General question about installation of win7

I have a vista computer which is 4 years old but still like new. I have
not used it since I bought this new laptop with win7 on it. I really
like my win7 a lot more than vista and I have been considering buying a
win7 software and installing it on my old vista - no upgrade, a
complete format to get rid of vista and a complete install of win7 from
scratch.

The people at the computer shop tell me this is terribly complicated and
that almost everyone who has tried it has ended up screwing up his
computer beyond salvage. They insist it would be better if I paid them
$150 and let them do it for me. Before doing that I wanted a second
(and third and fourth) opinion so here I am.

Thanks in advance for all opinions, advice, comments, warnings, etc.
--
Tony Vella
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

On 12-Dec-2011 13:02, Tony Vella wrote:
> I have a vista computer which is 4 years old but still like new. I have
> not used it since I bought this new laptop with win7 on it. I really
> like my win7 a lot more than vista and I have been considering buying a
> win7 software and installing it on my old vista - no upgrade, a complete
> format to get rid of vista and a complete install of win7 from scratch.
>
> The people at the computer shop tell me this is terribly complicated and
> that almost everyone who has tried it has ended up screwing up his
> computer beyond salvage. They insist it would be better if I paid them
> $150 and let them do it for me. Before doing that I wanted a second (and
> third and fourth) opinion so here I am.
>
> Thanks in advance for all opinions, advice, comments, warnings, etc.

Tell the computer shop to go suck a lemon. They're just trying to rip
you off.

--
Leala.

Tony Vella wrote:
> I have a vista computer which is 4 years old but still like new. I have
> not used it since I bought this new laptop with win7 on it. I really
> like my win7 a lot more than vista and I have been considering buying a
> win7 software and installing it on my old vista - no upgrade, a
> complete format to get rid of vista and a complete install of win7 from
> scratch.
>
> The people at the computer shop tell me this is terribly complicated and
> that almost everyone who has tried it has ended up screwing up his
> computer beyond salvage. They insist it would be better if I paid them
> $150 and let them do it for me. Before doing that I wanted a second
> (and third and fourth) opinion so here I am.
>
> Thanks in advance for all opinions, advice, comments, warnings, etc.

It depends on how much value you place on your time and how confident
you are. Backing up *all* your data, including the bits that aren't in
your Documents folder, finding the hardware drivers, installing Windows
7, installing all the drivers and updates, and then restoring all your
data and programs would probably take the computer over a day, of which
I'd need to spend an hour or two actually sitting next to it.

How much would you trust the shop to *properly* back up your system
before doing the work? I know I wouldn't trust our local shops at all.

After saying that, there are no real "Gotchas" when installing Windows 7
that aren't there when you install Vista. The worst that can happen in
my experience is that you lose any data you've not backed up, and may
have to go back to Vista, but screwing up a computer "beyond all
salvage" takes *real* talent. It's not even all that hard to transfer
all your settings over, either, so you can end up with Windows 7 working
(And looking, if that's your fancy) just as Vista did before. It may
even run faster than Vista did, too.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

Leala wrote:
> On 12-Dec-2011 13:02, Tony Vella wrote:
>> I have a vista computer which is 4 years old but still like new. I have
>> not used it since I bought this new laptop with win7 on it. I really
>> like my win7 a lot more than vista and I have been considering buying a
>> win7 software and installing it on my old vista - no upgrade, a complete
>> format to get rid of vista and a complete install of win7 from scratch.
>>
>> The people at the computer shop tell me this is terribly complicated and
>> that almost everyone who has tried it has ended up screwing up his
>> computer beyond salvage. They insist it would be better if I paid them
>> $150 and let them do it for me. Before doing that I wanted a second (and
>> third and fourth) opinion so here I am.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for all opinions, advice, comments, warnings, etc.
>
> Tell the computer shop to go suck a lemon. They're just trying to rip
> you off.
>

Seconded. It's a very well trodden path to install and replace.
Get your Win7 disk, boot from it, choose to format the C drive, install.

Don't have any qualms at all. Even if you feel ill at ease with it, and
nervousness makes you hesitant, bear in mind that you can do it again;
because you won't be afraid of losing anything, since that's one of the
objects being aimed at.

