Geek News--Installing Windows 7 Upgrade on a New Hard Drive

[DouginUtah]

You've probably heard that Windows 7 was released a couple of days ago. If you are wondering if you could buy the cheaper Upgrade version and install it on a new hard drive the answer is yes you can.

The Word 2000 file attached below tells how.



If buying a new hard drive keep this info in mind:
Western Digital Blue = Good
Western Digital Green = Better
Western Digital Black = Best

[SwampDonkey]

I'm still on XP, if I installed that new OS I'd have to buy all new upgrades. Ain't gonna happen. :D

[TerryB]

And if you're a college student (or still have the .edu email address) you can grab Win 7 Pro upgrade for $29.99 here.  ;D

[DouginUtah]

Or here, where you can also buy MS Office for $59.95.

http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx?cid=howtobuy   ;D

[SwampDonkey]

When I bought Office 2000 I just bought the $59 Office Suite and then the upgrade for $199 or there-abouts. Saved hundreds $$.

[D._Frederick]

How much better is Windows 7 than Vista?  Would it be worth the cost and trouble to switch?

[DouginUtah]

Vista was generally considered to be a marginal upgrade from XP, and by some to be a downgrade.

Windows 7 however is generally considered to be a worthwhile upgrade from XP and Vista. Many say it fixes most of what was wrong with Vista.

To upgrade from Vista is not very difficult. You don't have to do a clean install as you do with XP.

[Gary_C]

They make you choose between the 64 bit and 32 bit. Is there any disadvantage with the 64 bit version?

[Norm]

The drivers and programs designed to run off of 64 bit systems are limited. We run a couple of 64 bit severs and we are not that impressed with the results.

On windows 7 I've upgraded several of our computers. Kind of early to tell you if the performance is better but I do like the look and use of the OS.

The upgrade packs I've gotten have both the 64 and 32 bit versions of the OS in them.

[DouginUtah]

They make you choose between the 64 bit and 32 bit. Is there any disadvantage with the 64 bit version?

Yes. There can be hardware and software problems. The older the hardware and software the more likely there will be problems. Your CPU must be 64-bit capable. Printers may not have drivers available for 64-bit, etc.

There are advantages. Programs run faster, you can use more that 3.5 GB of memory, etc.

I don't need the advantages (or the disadvantages) so I will stick with 32-bit.

[Gary_C]

Another question for the "Geeks."

With Windows 7 do you still need a separate internet security program or does it already have enough protections?

[Warbird]

Yes, you need to still run anti-virus.  Read these articles:

http://www.sophos.com/blogs/chetw/g/2009/11/03/windows-7-vulnerable

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/11/03/2123258/In-Test-Windows-7-Vulnerable-To-8-Out-of-10-Viruses

Still running WinXP on my Windows system.  ;)

[DouginUtah]

http://www.microsoft.com/Security/

Download Security Essentials (Second product)

It has gotten good reviews.

[SPIKER]

I am not sure, I still am running Windows 98SE, have been since well like '99 and have rarely had an issue I couldnt fix. other than updated software for virus and or taxes type stuff does not support it.   I also have XP machines, at work & womans...   my mach. im on now is one I built back in 1999, still works had to replace a few parts (battery is starting to act up so that was replaced.) same hard drive mother board Pentium 550 (clocked at get go to 650 or so) up till last year when the battery went out.   bout all I do is surf web, track my on-line sites such as here and do some on-line stock trading.  I had worst time finding updated virus software but avcast has been good to the old die hard community...   will probably buy a new laptop this winter when prices drop after x-mas though.

seems that the software people are ones pushing to make everyone upgrade so then they can sell more un-needed stuff....

mark