Upgrading my laptop to Win7?

[W. eWatson]

My laptop is an HP MX6453 with dual core. It has a 120G drive. I have an
upgrade package to Win 7.

As I understand it I will have to remove everything from the laptop and
then install Win7. I have a external HD that has probably 200G free. Can
I move everything there in one fell swoop in such a way that I can get
at my data, programs, picture files, and the like, or do I get to do
this the hard way? Selectively move files to the HD.

I would hope the upgrade would be smart enough to utilize drivers that
are needed for the laptop.

Comments?

 

[Nil]

My laptop is an HP MX6453 with dual core. It has a 120G drive. I
have an upgrade package to Win 7.

As I understand it I will have to remove everything from the
laptop and then install Win7. I have a external HD that has
probably 200G free. Can I move everything there in one fell swoop
in such a way that I can get at my data, programs, picture files,
and the like, or do I get to do this the hard way? Selectively
move files to the HD.

I usually backup the entire old computer to an external drive, then,
after the upgrade I copy the files I want to keep back over to the new
computer as time allows. I keep the old backup around for a few months
until I'm sure I have everything I want on the new computer. Then I
either reformat the backup disk and use it for something else, or I
retire the disk.

There are a number of free or inexpensive imaging/backup software
packages, including Macrium Reflect, Paragon Backup & Recovery, and
Acronis True Image.

I would hope the upgrade would be smart enough to utilize drivers
that are needed for the laptop.

I wouldn't count on that. You should have all necessary drivers
available before you start the upgrade.

 

[SC Tom]

My laptop is an HP MX6453 with dual core. It has a 120G drive. I have an upgrade package to Win 7.

As I understand it I will have to remove everything from the laptop and then install Win7. I have a external HD that
has probably 200G free. Can I move everything there in one fell swoop in such a way that I can get at my data,
programs, picture files, and the like, or do I get to do this the hard way? Selectively move files to the HD.

I would hope the upgrade would be smart enough to utilize drivers that are needed for the laptop.

Comments?

Are you sure about the model? I found a Gateway with that model number, but no HP. And that one doesn't list Win7 as an
available OS for drivers.

 

[Bert]

As I understand it I will have to remove everything from the laptop
and then install Win7. I have a external HD that has probably 200G
free. Can I move everything there in one fell swoop in such a way that
I can get at my data, programs, picture files, and the like, or do I
get to do this the hard way? Selectively move files to the HD.

I would hope the upgrade would be smart enough to utilize drivers that
are needed for the laptop.

Windows programs that are "installed" (as opposed to being copied to
your hard disk wherever you like) are unlikely to work correctly when
merely copied from one machine to another. Be prepared to re-install
your important software. Be further prepared to find that some of your
software won't work well (or at all) under Windows 7.

Your data files (pictures, etc.) should survive without difficulty.

You should certainly try to find all the Windows 7 drivers for your
laptop before starting a Windows 7 install. While there might be generic
drivers included with Windows 7, there are enough oddities in most
laptops that the generic drivers don't exercise all the hardware
capabilities. Some people have had success using Vista drivers when
Windows 7 drivers can't be found.

 

[W. eWatson]

Are you sure about the model? I found a Gateway with that model number,
but no HP. And that one doesn't list Win7 as an available OS for drivers.

MK6453? My writing on it wearing out. Nope. Definitely MX6453.
Oh, yes. You are right. Gateway. It's the only non-HP we have.

 

[SC Tom]

MK6453? My writing on it wearing out. Nope. Definitely MX6453.
Oh, yes. You are right. Gateway. It's the only non-HP we have.

You may have problems getting all the drivers, then. You can try Vista drivers for the ones that Windows doesn't
install. I used a couple of them on my Gateway and they seem to work just fine.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My laptop is an HP MX6453 with dual core. It has a 120G drive. I have an
upgrade package to Win 7.

As I understand it I will have to remove everything from the laptop and
then install Win7.

No, that's not correct. To use the upgrade version of Windows 7, it
needs to find a prior version installed. If the prior version is
Windows XP, it will clean install Window3s 7, but XP needs to be
there.

I have a external HD that has probably 200G free. Can
I move everything there in one fell swoop in such a way that I can get
at my data, programs, picture files, and the like, or do I get to do
this the hard way? Selectively move files to the HD.

Copy to an external drive (or backing up as it's normally called) is
*always* a good thing to do, whether or not you are moving to a new
operating system. You never know when you need that backup.

I would hope the upgrade would be smart enough to utilize drivers that
are needed for the laptop.

Unlikely. Upgrades don't always find the drivers you need, Moreover,
with an older laptop, it's likely that Windows 7 drivers for
everything you need for it don't exist. Check to make sure they exist
before you do *anything*.

