Upgrade from windows xp to win7

The machines that should not be upgraded are much older ones that do not have sufficiently fast hardware. You will be OK. You can upgrade the RAM at any time. Every time Windows starts up, it checks the system to see how much RAM is available for it, so after upgrading, it will simply see that much. Windows 7 does pretty well at non-intensive use with 2GB. You can however use an upgrade disc to install Windows 7 by choosing "custom" at the initial install screen.

It will save your previous Windows XP installation in one large file called "windows. From a strictly technical point of view to use an upgrade disc for Windows 7 is not like previous versions where you could just provide a disc to prove a qualifying previous version. Windows 7 will look for an installed and activated qualifying previous version of Windows installed.

There is a workaround that will allow you to use an upgrade disc to do a "clean" install on an empty disk. A quick Google will find it for you. I don't want to direct you here as it may violate Dells TOS.

Once you've got 7 installed and working to your satisfaction you can get rid of the "windows. At this point if you're going to buy a retail copy of Windows 7 look for one with SP1.

It was released to the Web Feb Doing repair installs etc on a Windows 7 SP1 "patched" computer when all you have is a non-SP1 disc is more problamatic than it was with XP. Browse Community. Windows General. Turn on suggestions. Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type. Showing results for.

I too wrote a post regarding migerating to Win7 from XP. Is it possible to transfer program installations? I have a Dell Latitude D - not a dual-core. Wondering how it would perform Sahir Siddiqui.

It's an old Dell Dimension It's a shame it still can't do Application transfer too. It's one of the things still missing from the Windows competitive tick-sheet.

Well, I have been known in some circles as "crazy" because my computer is something that started up as a DOS3. So I am glad this upgrade to Win7 is possible without major issues. This doesn't migrate non-OS apps though, does it? Microsoft Office? Visual Studio? If a reinstall of apps is needed, I wouldn't consider it an upgrade - just a user file migration.

I haven't used the process myself yet though, so perhaps I'm mistaken? Brad Kingsley. Thanks for the info: Just out of curiosity, I have an XP machine with a c: and d: drive.

The d: drive is my app repository that i want left alone in case i have to format the c: drive. Is it possible to install win 7 on my c: drive without having to format or mess with the d: drive?

Pat Lindley. It doesn't sound like it migrates any apps at all. I do believe there are some 3rd party apps out there to do that though. Hopefully they will be updated to work with Win7 when it hits the shelves. I think MS is hurting adoption somewhat by not providing some sort of straight upgrade capability. I think the migration process might be beyond the capabilities of many home users, or at least they will think it is. One note about your upgrade process: I know they're not too common yet, but if the machine being upgraded contains a solid state disk drive, I would let Win7 delete the partition and re-create it, rather than just reformatting.

This will ensure that the partition is aligned properly on the disk, which Win7 does but XP does not. Not aligning the partition can hinder performance on an SSD. Brad - It doesn't migrate programs, but it does to all settings.

So, after I reinstalled Office 15 minutes all the settings were already present. Pat - Yes, totally. Just don't tell Win7 about your D drive. You can format the C: or, if you like, just install on top of it. Mike - Nope, it doesn't. It brings settings. More questions if you don't mind And did it migrate product keys?

Or do the products need to be reactivated? If they do need to be reactivated, I hope Microsoft accounts for this and enables the additional online activation to smooth that process. August 05, So umm And if not, how did they get the Win7 RTM build? I am thrill of joy :p that VS works as expected, but what about II7?

Thanks in advance and. August 06, For those like me who've accumulated numerous apps, I strongly recommend running Belarc Advisor first. It does the best system inventory I've seen, and I find it really helpful for migrations.

Belarc Advisor is free and I have no connection to it except as a grateful fan. After reading this I am glad I did not even try this - what a royal pain. I found the same links, but could not locate the easy transfer utility 7" EEE screen wasn't helping and decided to just wing it. Please log in with your username or email to continue. No account yet?

Create an account. Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article Steps. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Author Info Last Updated: June 3, First, you will need a Windows 7 installation disc. Load it into your drive. It doesn't matter if you load the disc from inside windows or when your booting up, but you will only be able to load from inside windows if you have it pre-installed.

Then click custom install. If you're not sure whether you computer can handle Windows 7 If your going from vista it will be able to click the other option first again this only applies if you have windows pre-installed. Follow the instructions that come up.

If you want to completely erase your hard-drive and do a clean reinstall you can re-format it.