Upgrade to Vista

G

Guest

I purchased a laptop running XP with a free upgrade to Vista. The Vista
upgrade is on a DVD that I need to run, however, I want to make sure my files
and settings transfer. The installation DVD says it is "a new installation
and any personal files or programs will be overwritten as a result of the
upgrade." I have looked into using Windows Easy Transfer, but since it is on
the same computer I have had difficulty getting it to work. I tried the easy
transfer program to save to DVDs, but it didn't work. Looking for suggestions
 
W

wburchnall

I purchased a laptop running XP with a free upgrade to Vista. The Vista
upgrade is on a DVD that I need to run, however, I want to make sure my files
and settings transfer. The installation DVD says it is "a new installation
and any personal files or programs will be overwritten as a result of the
upgrade." I have looked into using Windows Easy Transfer, but since it is on
the same computer I have had difficulty getting it to work. I tried the easy
transfer program to save to DVDs, but it didn't work. Looking for suggestions
Click to expand...

When upgrading with a 'Windows Vista DVD' or 'Anytime Upgrade
DVD' (note, these are two different dvds that sometimes come packed
with computers). You'll be presented with an auto-play screen with two
main options.

1. Install Now
2. Check compatibility online.

I'd choose 'Install Now'. On the following screen, it will ask you to
enter your product key, accept the lisence agreement, etc. Finally
you'll get sent to a place asking you for your installation type and
presented with two options. 'Upgrade' and 'Custom (Advanced)'
installation. An upgrade installation is designed to copy your files,
programs and settings into Windows Vista. This means if you had
Microsoft Word installed in xp for example, it would be installed in
Windows Vista after your upgrade.

A 'Custom (Advanced)' installation tries to copy all your data from
your My Documents, My Pictures, My etc, to the directory 'Windows.Old'
and put a fresh installation of Windows Vista on the machine. The
downside is, you would need to reinstall the majority of the programs
on your machine.

Ideally, both installation types are designed to result in no-data
loss. However, I'd recommend backing up any crucial data files onto a
DVD or CD. One DVD can hold 4.7GB worth of your documents. It sounds
like you may have tried this, but, you could just consider copying it
onto blank CDs:

1. Insert a CD.
2. Open your start menu and choose 'My Computer' on the right hand
side.
3. Open your CDR/RW drive
4. Choose 'Write files to CD' option on the left hand side pane.
5. Copy files to CD
6. Hit eject button and your CD will automatically finalize so its
readable in another computer (or your vista installation) after
upgrading.

This is a nice, simple, easy way to backup your data onto CD using the
built in IMAPI V1 Engine included with Windows XP for burning cds.
Note that DVD burning in this method is not available in Windows XP
but is available in Windows Vista that uses the IMAPI V2 Engine for
making cds and now dvds.
 
W

wburchnall

When upgrading with a 'Windows Vista DVD' or 'Anytime Upgrade
DVD' (note, these are two different dvds that sometimes come packed
with computers). You'll be presented with an auto-play screen with two
main options.

1. Install Now
2. Check compatibility online.

I'd choose 'Install Now'. On the following screen, it will ask you to
enter your product key, accept the lisence agreement, etc. Finally
you'll get sent to a place asking you for your installation type and
presented with two options. 'Upgrade' and 'Custom (Advanced)'
installation. An upgrade installation is designed to copy your files,
programs and settings into Windows Vista. This means if you had
Microsoft Word installed in xp for example, it would be installed in
Windows Vista after your upgrade.

A 'Custom (Advanced)' installation tries to copy all your data from
your My Documents, My Pictures, My etc, to the directory 'Windows.Old'
and put a fresh installation of Windows Vista on the machine. The
downside is, you would need to reinstall the majority of the programs
on your machine.

Ideally, both installation types are designed to result in no-data
loss. However, I'd recommend backing up any crucial data files onto a
DVD or CD. One DVD can hold 4.7GB worth of your documents. It sounds
like you may have tried this, but, you could just consider copying it
onto blank CDs:

1. Insert a CD.
2. Open your start menu and choose 'My Computer' on the right hand
side.
3. Open your CDR/RW drive
4. Choose 'Write files to CD' option on the left hand side pane.
5. Copy files to CD
6. Hit eject button and your CD will automatically finalize so its
readable in another computer (or your vista installation) after
upgrading.

This is a nice, simple, easy way to backup your data onto CD using the
built in IMAPI V1 Engine included with Windows XP for burning cds.
Note that DVD burning in this method is not available in Windows XP
but is available in Windows Vista that uses the IMAPI V2 Engine for
making cds and now dvds.
Click to expand...