And if you have any little question at all about the procedure, just ask
here. There are lots of people who do that job many times a year.

Ed

Tony Vella wrote:
> I have a vista computer which is 4 years old but still like new. I
> have not used it since I bought this new laptop with win7 on it. I
> really like my win7 a lot more than vista and I have been considering
> buying a win7 software and installing it on my old vista - no
> upgrade, a complete format to get rid of vista and a complete
> install of win7 from scratch.
>
> The people at the computer shop tell me this is terribly complicated
> and that almost everyone who has tried it has ended up screwing up
> his computer beyond salvage. They insist it would be better if I paid
> them $150 and let them do it for me. Before doing that I wanted a
> second (and third and fourth) opinion so here I am.
>
> Thanks in advance for all opinions, advice, comments, warnings, etc.

Stick the installation DVD in your optical drive, reboot, and follow the
simple directions for a clean install. Then find a new computer shop.
--
Crash

What happens online, stays online.

On 12 Dec 2011, Tony Vella <> wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

> I have a vista computer which is 4 years old but still like new.
> I have not used it since I bought this new laptop with win7 on it.
> I really like my win7 a lot more than vista and I have been
> considering buying a win7 software and installing it on my old
> vista - no upgrade, a complete format to get rid of vista and a
> complete install of win7 from scratch.
>
> The people at the computer shop tell me this is terribly
> complicated and that almost everyone who has tried it has ended up
> screwing up his computer beyond salvage. They insist it would be
> better if I paid them $150 and let them do it for me. Before
> doing that I wanted a second (and third and fourth) opinion so
> here I am.

Do a little research and then decide. Make a list of all the major
components of the computer, the motherboard, video adapter, sound card,
etc. Check the manufacturer's web sites to see if they have specific
drivers available for Windows 7. If they do, you should be able to
install Windows 7 with little or no problem. If they mention only Vista
drivers, you may still be able to do it, but be prepared to jump
through some hoops. If they have only XP or earlier drivers, it might
still be made to work, but depending on your level of expertise, you
may not want to risk the time, money and potential aggravation to
upgrade.

On 12/12/2011 19:28, Nil wrote:
> On 12 Dec 2011, Tony Vella<> wrote in
> alt.windows7.general:
>
>> I have a vista computer which is 4 years old but still like new.
>> I have not used it since I bought this new laptop with win7 on it.
>> I really like my win7 a lot more than vista and I have been
>> considering buying a win7 software and installing it on my old
>> vista - no upgrade, a complete format to get rid of vista and a
>> complete install of win7 from scratch.
>>
>> The people at the computer shop tell me this is terribly
>> complicated and that almost everyone who has tried it has ended up
>> screwing up his computer beyond salvage. They insist it would be
>> better if I paid them $150 and let them do it for me. Before
>> doing that I wanted a second (and third and fourth) opinion so
>> here I am.
>
> Do a little research and then decide. Make a list of all the major
> components of the computer, the motherboard, video adapter, sound card,
> etc. Check the manufacturer's web sites to see if they have specific
> drivers available for Windows 7. If they do, you should be able to
> install Windows 7 with little or no problem. If they mention only Vista
> drivers, you may still be able to do it, but be prepared to jump
> through some hoops. If they have only XP or earlier drivers, it might
> still be made to work, but depending on your level of expertise, you
> may not want to risk the time, money and potential aggravation to
> upgrade.

I understand that some laptop manufacturers can and do supply (for a
fee) Windows 7 installation disks for their Vista machines. Surely it
would be best to look into this first. If lucky, then all his problems
are solved in one go because all the Windows 7 drivers etc for the old
Vista laptop will be there. Naturally the optical disks supplied by the
manufacturer will be model and even serial number specific. So have this
info ready to hand when getting in touch with the laptop manufacturer.
-- choro

On 12/12/2011 1:02 PM, Tony Vella wrote:
> I have a vista computer which is 4 years old but still like new. I have
> not used it since I bought this new laptop with win7 on it. I really
> like my win7 a lot more than vista and I have been considering buying a
> win7 software and installing it on my old vista - no upgrade, a complete
> format to get rid of vista and a complete install of win7 from scratch.
>
> The people at the computer shop tell me this is terribly complicated and
> that almost everyone who has tried it has ended up screwing up his
> computer beyond salvage. They insist it would be better if I paid them
> $150 and let them do it for me. Before doing that I wanted a second (and
> third and fourth) opinion so here I am.
>
> Thanks in advance for all opinions, advice, comments, warnings, etc.

