MacInsiders Logo

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Is it worth it to even try? Zimonada First-Year / Prospective Student Questions 3 09-15-2010 03:36 PM
Laptop CPU Upgrade Hints + Results kevinf Gaming 0 04-15-2010 09:15 AM
Windows 7: Upgrade Or Not? kanishka Technology 3 11-06-2009 02:02 PM

Windows 7 upgrade worth it?

 
Old 10-28-2009 at 07:42 PM   #16
syan9184
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 163

Thanked: 11 Times
Liked: 25 Times




if i want to upgrade to 7, will i lose all my files on my vista? if so, is there a way for me to save everything?
Old 10-28-2009 at 08:45 PM   #17
jhan523
Moderator
MacInsiders Staff
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 12,484

Thanked: 1,629 Times
Liked: 604 Times




Quote:
Originally Posted by syan9184 View Post
if i want to upgrade to 7, will i lose all my files on my vista? if so, is there a way for me to save everything?
Back up everything onto an external hard drive.
__________________
Jeremy Han
McMaster Alumni - Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics
Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University Third Year - Doctor of Optometry
Old 10-28-2009 at 08:58 PM   #18
lmasud
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 241

Thanked: 11 Times
Liked: 33 Times




Quote:
Originally Posted by syan9184 View Post
if i want to upgrade to 7, will i lose all my files on my vista? if so, is there a way for me to save everything?
i did an upgrade instead of a clean install, so i didnt have to backup files
__________________
Former McMaster Student
Would be Electrical Engineering II
Old 10-28-2009 at 09:10 PM   #19
PilotMal
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 224

Thanked: 17 Times
Liked: 30 Times




My PC, which is sitting home being abused by the foster brother, is still running XP. I refuse to change it.

That and my Mac is the only thing I care to upgrade....way to have only a $35 upgrade to Snow Leopard, Apple! <3
__________________
M A L . H A I G H
Honors Earth & Environmental Sciences I, Origins (Starting in Level I)
McMaster Equestrian Team 2009/2010
Old 10-28-2009 at 09:10 PM   #20
Stan
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 149

Thanked: 14 Times
Liked: 10 Times




Personally, I would do a clean install. As upgrading without a clean install tends to carry additional files that are possibly unnecessary and might cause problems in the future. Been using Windows 7 since it was up at msdn, everything seems to working fine. No major issues yet.
Old 10-28-2009 at 09:18 PM   #21
syan9184
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 163

Thanked: 11 Times
Liked: 25 Times




what is a clean install??
and the upgrade is free?
Old 10-28-2009 at 09:48 PM   #22
sew12
Elite Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,851

Thanked: 227 Times
Liked: 470 Times




Quote:
Originally Posted by syan9184 View Post
what is a clean install??
and the upgrade is free?
A clean install means you wipe your system and start fresh. Prior to doing this you would back up all your important files on an external hard drive and then transfer them back to your computer after the fresh copy of Windows 7 has installed.

The upgrade to Windows 7 is only free for people who bought a computer with Vista on within a certain period, I believe it is June 2009-whenever computers pre-loaded with Vista sell out.
__________________
-Stefanie Walsh-
4th Year Multimedia 2010-2011
Old 10-28-2009 at 09:59 PM   #23
ice8
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 240

Thanked: 3 Times
Liked: 33 Times




Hey my network apparently wasnt working because I wasnt putting the right password in.

Anyways, i feel 7 outperforms vista in terms of performs. Also its new taskbar is awesome. It groups all ur opened windows and lets you open them w a mouse click or hotkey! (start icon + num {going from left to right 1->9}).
__________________
Asad Tirmizi
Computer Engineering and Management.
Level III
Old 10-28-2009 at 10:03 PM   #24
syan9184
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 163

Thanked: 11 Times
Liked: 25 Times




external hard drive? whats that? ^^ as you can see, i do not know much about computers..

Cool! I got mine in August at Future shop. So if i go there, will they upgrade it for me free of charge?
Old 10-28-2009 at 10:13 PM   #25
Allan
Elite Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 452

Thanked: 26 Times
Liked: 115 Times




Quote:
Originally Posted by syan9184 View Post
external hard drive? whats that? ^^ as you can see, i do not know much about computers..

Cool! I got mine in August at Future shop. So if i go there, will they upgrade it for me free of charge?
Future Shop will not give you the upgrade. You must order it from whichever manufacturer you bought it from. Depending on the manufacturer, you may need to pay for shipping/handling.

Also, not all computers qualify for the offer. I made sure that mine did before I bought it.
Old 10-28-2009 at 10:13 PM   #26
sew12
Elite Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,851

Thanked: 227 Times
Liked: 470 Times




Quote:
Originally Posted by syan9184 View Post
external hard drive? whats that? ^^ as you can see, i do not know much about computers..

Cool! I got mine in August at Future shop. So if i go there, will they upgrade it for me free of charge?
Well your computer stores stuff on an internal hard drive aka one that is inside of it.

An external hard drive is one that isn't inside a computer, you can use it to back files up or take them and use them on other computers.

This is an example of an external hard drive:
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...&catid= 23795

You can get a variety of different kinds. They usually come with different software and have some different features. A lot of them are one click or one button press and they do an automatic backup. Or you can use the options to choose what you want to backup or set up an automatic backup.

You don't go to the store where you bought it, you apply online for the upgrade and they'll ship them in a few weeks. Depending on your computer manufacture you might have to pay a small shipping and handling fee, but I think only 2 are charging that fee, the rest are free.