I would also like to clarify that's how the offical Windows Vista DVDs
and Anytime Upgrade DVDs work. I can't say for sure how a third party
upgrade disc would work for certain. If your presented with different
options telling you that all your data will be lost, its possible it
may just erase your hard drive and copy a pre-installed Windows Vista
image on your machine in whichcase backup everything.
 
R

ray

I purchased a laptop running XP with a free upgrade to Vista. The Vista
upgrade is on a DVD that I need to run, however, I want to make sure my files
and settings transfer. The installation DVD says it is "a new installation
and any personal files or programs will be overwritten as a result of the
upgrade." I have looked into using Windows Easy Transfer, but since it is on
the same computer I have had difficulty getting it to work. I tried the easy
transfer program to save to DVDs, but it didn't work. Looking for suggestions
Click to expand...

Backup to an external USB hard drive or flash drive.

I'd also think twice about doing the vista install. Lots of folks seem to
be having problems. IMHO there is a fairly high liklihood of significant
issues.
 
G

Guest

[email protected] said:
I would also like to clarify that's how the offical Windows Vista DVDs
and Anytime Upgrade DVDs work. I can't say for sure how a third party
upgrade disc would work for certain. If your presented with different
options telling you that all your data will be lost, its possible it
may just erase your hard drive and copy a pre-installed Windows Vista
image on your machine in whichcase backup everything.
Click to expand...

I have done the backup of files and am confident about that and there was an
outlook email .pst file, but will that contain contacts and all my email
folders as well?
 
G

Guest

Thanks Rick - I have writable DVDs, but i saw that you can't use dvds to
perform the windows easy transfer from XP to vista. I have backed up my
files and hopefully my outlook files, and it wouldn't be the end of the world
if i had to reinstall some programs, but would all of the programs that came
installed on my laptop with XP still be there when i upgrade to vista, namely
Office?

Thanks,
Andrew
 
B

Bob Eyster

My opinion:

I would wait until the first SP is released before upgrading to Vista. There
are too many compatibility issues at present.
 
G

Guilbert

DO NOT UPGRADE.

XP is a good reliable fully working system.

Vista is a new, buggy, un-reliable system.

Suppose you had a car with a good reliable engine that worked well and gave
you no problems.

The car company comes to you and says "we have this new unreliable engine
that we have not really finished testing yet, and it may give you probems,
would you like to install this new engine?".

Would you upgrade, or course you would not.

DO NOT UPGRADE FROM XP TO VISTA.
 
D

David A. Spicer

5 years ago....

Win98 is a good reliable fully working system.

XP is a new, buggy, un-reliable system.

DO NOT UPGRADE FROM 98 TO XP.
 
C

Charles W Davis

Andrew said:
I have done the backup of files and am confident about that and there was
an
outlook email .pst file, but will that contain contacts and all my email
folders as well?
Click to expand...
You Outlook .pst file is all that will be required. You should probably copy
it to an external device as insurance.
I have personally moved mine to (My) Documents so that it is backed up each
time the scheduled backup occurs. If it is lost during the install, move it
from the external device to a new folder in Documents. Open Office Outlook
and the File> Open> Outlook Data File, and browse to the folder in
Documents....
 
C

Charles W Davis

That opinion has no basis in fact. Just because it is only those that have
issues post here. Nearly 100 of our computer club members are running Vista
with two old scanners becoming obsoleted.

What compatibility issues would likely be addressed with a Service Pack?
Certainly not device drivers, they are the responsibility of the device
manufacturers.
Yes, whether one is to update an existing computer or buy a new one, one
should run the Vista Upgrade Advisor to determine which devices attached to
the existing computer will need new drivers. Then download the new drivers
to an external device before doing any upgrade.

However, if the OP has no new piece of hardware or software program that
will only run on Vista there is no need to upgrade.
 
C

Charles W Davis

I agree that one shouldn't upgrade without reason. If the OP has no new
piece of hardware or software program that will only run on Vista, there is
no need to upgrade.

I disagree with your statement that "Vista is a new, buggy, un-reliable
system...." I have used Windows Vista Ultimate on a new HP computer since
March 31, with absolutely no issues. Our computer club has Vista installed
on six Dell computers with dual boot and three Macs with dual boot. We have
no issues with Vista.
 
C

Charles W Davis

Kind of off subject aren't you? Open Windows Explorer (My Computer) and drag
the folders from the D: drive to the C: drive. You can't change the drive
assignment. By the way, those are partitions are both on the same physical
disk.
 
I

Ian Betts

Why would Vitsa have SPs. Its only been out a short while. SPs are just
collected updates.
 

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