Migration to Windows 7

[P. Jayant]

Is it feasible to migrate to Windows 7 directly from Windows XP ?

OR

Is the intermediate migration to Vista essential because the upgrade option
to Windows 7 is available only from Vista and NOT from XP?

P. Jayant

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

You can install Win7 (assuming your hardware's compatible) but it'll have to
be a clean install. You cannot upgrade from WinXP to Win7.

If you want to upgrade to Vista and then upgrade to Win7, have fun but it's
gonna cost you.

 

[JS]

Is it feasible to migrate to Windows 7 directly from Windows XP ?

OR

Is the intermediate migration to Vista essential because the upgrade
option
to Windows 7 is available only from Vista and NOT from XP?

P. Jayant

You will need Vista as an intermediate step.
Even so, not all your apps may work after you
are done so do yourself a favor and create an
Image Backup of XP before you start.

True Image 2009 - has a 15 day trial version available,
(Create a Restore/Rescue Media CD before you start)
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/
User's Guide: http://us1.download.acronis.com/pdf/TrueImage12_ug.en.pdf

Product Review Acronis True Image Home 2009:
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/windows-platform/reviews/16045.aspx

Then read what I did here:
http://www.pagestart.com/upgradexptowindows7.html

 

[sgopus]

Actually Newegg.com is offering a copy of Vista for $109 and a coupon for a
free copy of Win 7 (upgrade version)

 

[Ian D]

Is it feasible to migrate to Windows 7 directly from Windows XP ?

OR

Is the intermediate migration to Vista essential because the upgrade
option
to Windows 7 is available only from Vista and NOT from XP?

P. Jayant

If you're making that big a leap in OS versions, you're better off
going directly from XP to Win 7, which will require a clean install.
Upgrading Vista onto XP, then Win 7 onto Vista, may result in an
unstable Win 7 installation. If you're going to 64 bit Win 7 a clean
install is the only route. XP is an eligible product for the Win 7
Upgrade version, but this route requires a clean install.

 

[Al]

All files, (except applications), documents and user profiles can be
migrated from XP to win 7 via the User Sevice Migration Tool. Documentation
and tutorials are available at the Microsoft TechNet Center and Springboard
sites

 

[Anthony Buckland]

Is it feasible to migrate to Windows 7 directly from Windows XP ?

OR

Is the intermediate migration to Vista essential because the upgrade
option
to Windows 7 is available only from Vista and NOT from XP?

P. Jayant

My own approach, at the moment anyway, is that the next time
I need to get a new machine, it will probably have Win 7 installed,
and I will migrate by installing all software that is appropriate and
that will work under Win 7, from DVD/CD source or from source
downloaded to the old machine. Hopefully I will be able to simply
copy all or nearly all data files from the old machine to the new one.

From the many comments I've read, changing to Vista doesn't
seem a worthwhile exercise, and the arrival of Win 7 will save me
from any more consideration of it.

Another factor in waiting for Win 7 machines to become standard
is that I can take advantage of early market testing and I suppose
the issuing of an SP or so.

I'm not always this slow and careful, but I am in this case.

 

[smlunatick]

Is it feasible to migrate to Windows 7 directly from Windows XP ?

OR

Is the intermediate migration to Vista essential because the upgrade option
to Windows 7 is available only from Vista and NOT from XP?

P. Jayant

Migrating to Windows 7 directly is preferable but this means doing a
clean install of Windows 7 and re-installing all your application.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My own approach, at the moment anyway, is that the next time
I need to get a new machine, it will probably have Win 7 installed,
and I will migrate by installing all software that is appropriate and
that will work under Win 7, from DVD/CD source or from source
downloaded to the old machine.

Good approach, in my view.

Hopefully I will be able to simply
copy all or nearly all data files from the old machine to the new one.

Sure, you should be able to copy *all* of it.

From the many comments I've read, changing to Vista doesn't
seem a worthwhile exercise, and the arrival of Win 7 will save me
from any more consideration of it.