Here's the page about qualifications:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy...de-option.aspx

Scroll down a bit, change your country to Canada and click the company who made your computer. That should take you to the page to sign up for your free upgrade. You'll have to tell them stuff like the serial number for your computer and maybe mail a copy of your receipt.
__________________
-Stefanie Walsh-
4th Year Multimedia 2010-2011

syan9184 says thanks to sew12 for this post.
Old 10-28-2009 at 11:30 PM   #27
Afzal
Android Dev
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,604

Thanked: 114 Times
Liked: 414 Times




I haven't used Vista so I can't compare it with Windows 7 but as much as I saw of Vista when I bought this laptop (and formatted every piece of crap on it)

Windows 7 has faster boot up times (unless you have all these Toshiba sensor utilities opening at startup)
It has faster shut down times
faster navigation through explorer
Superbar is really good and Jump list feature is great

Homegroup feature is awesome if you like connecting many devices wirelessly to your pc and controlling them (to some degree)

I think, since your upgrade is free...you should avail it at the end or mid-november. I think that by then, all vendors must have updated their drivers

By the way, my cousin has an Asus motherboard and his network/sound card doesn't get detected from XP to 7 lol
__________________
Afzal Najam - Honours Computer Science grad
Old 10-28-2009 at 11:34 PM   #28
cowcow
Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 80

Thanked: 10 Times
Liked: 2 Times




Personally, I think Windows 7 is alot better than vista. It runs smoother and windows installed all my drivers except for 2.

I'm also running it in 64-bit mode which is nice since the programs in 64 bit are faster (ie. Minefield (Pre release firefox)).

If you don't have a free upgrade from buying a computer or from MSDNAA, you can get Windows 7 Pro for $40.

http://store.digitalriver.co m/DRHM...2567906982 21

The $40 only buys you a Windows 7 Pro key. If you want them to send you the discs, it's an extra $13 but you can choose to just download it yourself and burn a dvd if you want. However, it does not download as an iso so it's probably better if you download it from here:

Links taken from www.redflagdeals.com
x86 means 32-bit which is what most computer came with before.

X15-65732 - Home premium x86
http://msft-dnl.digitalriverconte nt..../X15-65732.iso

X15-65805 - Professional x64
http://msft-dnl.digitalriverconte nt..../X15-65805.iso

X15-65804 - Professional x86
http://msft-dnl.digitalriverconte nt..../X15-65804.iso

X15-65733 - Home Premium x64
http://msft-dnl.digitalriverconte nt..../X15-65733.iso

Even if you aren't going to use the key, you should just buy it and resell the key to someone. It goes for over $100 on eBay. I sold my other pre order and basically got Windows7 Pro for free.
__________________
2nd Year Civil Engineering (Structural/Geotechnical)
Class of 12'
Old 10-29-2009 at 12:55 AM   #29
ice8
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 240

Thanked: 3 Times
Liked: 33 Times




Quote:
Originally Posted by cowcow View Post
Personally, I think Windows 7 is alot better than vista. It runs smoother and windows installed all my drivers except for 2.

I'm also running it in 64-bit mode which is nice since the programs in 64 bit are faster (ie. Minefield (Pre release firefox)).

If you don't have a free upgrade from buying a computer or from MSDNAA, you can get Windows 7 Pro for $40.

http://store.digitalriver.co m/DRHM...2567906982 21

The $40 only buys you a Windows 7 Pro key. If you want them to send you the discs, it's an extra $13 but you can choose to just download it yourself and burn a dvd if you want. However, it does not download as an iso so it's probably better if you download it from here:

Links taken from www.redflagdeals.com
x86 means 32-bit which is what most computer came with before.

X15-65732 - Home premium x86
http://msft-dnl.digitalriverconte nt..../X15-65732.iso

X15-65805 - Professional x64
http://msft-dnl.digitalriverconte nt..../X15-65805.iso

X15-65804 - Professional x86
http://msft-dnl.digitalriverconte nt..../X15-65804.iso

X15-65733 - Home Premium x64
http://msft-dnl.digitalriverconte nt..../X15-65733.iso

Even if you aren't going to use the key, you should just buy it and resell the key to someone. It goes for over $100 on eBay. I sold my other pre order and basically got Windows7 Pro for free.
Or you can just pirate the full verison (hehe)

anyways, if u bought the computer from future shop just go here to order windows 7 CD:
http://www.futureshop.ca/popup/windo...?test_cookie=1
__________________
Asad Tirmizi
Computer Engineering and Management.
Level III
Old 10-29-2009 at 09:01 AM   #30
Taunton
Elite Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,592

Thanked: 219 Times
Liked: 598 Times




Quote:
Originally Posted by lmasud View Post
Maple (which we use for Calculus Labs) doesnt seem to work anymore
If you need to run old software, Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate have XP Mode which emulates Windows XP inside of 7... it will let you run older programs.
__________________
Ben Taunton
Life Science IV
McMaster University



Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



McMaster University News and Information, Student-run Community, with topics ranging from Student Life, Advice, News, Events, and General Help.
Notice: The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the student(s) who authored the content. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by McMaster University or the MSU (McMaster Students Union). Being a student-run community, all articles and discussion posts on MacInsiders are unofficial and it is therefore always recommended that you visit the official McMaster website for the most accurate up-to-date information.

Copyright © MacInsiders.com All Rights Reserved. No content can be re-used or re-published without permission. MacInsiders is a service of Fullerton Media Inc. | Created by Chad
Originally Powered by vBulletin®, Copyright © 2019 MH Sub I, LLC dba vBulletin. All rights reserved. | Privacy | Terms