It's very easy to install Win7. But first, use Vista to back up any
must-keep data on the old machine (or even print hardcopies of the
really precious stuff). DVDs are cheap.

Second, buy your Win7 install disk. You probably have 32-bit Vista on
your old machine, so I'd recommend Home Premium 32-bit.

3rd, boot the old machine, and go into Setup (F2, or F8 are the usual
keys for this). The dig around until you find "boot order" or similar.
Change the first one to CD-ROM. On some machine you will find the actual
CD/DVD drive names, if so, make sure you use it as the first boot option.

4th, insert the W7 DVD, power down and reboot. The installation screen
for Win 7 should appear. It will almost immediately tell you it found a
prior version of Windows, and will ask whether you want to keep it. I
can't recall the actual wording, but it will be clear enough. Decide
whether you want Win7 to use the whole hard drive, or whether you want
to create at least one extra partition. (I recommend that you do so, use
it for your data). Either way, reformatting the disk can take a long time.

Then just follow the prompts on the screen.

FWIW, I had two hard disks on this machine when I bought W7, I installed
it on the second disk, first creating additional partitions.
Installation went without a hitch.

HTH
Wolf K.

On 12/12/2011 2:28 PM, Nil wrote:
> Do a little research and then decide. Make a list of all the major
> components of the computer, the motherboard, video adapter, sound card,
> etc. Check the manufacturer's web sites to see if they have specific
> drivers available for Windows 7. If they do, you should be able to
> install Windows 7 with little or no problem.[snip]

Good advice, but Win 7 will find rivers for your peripherals. I couldn't
find a driver for a nearly 10-year-old laser printer, everything else
worked after Win7 had "found new hardware" and done its magic. It's
really a very versatile and forgiving OS.

HTH
Wolf K.

On 12/12/2011, choro posted:
> On 12/12/2011 19:28, Nil wrote:
>> On 12 Dec 2011, Tony Vella<> wrote in
>> alt.windows7.general:
>>
>>> I have a vista computer which is 4 years old but still like new.
>>> I have not used it since I bought this new laptop with win7 on it.
>>> I really like my win7 a lot more than vista and I have been
>>> considering buying a win7 software and installing it on my old
>>> vista - no upgrade, a complete format to get rid of vista and a
>>> complete install of win7 from scratch.
>>>
>>> The people at the computer shop tell me this is terribly
>>> complicated and that almost everyone who has tried it has ended up
>>> screwing up his computer beyond salvage. They insist it would be
>>> better if I paid them $150 and let them do it for me. Before
>>> doing that I wanted a second (and third and fourth) opinion so
>>> here I am.
>>
>> Do a little research and then decide. Make a list of all the major
>> components of the computer, the motherboard, video adapter, sound card,
>> etc. Check the manufacturer's web sites to see if they have specific
>> drivers available for Windows 7. If they do, you should be able to
>> install Windows 7 with little or no problem. If they mention only Vista
>> drivers, you may still be able to do it, but be prepared to jump
>> through some hoops. If they have only XP or earlier drivers, it might
>> still be made to work, but depending on your level of expertise, you
>> may not want to risk the time, money and potential aggravation to
>> upgrade.

> I understand that some laptop manufacturers can and do supply (for a fee)
> Windows 7 installation disks for their Vista machines. Surely it would be
> best to look into this first. If lucky, then all his problems are solved in
> one go because all the Windows 7 drivers etc for the old Vista laptop will be
> there. Naturally the optical disks supplied by the manufacturer will be model
> and even serial number specific. So have this info ready to hand when getting
> in touch with the laptop manufacturer.
> -- choro

But his computer is a desktop.

Although what you say might apply to it also.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)