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Windows 7 Installation advice

Commander Straker

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Posted February 3, 2011 at 8:24PM

Due to an issue with my Vista 32 bit installation ( subject of another post) I have decided to bite the bullet and install W7 64bit. I realise I have to do a custom install but am unclear whether I can just let windows take care of the disc side of things or whether I have to reformat my hard drive. The PC originally came from Cube 247 and has two 500Gb hard drives in Raid arrangement to appear as one 1Tb drive.
Thanks for any advice - I have never replaced an OS before.

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Pine Man

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Posted February 7, 2011 at 8:38AM

Pleased it (nearly) all worked out for you.

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Commander Straker

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Posted February 6, 2011 at 6:03PM

Managed to complete clean installation of Windows 7 Ultimate. Took quite a while and there are moments when it appears to hang for ages but restarts just as you are beginning to doubt ! Also unexpectedly did 'checkdisk' in the middle but no problem. I can confirm that Easy Transfer works in these circumstances and even seems to have copied iTunes folders and libraries without difficulty.
Had hardware issue with HP All-in-one resolved by downloading later software from their site (despite having a Windows 7 install disc). Still have issue with Peak TV Tuner card which now can't hold a Tv picture without picture breakup and download of latest driver doesnt cure it annoyingly.
Other than that I can say it has worked as you all indicated so thanks for the advice and support.

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Pine Man

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Posted February 4, 2011 at 3:45PM

Research suggests that in theory it may work but no guarantees.

The general consensus appears to be to transfer files etc manually and reinstall all of your software.

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Commander Straker

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Posted February 4, 2011 at 12:20PM

That's great thanks for clarifying. Would you know if I can use Windows Easy Transfer when going from 32 to 64 bit ( I know you can't go the other way) ?

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Pine Man

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Posted February 4, 2011 at 10:15AM

Windows 7 will reformat your HD as part of the installation process.

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Strawballs

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Posted February 6, 2011 at 4:32PM

During the installation proccess win 7 takes a copy of all of your documents favourites etc before it formats then when you have finished you will find a file on your desktop named Old Windows it will all be in there.

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Commander Straker

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Posted February 5, 2011 at 8:40AM

Thanks. I have the Easy Transfer file saved on external drive and copied the files separately too so hopefully got it covered - today is OS change day so I will update with experience in case it helps others.

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canarieslover

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Posted February 4, 2011 at 9:57PM

I used Windows easy transfer when I moved from a 32bit Vista computer to a 64bit Win 7 build. Mine was done via usb as it was two separate machines that I was using. It was OK but it took a very long time, probably due to limitations of usb, and also moved a lot of files that I really didn't need. In hindsight I had all the install disks that I needed and also had my data backed up to an external drive so I would now do a complete re-install of everything and then import my data from external drive.

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Commander Straker

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Posted February 4, 2011 at 5:40PM

Many thanks Pine Man for taking trouble to help me out. I'll leave the thread open a bit longer just in case I run into a glitch !

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