Comments on: Windows 7 testers have long path to upgrade

Moving from the test to final version of the operating system is not as easy as just forking over the money. In some cases, two installations are required.

[lennie22]

"Windows 7 testers have long path to upgrade" well, Ina I wouldn't say long upgrade path.....well it would be longer than just installing retail Windows7, but vista takes roughly 30minutes to install and windows7 takes about 20 so give or take a couple minutes we're looking at about 50minutes to upgrade.

[ucity2]

What's the big deal? I installed Windows 7 RC as soon as it was made available. It's a wonderful OS and it's been running without a glitch since the I used the upgrade to get out from under Vista. I took advantage of the pre-release special and am looking forward to installing the new OS on my two machines. A clean install can be a hassle if you aren't properly prepared, but if you've been good and have everything backed up, it will get rid of a lot of clutter and have your PC running like new (better if you upgraded from Vista).

I for one am just glad to have a sound OS available to me again. Vista was a nightmare.

[ucity2]

What's the big deal? I installed Windows 7 RC as soon as it was made available. It's a wonderful OS and it's been running without a glitch since the I used the upgrade to get out from under Vista. I took advantage of the pre-release special and am looking forward to installing the new OS on my two machines. A clean install can be a hassle if you aren't properly prepared, but if you've been good and have everything backed up, it will get rid of a lot of clutter and have your PC running like new (better if you upgraded from Vista).

I for one am just glad to have a sound OS available to me again. Vista was a nightmare.

[Guru Master]

Not quite sure what this article's intent is. Is it to confuse and beFUDdle home users? If so, good job, Ina.

Why? The overwhelming majority of home users who will upgrade to Windows 7 will have an OEM machine with XP or Vista on a sytem restore partition, and the installed version on their C:\ drive. That takes care of almost all home users. Most of the rest have purchased a full retail or OEM version of a Windows OS and are running that. Of the people who are running the RC of W7, most have multi-OS boot systems or are running VM's and these people know how to keep their files intact, generally have high end machines, broadband connections making installs/downloads very fast and know what they are doing. Maybe Ina should consult with some of them?

If you do have an OEM provided XP or Vista system restore partition, it contains the previous OS required for an upgrade, so you will be all set, unless you messed with it. As long as you leave that partition alone, go ahead and install the W7 RC over your current installation of XP or Vista (making sure you have backed up all important files first). When it comes time to do the released W7 upgrade, backup your files, boot with the disk in the DVD drive, wipe the partition with W7 RC by deleting the W7 RC system partition, recreate one in it's place, and do a clean install of W7. It will find and recognize all major OEM's system restore partitions for the upgrade feature/requirement, as has always been the case and still is. This is why the default for an upgrade now looks at the hard drive, not a disk (and to help stop piracy) as this is the scenario most home upgrade users will encounter.

If you have one of the machines that has the system restore partition and your hard drive has failed, it is best to procure a replacement hard drive with the OS restore partition you purchased from the OEM, which is free during warranty periods if you want to keep your upgrade path eligible.

That being said, I always go for the full retail versions and do not buy OEM PC's, I build my own. The upgrade version may save you money today, but in the long run you are better off having the full retail install disk.

[shellcodes_coder]

I have been running rc on my test machine and I would never upgrade from beta/RC version to the final version. I would rather do a clean install

[weegg]

I may be a mac-head but I don't understand all the fuss. Its just good standard practice to do what they said. People are so damn lazy today.

[eriew]

I still haven't heard about OEM pricing on a PC that I built for the beta test (and RC).

Is M$ offering an OEM license and if so for what cost?

[crewfan69]

If the upgrade install for Win 7 is like it was for Vista then it should be no problem. It has been pointed out here in a previous post. You can install Vista as an upgrade on a clean HDD just by installing as a 30-day trial and avoid entering the product key of your old version of Windows. When you get to the desktop install again and during the second install, enter your Vista, or in the case 7, upgrade product key and you should be good to go.

[Heebee Jeebies]

While it is unfortunate that the upgrade process for going from one version of Windows to another has never been all that slick. Your best bet bar none for any major OS update (save those coming from Windows Update) is to always do a fresh install.

Lets face it when you install and uninstall applications very rarely do all the little bits and bobs go with it. Think of these upgrades as a chance to clean the slate, trully wipe out all of the little bits and bobs left behind over the years and to start fresh. Not only will you end up with a speedier OS, but more drive space as well.

While I am not thrilled having to backup, reinstall the OS, reinstall the applications and restore my data. I would still do it this way for the clean start, fewer problems and more drive space. Also lets not forget that you should be updating to the latest drivers anyways, either those that come with Windows 7 or what you download from the hardware makers web site for Windows 7. Plus you have software updates to deal with any problems with Windows 7 so in the end a fresh install is the best way to go.

Robert

[tsphil]

"if a user did a clean installation of Windows 7 on their test system (as recommended by Microsoft), that same user will have to back up their data, reinstall their original operating system (XP or Vista), then install Windows 7, restore their data, and then reinstall their applications."

Not true...if you read here:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/14/microsoft-confirms-windows-7-rc-upgrade-rules/

"users running an activated version of Windows 7 Release Candidate will not have to "reinstall an older version of Windows before using a Windows 7 upgrade disk."

So if you are running the RC 1 there is no need to reinstall your old OS.

[jpsaply]

The article seems to be a bit off, saying that if you started fresh with a clean install of the Win7 RC that you would have to do another clean install of XP to put official win 7 on. Wrong.

1) back up files
2) delete and recreate partitions.
3)Run installation setup of official Win 7 cd or official Win 7 upgrade CD. It should tell you at a point of the installation that it cant find previous OS. Just slip in a XP or Vista CD into drive and it will continue further since it will recognize that you have an official OS CD.