Upgrade from Vista to Windows 7

camdave · Jan 29, 2012, 11:13:46

I have a three year old Sony all-in-one desktop which came with Vista installed. I am planning to upgrade to Windows 7 soon as after three years I am getting too many niggling issues with Vista and also Vista will not be supported after April .

I plan to do a complete re-install to ensure a clean start and my local computer shop guy has suggested getting a full copy of 7 and not an upgrade version despite the upgrade version being a lot cheaper. His argument is that if the upgrade fails for any reason I would have to re-install Vista and start all over again - is he right?

A secondary issue is that reading reviews on Amazon it seems that sometimes copies purchased through Amazon are not authentic, would I be safer purchasing elsewhere, dear old John Lewis for example?

Thanks

pctech · Jan 29, 2012, 11:19:59

I'd concur with the computer shop guy.

Building on Vista which was a chronically bad OS is not a good idea.

Simon · Jan 29, 2012, 11:22:30

Can't conment on the upgrade itself, as I'm still on XP, but I think if you buy from Amazon direct, and not one of the Marketplace sellers, you'll be fine. If you did buy from a Marketplace seller, their feedback should tell you whether they are genuine, and I believe you're covered through Amazon anyway (although, I'm not 100% certain of that).

pctech · Jan 29, 2012, 11:30:28

Personally I would say Amazon or John Lewis, both are good CS wise.

For tellys, monitors and other AV kit I always go to JL.

Steve · Jan 29, 2012, 11:52:11

You can do a clean install of Windows 7 from the upgrade disk ,this is the method I followed a couple of year ago.

http://www.winsupersite.com/blog/supersite-blog-39/news2/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-the-answer-138936

Lance · Jan 29, 2012, 12:17:06

Yep, nothing wrong doing a clean install with the upgrade disk.

pctech · Jan 29, 2012, 12:22:25

Thats interesting, wasn't aware of that particular method.

.Griff. · Jan 29, 2012, 15:21:13

As has been said above the "upgrade" version is the full OS it's just licensed to replace a previous Windows OS. One small registry change and it's sorted.

Either the "computer shop guy" doesn't know this or he's trying to sell the more expensive version which you don't need.

Steve · Jan 29, 2012, 15:34:03

It's not as if you don't already own a previous qualifying version either.

pctech · Jan 29, 2012, 16:11:16

Quote from: .Griff. on Jan 29, 2012, 15:21:13

Either the "computer shop guy" doesn't know this or he's trying to sell the more expensive version which you don't need.

The computer shop guy has to abide by Microsoft licencing policies or he could find himself in court or stripped of any MS credntials he has, he cannot legitimately hack a piece of software to make it work

Ever heard of Microsoft's attack dog, The Business Software Alliance

camdave · Jan 29, 2012, 16:39:12

Thanks for all the replies. I'm now confused, Griff and Steve (having looked at your link) seem to suggest that in order to avoid any issues the registry needs to be altered; surely that could lead to problems which is the whole point of going for a clean install.

I've never been comfortable with tinkering with the registry but then when I started with computers in 1986 I could take them to bits and the OS was far less complicated. (bit like cars really I suppose)

Steve · Jan 29, 2012, 17:03:16

I've had 4 machines running Windows 7 upgrade 3 performed from a clean install and not had any issues, however in the link I posted I note that an additional manoeuvre may be required since I undertook the process.(see comments at the bottom of the page)

The link below also gives details of a custom install that doesn't overwrite the previous OS

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

JB · Jan 29, 2012, 17:11:57

Quote from: camdave on Jan 29, 2012, 16:39:12
I've never been comfortable with tinkering with the registry but then when I started with computers in 1986 I could take them to bits and the OS was far less complicated. (bit like cars really I suppose)

The registry tweak is really very easy and works. Also, you are doing it on a freshly installed system before you install any programs or copy any data in.

In the very unlikely event that you do cause a problem you will only have wasted about 45 minutes, tops. Once it's done and all working, it's not going to fail and cause you big headaches.

zappaDPJ · Jan 29, 2012, 17:16:09

It's my understanding that Microsoft upgrade products will search and then ask for a qualifying product if none is found e.g. if you boot from a Windows upgrade 7 disk it will first search for a legitimately installed qualifying product and if none is found then it will ask for one. At that point you would need to insert a genuine qualifying product into the DVD drive.

That's the way it always used to be but I can't say for sure that's how it's done now. A quick call to Microsoft would tell you either way.

One thing I would say is while it's never a good idea to upgrade over the top of an existing operating system, laptop installations are usually tailored to that hardware, particularly as far as the keyboard and touch pad are concerned. I'm not sure whether it's a PC or laptop that you want to upgrade but if it's a laptop I'd check to see if Sony provide support for Windows 7 on that model because you may need it in order for it to operate correctly.

Technical Ben · Jan 29, 2012, 19:34:11

Quote from: pctech on Jan 29, 2012, 16:11:16
The computer shop guy has to abide by Microsoft licencing policies or he could find himself in court or stripped of any MS credntials he has, he cannot legitimately hack a piece of software to make it work

Ever heard of Microsoft's attack dog, The Business Software Alliance

Have you dealt with "computer guys"?

pctech · Jan 29, 2012, 19:36:12

No Ben, not really needed to

but pointing out if the business is completely legitimate they do have to abide by MS' policies.

camdave · Jan 30, 2012, 07:30:28

It's interesting to get such a variety of takes on my question. It seems to me that for a difference of around £30 (depending where it's bought) I can have a full version of Windows 7 which will allow me to upgrade my existing desktop from Vista (what joy!) re-install anytime even if the hard disc is replaced and no tweaking required. Assuming a computer life of three years minimum that's quite a good deal - or am I missing something?

By the way, I know the 'computer shop guy' well and I trust him, he knows I am unlikely to buy the software from him.

Steve · Jan 30, 2012, 08:49:04

It's not always easy when it's not one's own money your spending.

stevenrw · Jan 30, 2012, 16:28:41

I was ging to do this, but my local computer shop does a clean install of W7 Pro, and puts on the latest version of MS Office for about the same price as I could buy the upgrade version, so it was a no-brainer for me.
Of course, W7 is still nowhere near as good as XP IMHO.