Windows 7 upgrading issues

Microsoft Windows 7 looks likely to be well recieved by business. A study by Information Technology Intelligence Corp. and Sunbelt Software found around 76 percent of those surveyed
plan to deploy the new OS, with 30 percent deploying before mid-2010. This would be an adoption rate similar to the introduction of Windows 2000. 78 percent of those who tested a beta copy of Windows 7 seem to have had a good or excellent experience with it. So it could be that Microsoft is finally putting it's Vista troubles behind it.

The Windows 7 open beta process has given a good buzz for the new
operating system and there does not seem to be too much left for Microsoft to say about the new OS.
Windows 7 biggest competitor is Windows XP, because of its satisfied customers, and companies who cannot afford the cost of upgrading or replacemnt. Time will tell how many companies are actually able to follow through on their Windows 7 intentions.

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Is your PC ready for Windows 7 ?

Microsoft's official system requirements for Windows
7.
Minimum:
a 1 GHz or faster processor.
At least 1 GB of RAM for the 32-bit edition of Windows 7, or 2 GB for the 64-bit edition.
16 GB available hard drive space.
A graphics card compatible with DirectX 9.
(Some newer games need a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10.)

Hardware that is fairly old - older than four years - but which runs XP well should probably still work with Windows 7. You should think about looking at Microsoft's Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor website .
There you can download the free Upgrade Advisor application, which runs tests on your existing hardware and tels you which components may be lacking. The advisor won't tell you though if all your peripherals -printers, scanners, webcams etc - will work properly with Windows 7 Fortnately the operating system does a better job than previous versions of Windows in automatically recognising and installing drivers for a wide range of peripherals.

It's best to make a list of your peripherals and stop by the websites of the manufacturers to see if Windows 7 drivers are already available then download them and have them handy during the installation of Windows 7. If they're not then a Google search may show if others have had problems with the same equipment under Windows 7.

One thing to note is that although Windows 7 may automatically install a driver for your device the Microsoft-supplied driver might not have all of the features of the driver you're using with Vista or XP. Some duplexing HP printers get installed under Windows 7 but fail to print on both sides of the paper, regardless of driver settings.

Software compatibility is a key issue also of course and Microsoft's Upgrade Advisor can help with this also. Most common Windows applications work with Windows 7 and give no problems. Some utility software packages and antivirus utilities may cause more problems.

New Windows XP Mode.
If you have older legacy applications that run fine under Windows XP, but for some reason will not under Windows 7, Microsoft Windows 7 has a new Windows XP Mode but this is available for free only for the Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions of Windows 7.

It creates a completely separate Windows XP operating system running inside of Windows 7. Once XP Mode is running, you can switch to it like switching to any other open application. All applications that ran under XP will also work under XP Mode. But a cautionary note - it will only work with Intel processors that support virtualization technology. Fortunately, most recent ones do.

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Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7

For XP users who wish to upgrade, and are confident their hardware is up to the job there are three options. If you have enough disc space you can leave XP where it is and install Windows 7 in a newly created partition or if you are feeling brave you could first upgrade from XP to Vista then upgrade to Windows 7.

Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7

The third option? Perform a ‘clean’ install, wipe the hard drive, install Windows 7 then reinstall all programs and data files.

For most people method three is best and Windows 7 makes it fairly easy by offering to backup all your essential data (documents, media etc), critical settings (email and web accounts and so on) and Windows preferences.
There is a utility program on the Windows 7 installation disc called Easy Transfer that copies everything to an external hard disc or USB drive. Once that’s done and after you’ve installed Windows 7 run Easy Transfer again and import all of your data and settings from the drive. There’s an easy tutorial on the Microsoft TechNet website . Easy Transfer cannot move your programs though– you’ll still have to reinstall those from the original discs and downloads.

Easy Transfer can save hard work but can’t help if the upgrade goes badly wrong and there’s no easy route back to XP, so you should plan for this possibility. Make a disc image or ‘clone’ of your XP hard drive so if the worst does happen you can justinstall the cloned drive and revert to XP. To do that you’ll need a second hard drive of similar or greater capacity and a disc-cloning program such as Acronis True Image.

Alternatively make a separate backup of all of your documents, photographs, media files, address book and anything else you value on to an external hard drive. Also copy any program installation files.

LapLink PC Mover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant is a utility designed to move not just files and settings but also programs from XP to Windows 7, without using an external storage device but its not clear yet how reliable this is.