 

[W. eWatson]

No, that's not correct. To use the upgrade version of Windows 7, it
needs to find a prior version installed. If the prior version is
Windows XP, it will clean install Window3s 7, but XP needs to be
there.






Copy to an external drive (or backing up as it's normally called) is
*always* a good thing to do, whether or not you are moving to a new
operating system. You never know when you need that backup.




Unlikely. Upgrades don't always find the drivers you need, Moreover,
with an older laptop, it's likely that Windows 7 drivers for
everything you need for it don't exist. Check to make sure they exist
before you do *anything*.

In any case, I pulling off my downloaded files, photos, ppt, doc, and
others to an external drive, and let a computer store do the rest. They
can match up the drivers, they say.

 

[Ken Springer]

To use the upgrade version of Windows 7, it
needs to find a prior version installed. If the prior version is
Windows XP, it will clean install Window3s 7, but XP needs to be
there.

Uhm, no, not true, assuming MS hasn't changed the install procedure from
when my inlaws bought a 3-pack shortly after Win7 first came out. They
purchased a retail version.

You can even do a clean install on a freshly formatted hard drive, as I
did it on two computers.

Start the install procedure, format, and install Win7 Upgrade. But....
And this is the important step... DO NOT ACTIVATE DURING THE
INSTALL!!!!!!!! Tell the install routine you will install later.

After the install procedure, don't bother to check for and install
updates. Start all over, installing the upgrade package from scratch,
but DO NOT FORMAT!!!! The upgrade package will find a "earlier version
of Windows", and install as normal. You can activate it at this time if
you like, or wait until later.

Who told me to do it this way? None other than MS Tech Support. <grin>

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 9.0.1
Thunderbird 9.0.1
LibreOffice 3.3.4

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In any case, I pulling off my downloaded files, photos, ppt, doc, and
others to an external drive,

Good.


and let a computer store do the rest.

OK, but I would be very wary of many of those "computer stores." Some
of them are terrible and can't be trusted.

They can match up the drivers, they say.

OK, but what they say and what the truth is are not necessarily the
same thing.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Uhm, no, not true, assuming MS hasn't changed the install procedure from
when my inlaws bought a 3-pack shortly after Win7 first came out. They
purchased a retail version.

You can even do a clean install on a freshly formatted hard drive, as I
did it on two computers.

Start the install procedure, format, and install Win7 Upgrade. But....
And this is the important step... DO NOT ACTIVATE DURING THE
INSTALL!!!!!!!! Tell the install routine you will install later.

After the install procedure, don't bother to check for and install
updates. Start all over, installing the upgrade package from scratch,
but DO NOT FORMAT!!!! The upgrade package will find a "earlier version
of Windows", and install as normal. You can activate it at this time if
you like, or wait until later.

Who told me to do it this way? None other than MS Tech Support. <grin>

Yes, I'm aware that there's a workaround, but doing that is *not*
supported and there's therefore no guarantee that it will work
properly.

 

[Char Jackson]

Yes, I'm aware that there's a workaround,

I wouldn't call it a workaround. It seems to me to be as legitimate as
any other install method.

but doing that is *not* supported

Supported by Windows? It absolutely is. That much is well documented.
Supported by Microsoft? I have no idea. I don't personally know of
anyone who has ever had to call Microsoft for support, let alone
support for this (or any) installation method.

and there's therefore no guarantee that it will work properly.

There's no guarantee that any install method will work properly. This
one works as well as any other. I highly recommend it, if for no other
reason than it's greatly reduced cost. I don't see any reason to
spread FUD about it.

 

[Ken Springer]

Supported by Microsoft? I have no idea. I don't personally know of
anyone who has ever had to call Microsoft for support, let alone
support for this (or any) installation method.

In this case, we either misunderstood or were given the wrong
information by an MS representative when we called to make sure we were
purchasing the correct problem. When the package did not install as it
should have, we called again to find out where we went wrong.

That's when we were connected to someone, who walked us through the
procedure I outlined by someone at MS. I don't know if that makes it
officially supported or not, but MS is where I learned about it.

I have read about being able to do this with a Vista upgrade, too, but
have never tried it.

I've made one other tech support call to MS, but it wasn't for this type
of problem.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 9.0.1
Thunderbird 9.0.1
LibreOffice 3.4.4

 

[Dominique]

Ken Springer <[email protected]> écrivait @speranza.aioe.org:

After the install procedure, don't bother to check for and install
updates.

<snip>

More than "Don't bother", DON'T CHECK FOR UPDATES or don't allow the
installation program to check for them because when the "Upgrade"
validation program will check the installed OS, it will find a NEWER OS
than the one on the DVD and will refuse to proceed.