've got the Win7RC burned to a standard DVD, so it's not an issue of a special dual-layer, or HD type disk format.

Either way, her system is pretty out dated. I'm sort of considering doing an i5-750 upgrade for myself, and setting her up with my quite capable Q6600 setup. But it's looking like that upgrade would be $400-$450.
 
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Onus

Onus

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Jan 27, 2006
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...but when you upgrade yours next year, prices will have dropped so it will be cheaper, and/or you'll be able to get better parts.

Why not try burning a new Win7 DVD for her? Your drive alignments may be such that your current DVD will read in yours but not in hers. Put her new DVD drive in your machine long enough to do a copy to it.
 
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jerreece

jerreece

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Well, that or I can just transfer the .iso over the home network and burn it with her system. First I have to get the two computers to talk over the network. ;) Only played with it about 5 minutes or so last night. However, it seems that networking Vista & Win 7 is not quite as simple as XP was. Lots of permissions settings and passwords and stuff.

Probably doing something wrong there, but both systems (even though folder/file sharing is on) say they can't get permission to read the other. Her's even asks mine for a login name and password.
 
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jerreece

jerreece

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Ultimately if her machine is infected, that problem probably needs addressed before installing Windows 7 anyhow. I've got Vista installed on it right now. Probably should install some anti-virus and see about doing a boot sector scan.

Otherwise, she'll have a Win 7 system that still has an infection.
 
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jerreece

jerreece

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Keep in mind I used the same disk to install Win 7 RC on my computer. And that worked/works fine. Disk is in beautiful shape, not a single scratch. If I recall, I think I may have used Magic ISO to burn it.

Ultimately though, I can leave Vista on her machine for the time being. I've got 2 copies of Win 7 Home which should ship out next month (October) when they are officially released. So if it is a bad disk/burn, that will be rectified soon anyhow.

I have been able to use other CD/DVD disks in her system in the past which I burned on my system (same CD/DVD burner). So I'm not really convinced there's a compatibility issue there. Who knows though.

At this point however, even with Vista on her system, the old nForce4 chipset is no longer supported by nVidia. I had to manually locate chipset drivers and the Realtek audio driver to get things running. Unfortunately, she still has no sound, and there are "Unknown Device" errors in Hardware Manager. So I'm still considering it may be time to either upgrade her system to make it modern, or update mine and give her my existing system.

That and I'm obsessed with PC upgrades and staying somewhat up to date.
 
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Shadow703793

Shadow703793

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Feb 3, 2007
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Outlander_04

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Linux is so wonderful some days .

Throw in a free[ish] linux install disc and partiton and format a drive thats suspect and things like boot sector viruses become part of history .

Once the partiton and format is complete exit the install and then start again with windows which will smirk proudly as it erases trases of the reiser Fs formatting
 
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psycho sykes

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Aug 24, 2009
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There might be something in the DVD conflicting with the whole computer or the BIOS!
Have you tried to boot from it while you have XP or Vista installed on the main boot drive? And while not??
For partitioning try (Herein's boot CD).. Versions from 8.0 and up support NTFS and are free (Uses 1.Acronis Disk Doctor 2.Norton Partition Magic etc.) (old versions but work)
@Shadow703793 Your sig appears to me very big! You might want to recheck the links..
 
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