I don't agree that changing to Vista was not worthwhile, but I
certainly agree that now, with Windows 7 about to become available, is
no longer the time to do it.

Another factor in waiting for Win 7 machines to become standard
is that I can take advantage of early market testing and I suppose
the issuing of an SP or so.

I'm never in favor of waiting for a Service Pack. And I can report
that Windows 7 is extremely stable, and has no problems that I've
seen.

 

[Gordon]

I'm never in favor of waiting for a Service Pack. And I can report
that Windows 7 is extremely stable, and has no problems that I've
seen.

I second that - I've been running the RC since it came out, and no problems
here either. Plus I didn't need any external drivers - all my hardware was
found and installed in the one Win7 install....great!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I second that - I've been running the RC since it came out, and no problems
here either. Plus I didn't need any external drivers - all my hardware was
found and installed in the one Win7 install....great!

I ran the RC with no problems from when it was released until RTM.
I've been running RTM since then and it continues to be excellent with
no problems.

Also let me elaborate on what I said about waiting for a service pack.
The point in time when a service pack is released is at the discretion
of Microsoft and is completely arbitrary. Upgrades and fixes to any
version of Windows are released when needed--once a month, normally,
but more often when necessary. At some arbitrary point, Microsoft
decides to roll up all those upgrades and fixes into one package and
calls the result a service pack.

There's no particular significance to when that service pack is
released, and it doesn't mark a special point of stability. There were
upgrades before it and there will be more upgrades after it. Since it
has no particular significance, treating it as a special event, and
waiting for it, is meaningless.

 

[JS]

Well from what I've seen Microsoft is going to need
a patch to Windows 7 'Disk Management'.

The RTM has problems when creating partitions
for multi-boot systems and another issue when
doing a clean install on a system that has three hard drives.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Well from what I've seen Microsoft is going to need
a patch to Windows 7 'Disk Management'.

The RTM has problems when creating partitions
for multi-boot systems and another issue when
doing a clean install on a system that has three hard drives.

I can't speak about the multi-boot system issue, since I have no
experience with that. But I can tell you that I have a
three-hard-drive system, and had no problems doing a clean install on
it.

 

[JS]

Well from what I've seen Microsoft is going to need
a patch to Windows 7 'Disk Management'.

The RTM has problems when creating partitions
for multi-boot systems and another issue when
doing a clean install on a system that has three hard drives.

I can't speak about the multi-boot system issue, since I have no
experience with that. But I can tell you that I have a
three-hard-drive system, and had no problems doing a clean install on
it.



Well I have two hard drives configured as logic
drives (each has only a single partition). The third
drive is new and the one I tried to installed Windows 7
(single boot) and 7 fails to create the 100MB system
partition during the install process. I've tried two new
hard drives and both have the same issue. If I remove
the two other drives the Windows 7 installs without any
problems.

The multi-boot problem is another issue, but it to centers
around 'Disk Management' and the ability to create a logical
drive with the remaining free space on the one and only hard drive.

So the way I see it is Disk Management in Windows 7 has
one or more bugs as XP has no problems with mult-boot or
using any of the remaining free space on a new drive.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Well I have two hard drives configured as logic
drives (each has only a single partition). The third
drive is new and the one I tried to installed Windows 7
(single boot) and 7 fails to create the 100MB system
partition during the install process. I've tried two new
hard drives and both have the same issue. If I remove
the two other drives the Windows 7 installs without any
problems.

I have no explanation for why that happened to you, and not enough
experience yet with others installing Windows 7. But I'll repeat that
when I installed it here in a very similar configuration, I didn't
have that problem.

A minor point that's almost certainly unrelated, but I'll mention it
just as a possibility. I clean installed the RC version, not the RTM.
I later upgraded to the RTM version.

 

[JS]

Interesting thought, maybe I'll try the RC version
and see what happens.

Thanks