Filed under: OS Updates, Features, Windows, Microsoft, How-Tos
How to get your old system ready for a Windows 7 upgrade
by Lee Mathews Oct 20th 2009 at 11:00AM
Truth is, some users want to upgrade and Windows 7 handles the process pretty well. While it might not be an ideal situation, there are plenty of people who are going to take a stroll down the upgrade path. A little careful prep work will help make the experience a pain-free one.
Where's the best place to start? Why, with the Windows 7 Upgrade advisor (download it), of course!
This free program from Microsoft will perform an inspection of your computer and let you know if anything might cause you problems. After running the Advisor, you'll see a report screen like the one below:
As you can see, on Brad's test system hard drive space was a major concern. The Windows 7 Upgrade requires at least 16GB of free disk space. Why so much? Because during the install it needs plenty of elbow room to back up, move, and copy files. 16 gigs is the minimum - more free space is better.
If you happen to be running low, grab a couple free programs to help you make room. Start off with a round of CCleaner (read about it) (download it) - it's a great way to clean up useless temp files. I've seen it remove as much as 12 gigabytes of crud from a system, so CCleaner can definitely be a difference maker.
Still need more room after running CCleaner? Fire up DriveSpacio (read about it) (download it), a free program that will quickly show how much space the files and folders on your computer are taking up. It's a good way to find folders and files that are eating up excess gigabytes.
In addition to making sure space requirements are met, the advisor checks to see that the hardware in your system is capable of running Windows 7. Want the short version? Your computer can run Windows 7. Ideally you should have at least 1GB of memory (more is better) and a new-ish processor (say a p4 or Athlon that runs at 2 or more gigahertz).
In the real world, people have gotten Windows 7 to run on all kinds of clunky old hardware, so you're probably in good shape even if the advisor spots some weaknesses. Drivers may be a problem, however, so make sure you can at least find Windows Vista drivers for anything the advisor calls to your attention. They'll probably work just fine with Windows 7, too.
The advisor will also let you know if any of your existing programs don't play well with Windows 7. It's very important to look this list over carefully. Is there a program listed that you absolutely can't do without? If so, you might want to reconsider your upgrade.
Windows 7 does offer a feature called XP Mode which is able to run many old applications, but it does require a bit of skill to get set up correctly. There's also a good chance that some of your programs working by simply changing compatibility settings. I'll go over getting old programs to work a little later on, so stay tuned!
As far as getting your data ready for the process, Windows 7 includes a revised version of Vista's Easy Transfer tool. It does a fantastic job of gathering up your data from Windows XP and Vista machines and zapping it into your Windows 7 install.
While this isn't technically necessary if you're doing an upgrade it's never a bad idea to play it safe. Running Easy Transfer gives you a Windows 7-friendly backup of your data and settings in case something goes wrong.
To see how Easy Transfer works, check out the video below:
Once you've addressed the advisor's concerns and made a backup of your data - using Easy Transfer or another tool (like the free ones listed on our site) - you're ready to start your upgrade install from the Windows 7 DVD.
Good luck!
This free program from Microsoft will perform an inspection of your computer and let you know if anything might cause you problems. After running the Advisor, you'll see a report screen like the one below:
If you happen to be running low, grab a couple free programs to help you make room. Start off with a round of CCleaner (read about it) (download it) - it's a great way to clean up useless temp files. I've seen it remove as much as 12 gigabytes of crud from a system, so CCleaner can definitely be a difference maker.
Still need more room after running CCleaner? Fire up DriveSpacio (read about it) (download it), a free program that will quickly show how much space the files and folders on your computer are taking up. It's a good way to find folders and files that are eating up excess gigabytes.
In addition to making sure space requirements are met, the advisor checks to see that the hardware in your system is capable of running Windows 7. Want the short version? Your computer can run Windows 7. Ideally you should have at least 1GB of memory (more is better) and a new-ish processor (say a p4 or Athlon that runs at 2 or more gigahertz).
In the real world, people have gotten Windows 7 to run on all kinds of clunky old hardware, so you're probably in good shape even if the advisor spots some weaknesses. Drivers may be a problem, however, so make sure you can at least find Windows Vista drivers for anything the advisor calls to your attention. They'll probably work just fine with Windows 7, too.
The advisor will also let you know if any of your existing programs don't play well with Windows 7. It's very important to look this list over carefully. Is there a program listed that you absolutely can't do without? If so, you might want to reconsider your upgrade.
Windows 7 does offer a feature called XP Mode which is able to run many old applications, but it does require a bit of skill to get set up correctly. There's also a good chance that some of your programs working by simply changing compatibility settings. I'll go over getting old programs to work a little later on, so stay tuned!
While this isn't technically necessary if you're doing an upgrade it's never a bad idea to play it safe. Running Easy Transfer gives you a Windows 7-friendly backup of your data and settings in case something goes wrong.
To see how Easy Transfer works, check out the video below:
Once you've addressed the advisor's concerns and made a backup of your data - using Easy Transfer or another tool (like the free ones listed on our site) - you're ready to start your upgrade install from the Windows 7 DVD.
