The Happy Tale of a Windows 7 Instalation Pt. 2

In the previous episode (The Happy Tale of a Windows 7 Installation pt. 1) I got started with the “happy tale” of installing the newly released Windows 7 on my HP notebook computer. In that installment, we covered some first impressions, including what type of computer it really takes to run Win 7, how to get a copy (including a cheap $29.95 copy if you have access to a student email address), and whether we really thought you NEEDED Win7.

Now we’ve used it for 3 weeks (and installed it on yet another often-used computer), it’s time to continue the saga with a narrative on how the installations went, and a few of the new features we really like.

By the way, we are having a FREE WINDOWS 7 SEMINAR at the SHF Computer in Omaha, on Friday, November 20th at 10am. We’d love to have you join us and see what Windows 7 looks like, first-hand. That same day we’re also having some of our friends from InfiNet come in and demonstrate some amazing new touch-screen technology we’re hoping to put into the Florence Home. Plus, we’ll have the usual refreshments, door prizes, and guess what……  we will even have the Premiere of our first Video Tutorial Series. Really, you won’t want to miss this event. If you want to register, give us a call at 402.827.6090 (Omaha) or email me at jlortz@shf.org. And bring a friend!!!

Would you like to see a preview of what we’ll be covering at the seminar? CLICK HERE to see a short video segment.

Ok, back to business. Let’s talk about installing Windows 7, and specifically, how we installed it as an upgrade to Windows Vista.

When you first start the Windows 7 installation, you have to agree to the license screen, and then you have the option of running the the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. This program scans your computer and identifies any possible issues you might have with existing hardware or software. It’s basically the same program you can get from the Microsoft web site [you get it here]. In my case, the advisor first told me that I had the wrong Windows 7 version for the version of Windows Vista I had.

Here’s the deal….  on this particular machine, I had Windows Vista Business Edition (32bit) and the Windows 7 version I was trying to use was Windows 7 Home. No dice… unless I wanted to do a “clean install” (i.e. wipe out my computer completely and set everything up from scratch), I had to get Windows 7 Professional. Ok, so I did… (No worries, I just used the Windows 7 Home version on another of my computers).

I started the upgrade again (with the Windows 7 Pro disc) and again ran the advisor, and things were OK. It then went online and downloaded some needed updates to the installation program (some last minute things???) and then took me to a screen and asked if I wanted to do an Upgrade or a Custom installation. Since I didn’t want to go through the hassle of wiping off my machine, I chose Upgrade.

Next, it took about 15 minutes and did yet another “compatibility check“. This time it was checking for software that might interfere with the installation itself, and yes, it did find a couple of things…

• My anti-virus program (I use a program called ESET NOD32) was going to cause issues with the installation, so they asked that I uninstall it, and then reinstall it when the Windows 7 installation was complete.
• A disk defragmentation program I use called Perfect Disc was also going to cause issues, and they asked that I also uninstall and later reinstall it.
• They also warned that a couple games (I never play) that came with my HP Notebook MIGHT cause issues.

Not wanting to anger the Microsoft gods, I did what the compatibility checker asked, and then for a THIRD TIME started the installation. This time I made it all the way in, and the actual installation started.

Knowing that actually watching the progress checklist on the screen always helps speed up the process, I sat with vigilance in front of my computer for the next 2 hourss as Windows 7 installed. Ok, so maybe I didn’t, but the fact is, the upgrade does take quite a while. I actually forgot to time it, but during the process my notebook computer was automatically restarted 4 times, and proceeded to ask for updates from Microsoft at least 3 times. So it did take awhile.

The end result? Did it work? Was all my stuff still there?

The answer is…  yes, it did work, and except for the two programs I uninstalled earlier, all my other stuff was still there, and still worked. Yes, I did actually go out and test my most-used programs (including a few that are pretty demanding on Windows and the computer).

Overall the Windows Vista to Windows 7 upgrade process was fairly painless. Compared to many of the other upgrades I’ve done over the years (Windows 3.1 to Windows 95, Windows 95 to 98SE, Windows 98SE to Windows ME – YUCK!, Windows 98SE to Vista), this was probably the easiest and best behaved. I can actually say that if you decide you want to go the route of a Vista to Win 7 upgrade, give it a try yourself.

Now, the next big question is… how as Windows 7 been working?

Well, truth be told… I really do like it. I’d throw “love” in there, but Microsoft has never produced something that I actually can say “I just love”. But I really do like many of the new features in Windows 7, and now that I have it on my two main computers, when I use a machine with Windows Vista or XP, I miss Windows 7. Here is a short list of my favorite things:

• The redesigned taskbar that includes live previews and icon pinning
• The ability  to maximize a window by just dragging it to the top of the screen, and then moving it again by dragging it down from the top
• The nice clock gadget that sits anywhere I want it on the screen
• The snipping tool that lets me do quick, easy, screenshots
• The search feature that lets you quickly find programs and documents
• The “library” concept, where you can “logically” group selected folders for display together in a window
• A much improved backup/restore system

As I’ve already said, next Friday, November 20th, we’ll be doing a seminar on Windows 7 and we’ll show you some of these features [CLICK HERE to see a short video demo of what I'll be covering]. I’ll also be posting one final blog in this Windows 7 trilogy, that will include my thoughts on how Windows 7 is working, and also have a link to the full version of our Windows 7 First Look video. Don’t turn that dial!

Tagged as: Microsoft, Windows, Windows 7, Windows update, Windows Updates, Windows Vista