As is standard M.O. with any new version of Windows, a clean install is best. But clean installs are time consuming as they'd require back ups and reformats and installs and reinstalls and configurations. For some, just doing an upgrade is the preferred way.
Supposedly, the upgrade from Windows Vista to 7 is the most straightforward yet, thanks to the similarity in underlying software. Unfortunately, some users are finding out that the upgrade to Windows 7 could have disastrous, crippling effects.
Participants in a Microsoft support forum are now posting in a thread titled, "Windows 7 - Install Message - Upgrade Unsuccessful." The first poster detailed his or her problem:
"Hello, I purchased Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit. I am attempting to upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit. On the last step of the upgrade (transferring files/programs/etc), my laptop rebooted and came to a screen telling me the upgrade was unsuccessful and my previous OS files would now be restored. My laptop is now in what seems to be a loop of restarting and trying to restore the files.
"Each copy of Windows I have are genuine (not pirated or anything), and I ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Compatibility Advisor and received no warnings from it before attempting to upgrade. My laptop meets the minimum requirements for upgrade."
Now other users are reporting the same type of problem, though there hasn't yet been a commonality other than trying to upgrade. Some users are upgrading using retail, pressed media, while others are using the installer files from Digital River's $29 student offer.
So far the problem only seems to affect a very small number of users, but Microsoft still has yet to find a solution. One Microsoft support engineer suggested to those who had to burn their own discs from images to use the slowest write speed as possible to avoid corruption.
Have you been having any problems upgrading from Vista?