Good luck!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Viewtiful Jason2 said 11:21AM on 10-20-2009
Considering I took advantage of the $50 upgrade disc deal a few months ago, I'm fairly certain I don't have the clean install option at all. So this was helpful.
Reply
Arnie said 11:35AM on 10-20-2009
Are you sure about that Jason2? I also opted for that upgrade and plan to do a clean install. I only have one HDD though which is partitioned into 3 . I planned to make a backup of my critical files to one of the other drives. Is this recommended? Also, with my upgrade disk, will I be able to do a clean install? Also can I use the Easy Transfer method to move data to any of my other partitions? Any answers will be appreciated.
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Jon said 11:43AM on 10-20-2009
Yes you can do in Clean install from upgrade disc , in fact if you use XP you MUST do a clean install ..
Another thing to worry about (i learned the hard way) if you are using a ATI digital cable tuner w/ Cable card .. if you do a clean install it will make all recording un playable .. it tell you you have to play your DRM recording on the PC it was recorded on . well if you do a clean install it does not know that it is the same PC .. I lost like 3 weeks of all new shows because of this ..
Reply
Richard said 11:57AM on 10-20-2009
The way I do an upgrade is follows:
1. Back everything on your drive to an external drive.
2. Use a partition editor to shrink the size of C to the smallest it can possibly be, move that partition to the back so that you have as much possible space at the beginning of the drive.
3. Create a new partition at the beginning of the drive.
4. Boot from DVD, install Windows into new partition.
5. Copy the files you need from your old partition into your new one.
When you're done, leave the partition and in (say 6 months) delete it when you know you don't need anything else out of it and resize your C partition to take over the space.
The backup to the external drive is only there in case the partition move fails and you get a corrupted drive - rare but I had it happen recently.
Finally, when you re-install Windows 7 in the future, use Double Driver to take a backup of the drivers before you start moving partitions. Then you just need to point Windows at that folder when you re-install all the drivers.
Reply
Lee Mathews said 12:01PM on 10-20-2009
Well stated, Richard! Thanks for sharing.
blaszta said 11:41PM on 10-20-2009
Hmm I usually just buy a new hard drive and do a clean install. I keep the old one just in case I need it.
cendana287 said 8:16PM on 10-28-2009
Creating/adjusting a partition: Can you or anyone recommend something that's easy to use AND free, please?
Lee Mathews said 8:17PM on 10-28-2009
see this post: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/01/15/my-two-favorite-free-post-install-tech-tools/
Good luck!
richard.gailey said 12:03PM on 10-20-2009
Great write up.
Personally, I'd always do a clean install, but that is just me. Also as Jon states, XP users have to do a clean install. (I know that people say that there is a work around, but I'd really not advise doing that)
As for driver compatability issues, I really haven't come across any or any issues with software that I used to use with XP. I have used XP mode in Windows 7 basically just to look at and install a few programs just out of curiosity. It was very simple to use.
I have been using the RC1 since it's release and haven't/ wouldn't go back to XP. Nothing against XP, but I just really prefer Windows 7
Reply
Ubernoober said 12:44PM on 10-20-2009
I just received my copy of windows 7 ultimate (thanks to downloadsquad and hostparty) ... Unfortunately upgrading from 7100 to retail does not work which I should have realized
Reply
kojo87 said 3:03PM on 10-20-2009
i was planning on doing a clean install on my desktop. i backed everything up to an external HDD and was ready to go. then i thought i would give the upgrade a try just to see how smooth it worked. and i have to say it worked quite well. i just stuck with the upgrade and never bothered with the clean install.
Reply
Peter said 5:13PM on 10-20-2009
Same here. I did an in-place upgrade from Vista and have been very happy with it. I might wipe and reinstall later depending on how it runs, but my Vista install was only a year old so it wasn't too mucked up.
kojo87 said 5:17PM on 10-20-2009
my Vista install was only a couple months old and i like to think i do a good job of maintaining my system. so far i am very impressed with Windows 7. snappy and smooth
Dave Forster said 3:13PM on 10-20-2009
A question about product keys...
I was very kindly given a Win 7 Pro RTM DVD from a colleague who had access via the ms academic program... it's been activated and running on my desktop for quite some time now.
I've just done a clean install on my new laptop and obvisouly can't use the same activation key. I've done this in the hope that the OEM Win 7 upgrade thats due to arrive will allow me to just enter the product key to activate it... my concern being the upgrade is for Home Premium.
Does anyone know if will accept it and gracefully fall back from Pro to Home or can I expect to have to reinstall ?
Reply
Peter said 5:13PM on 10-20-2009
The product keys are based on the version you purchased. Like it warns you if you don't input the product key during the install, if you don't install the version that matches your product key, you are looking at a wipe and reinstall.
In theory you could "upgrade" in-place. Suppose you installed Home and had a key for Professional, you could do an in-place upgrade to Pro and use that key. You can't downgrade in-place.
Dave Forster said 5:17AM on 10-21-2009
Ah well, never mind. If it turns out to be a fresh install it won't be too much of a pain. The 2 clean installs I've done so far have taken about 25 mins tops and I haven't had to go hunting for additional drivers afterwards
nolie83 said 2:38PM on 10-21-2009
Clean install all the way!
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