Tech Blog

[#1]

Well I've done it again. My desktop was running Windows 7 Release Candidate (7100) and on March 1st, was set to turn into an uber-annoyance machine unless I installed a full retail version of Win7.

Which is only fair since the Win7 RC was provided free by Microsoft, so I'd essentially been using a free version of the OS for the last 6 months or so. The annoyance factor comes in because on March 1st, Win7 RC begins rebooting every two hours. Totally annoying.

So I did the install. First I reviewed Graham's great overview of the process here. Then I dutifully checked the Windows 7 Upgrade and Migration Guide and spent last Sunday installing Windows 7 Ultimate (32bit) on my desktop computer -- and it was a fairly easy process that I managed to get through in a couple of hours.

It went reasonably well except that I had to do a 'clean' install and not an upgrade, for two reasons:

• Microsoft isn't allowing an upgrade from the Release Candidate (it's not a retail product), and
• I was moving from the 64bit version to the 32bit version.

I'd installed Win7 RC 64bit on my desktop back when the RC was relesed -- thinking I'd maybe update the hardware over time. But, my plans changed, I'm not planning to upgrade the hardware now -- so I opted for the 32GB version of Win7 Ultimate.

Because I was switching 'bit' versions from 64 to 32, Windows needed to replace all the Operating System components -- a clean install -- which is similar to upgrading from Windows XP. Basically Win 7 renames your Windows directory to Windows.old, and installs the new Windows OS alongside the old. Which is fine.

In my case, my entire file structure was mostly unchanged except for that new Windows.old directory.

And this is actually pretty good because everything I had in my previous Windows directory, now called Windows.old, is still there. My game saves, my photo editing settings, various preferences etc. I don't have to start from scratch.

All I do is reinstall all my existing applications (Photoshop, etc) in the same places they were before, and a lot of my settings, extensions, addons and the like will still be there, ready to work, without having to reinstall 'everything'. Your mileage may vary depending on your setup.

But frankly, this has to have been one of the easiest Microsoft upgrades I'd had in years. I know there were problems with some of my old XP upgrades, but it seems that Microsoft has learned a lot as they've evolved through Vista into Windows 7. I know I'm appreciating the upgrade.

Oh, one final tip. For some things I did opt for a new install, mostly internet applications and utilities. For that, go to http://ninite.com -- and use the excellent one-click install process they have for many popular utilities and applications. I wrote about the site back in November, on my personal blog. It really is a timesaver.

[#2]

Glad to hear you've made the switch over to the full version without any problems!

I actually do have to admit that this is one of the easiest installs I've done yet.  And even better, you now actually have the option of being able to reformat your hard drive and starting from scratch using the upgrade disk if you feel so inclined (without taking extra steps that were required with the Vista upgrade disks).  Finally!

Kudos to Microsoft for making this a little less painful, and I have to admit, I couldn't believe how fast the install was.  I think it took just a little over a half hour before I was at my desktop ready to download and install all my updated drivers and programs.

Now then, lets just see how long until I become tempted to reinstall the OS (something I typically do several times a year for a variety of reasons, but mostly to keep things running as smooth as possible).  So far we're at ~2 months since getting my laptop back and I'm perfectly happy.  And I'm at 4 months+ on my netbook with no problems.  How nice!

Enjoy!

[#3]

I know. For the first time the install seemed really painless. And this was not on a stock machine by a big-name manufacturer. I hand built this puppy a few years back and am sure there're some components that are not mainstream.

Yet it all seems to work. Happy me!

[#4]

I also did the upgrade yesterday. With 2 hours left before expiration. I spent 3 days researching what needs to be done. There's a ton of information out there yet not one single clear instruction what to do. So allow me :-)

Windows 7 RC is Windows Ultimate.

I bought the full version Windows Ultimate (350$) and performed an upgrade install. Not a clean install. An upgrade install saves all your settings and installed programs from Windows 7 RC. A clean install wipes out everything. An upgrade install (full retail Windows 7 Ultimate over Windows 7 RC (release candidatte) is sanctioned by Microsoft. There is a very very simple hack to achieve it. If you try it without the hack, the installation tells you you cannot proceed as the installed OS is the same (basically).  All you need to do to allow an upgrade install and save all your settings and installed programs is this:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/3075/how-to-upgrade-the-windows-7-rc-to-rtm/

A.

