vanity - How easy is it to go from Vista 64 to Windows 7?

10.28.09 | Perdogg

[Perdogg]

I am logged in, my sister wasn't biten by a moose, and I am going to keep Windows OS.

However, if I decide to go to Windows 7 - How easy is it to switch? Would I just have to insert the W7 CD and the software would remove Vista and install windows 7 on its own or is it more complicated than that? I do not plan to do this anytime soon.

Would I lose anything?

[oh8eleven]

Yeah, my bad, I saw your OS in the title only after I read it three times. Duh.
If your current PC is handling Vista64 without problems, I'd wait to upgrade.
In fact, I'd wait until you needed a new PC even if it's a few more years.
My experience with MS OSs goes back to the DOS days and I can't recall an upgrade (versus a clean install) that didn't have problems sooner or later.

[The KG9 Kid]

Win7 ships with two DVDs in the package: 32-bit and 64-bit.

[astyanax]

Very easy, as long as you are upgrading to 64 bit Win7.
Just pop the Win7 disk in while running Vista and it will walk you through it.
Just to be completely safe, you should first clone your hard drive and set it aside.

[DavidAccord]

You will need at least 2GB Memory to make the switch to Windows 7. 3 GB Memory and a 1gb video card are even better.

Otherwise just go get a new computer when you have the opportunity.

[Billthedrill]

I've done the install a half-dozen times now. If your gear is running fine under Vista 64, you've already solved the 32-bit driver issue, which was the only one I found. (Lost a webcam on a netbook that only had 32-bit drivers. 32-bit apps run fine, at least the ones I've tried so far).

Assuming you have optical media, it's about a half-hour procedure max. Super clean, at least in my experience. I installed XP on a virtual box the other day and it was like waiting for a glacier to melt by comparison. Win7 is much faster than that.

If you do not have optical media and need to install from a USB thumb, let me know - there's a couple of wrinkles but when you get it worked out that sucker flies. That's the way I'll be installing from now on...

[Blueflag]

I did a clean install to convert from V64 to 7/64.

I find that ALL Windows machines benefit greatly from periodic clean installs.

I have a daily backup of files anyway, so after doing a clean install, downloading all the updated/ drivers/ getting back on my home network AND THEN reloading all my personal files ... everything worked GREAT. It DID take me 6 hours on the clock. I wasn’t glued to my desk the whole time, but it occupied an entire Sunday afternoon

Vista needs to die. trust me. You’ll like 7 / 64

[fujimoh]

For me going from Vx32 to W7x64 was easy. Understand that you will have to reload all of you applications after you do the installation as there really isn’t a true upgrade path.

[paulycy]

Vista needs to die. trust me. You’ll like 7 / 64

I'm with ya. I look forward to upgrading. All the reports say it is faster and less horrendously resource-intensive.

And I certainly have 6 hours to do the job right so I guess I'll do a clean install even though my setup is only a couple months old. Couldn't hurt.

Thanks!

[RichardW]

Can’t speak directly to the 64 bit question but I converted three 32 bit machines to Windows 7 in a jiffy from Vista. All it took was to insert the CD and it did all the work. I didn’t back up anything and all my files are ready to work with. Easiest thing I have ever had to do. BTW, Windows 7 comes with both 32 bit and 64 bit version so take your pick. 64 bit is a “bit” down the road from what I have heard regardless.

[cowtowney]

Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti...

[Big Giant Head]

If you do not have optical media and need to install from a USB thumb, let me know - there's a couple of wrinkles but when you get it worked out that sucker flies. That's the way I'll be installing from now on...

I may be doing that in the near future to a netbook. Why don't you just post your method?

[BubbaBasher]

You will need at least 2GB Memory to make the switch to Windows 7.

Not true at all. More memory is always better but if you're running Vista you have enough to run Win7.

[Billthedrill]

Because my method is embarrassingly kludgy. LOL!

Basically, it works like this: reformat the USB drive the hard way, make it bootable with the BOOTSECT.EXE that's on the BOOT subdirectory of the installation media, and then copy the files. Using DISKPART from yer command line:

list disk
(I'm assuming your USB thumb appears as Disk 1 here - replace that with the correct number if necessary)
select disk 1
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format fs=NTFS
assign
exit

Next you go to the installation media and cd to the BOOT subdirectory. From there, (assuming the install media are the D: drive and the drive letter you assigned above is e:)

d:\boot\bootsect /nt60 e:

It's almost bootable now. Copy all the files from the installation media to the root of the thumb, which will include the boot manager. You're done.

It's fine to do this from a 32-bit machine but you'll find you can't run the 64-bit version of bootsect.exe (duh). The 32-bit version will work just fine.

Mind you, there's supposed to be a much easier way, although I've only heard about it - it's this, the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. Somebody who's tried it might want to let us all know how it works out.

Hope I haven't left anything out... :-(

[LongElegantLegs]

For later

[raybbr]

What OS are you running and why upgrade? The Win 7 enhancements (to Vista) appear to be more cosmetic then performance based.

That is the first time I have ever seen a post claiming that. All of the other posts, forums and sites say that W7 enhances performance and uses far less resources. Perhaps you have a link to a article explaining your statement.

[SC DOC]

I have a glitch with Windows 7 64 bit that was preinstalled in a computer I just bought. I cannot use the screen saver and power management options at the same time, no matter what settings I use. If I have the screen saver on, the computer will never go into sleep mode. If I turn the screensaver off, the power saver will shut things down as it is supposed to. Any suggestions?

[DavidAccord]

I mean to make it work well.

[Perdogg]

Thanks to all!!! Again FR has the best minds out there.

[Soothesayer9]

I am wondering if legacy apps like Dosbox even work on windows 7, or do you have to manually go into XP mode to do so?

[chris_bdba]

I don't know BUT it is always a good idea to have your photos and any other file that you don't want to lose backed up somewhere off of your computer. Either to CD or backup hard drive. I don't care what kind of computer you have I have macs and still use a backup hard drive/CD to store files I can't afford to lose. :)