Its very simple. Steps I took were:

1. Bought Windows 7 Ultimate full version (350$)

2. Have Windows 7 RC already installed including tons of programs

3. Insert Windows 7 Ultimate Disk and it asks what you want to do: install open/view files etc.

3. Created new folder on desktop called Windows 7

4. Selected open/view files on the DVD. Highlighted them all and Drag+Drop them all into the new folder on the desktop.

5. Opened the sources folder, located the cversion.ini file changed the number, saved it and backed out.

6. located the setup.exe in the first directory and clicked it. Installtion began.

7. Then asked Upgrade or Custom Install. Selected Upgrade

8. Full installtion commenced.

9. 3 hours later installing fine, machine shuts down restarts as it normally does

10. At about 73% of expanding files (last installation procedure) machine would shut down but not restart. Simply restart manually and it continues the installation from where it left off. Happend 3 times. If it shuts down at the end, simply restart, it will continue where it left off. There after 100% installed, all previously installed programs still installed and where they were, all settings browser etc. in place, everything exactly the same as before.

B.

It is possible to buy the cheaper Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade DVD for 200$ however there are two catches:

1. It will not install over Windows 7 RC and save all your programs and settings. It will install as an Upgrade only and move all your programs and settings into a new folder called windows.old. From there you will have to reinstall everything. You still have to do the above hack to allow it to install (change the verions number to lower otherwise it thinks the existing OS is the same that you are trying to install)

2. An Upgrade DVD is supposed to be used on a previously bought and paid for OS (XP, Vista. Windows 7  RC is seen by the Upgrade DVD as a previously bought OS (even though you got it for free - because you have registered, is all that it is looking for),  The big problem here is, if you decide to do a clean install later (your machine dies you get a new machine etc) and you only have the Upgrade DVD, you will need to reinstall another OS and register it before you can use the Upgrade DVD. Because it is not a full DVD as in A above just an Upgrade DVD, it needs to confirm there is an existing OS registered on the machine before it will work.

C. It is also possible via another hack to upgrade to any Windows 7 from the RC. You supposed to only upgrade to Ultimate from Ultimate, if you want to upgrade from Ultimate (which is the RC) to Home or Professional, it can be done as well, you'll need to take a further step in addition to A above and change a value in the registery to allow that. Not many people do this type of install if you do, just google how to do the extra step to achieve it.

Otherwise very simple upgrade process with the key being saving all your existing installed programs and settings which if you have many is a real pain to reinstall.

Good luck :-)

[#5]

Dave S: Thanks for that detailed post! I appreciate you bringing all the various bits together into one post...making the easy conversion process even easier!

[#6]

I installed Windows7 too just yesterday and to be honest I don't like it that much. I hate large icons and browsers, I try to adjut the resolution but still it ain't good on my eyes. =( Some find it like a combination of XP and Vista. It's not also a user friendly (just my own opinion). I'll be switching back to XP i think.

[#7]

I don't like large icons either, so I changed it.  From the desktop, right click anywhere on the desktop and under View, select Small Icons (or if you'd prefer, Medium Icons).

For the bottom task bar, right click on the bottom task bar and select Properties.  You can select a variety of options there, including to use small icons again. 

You can further personalize how things look by right-clicking on the desktop and selecting Personalize from the menu.  Here, you can do a bunch of things.  I've made my task bar and windows outlines almost black (personal preference), and I'm using a set of 6 pictures for my desktop wallpaper (I have it set to cycle every hour).  You used to have to download seperate programs with XP (and Vista, I think) to be able to do this.

I currently have my desktop setup to look like a combination of XP and Vista, but better than both.

Windows 7 takes a little getting used to, but play with it for a few days and trust me, it'll grow on you.  If you go back to XP, you'll be guaranteed to miss certain features and you won't like the display as much anymore.

Feel free to post on the forums or here if you're having any specific problems anywhere.

[#8]

This article was very informative for me, I knew a friend who software is recently expiring itself and he was asking me what should he do I will defiantly refer him to this article.