Stay With Xp Or Move To Vista

[skippybangkok]

Have XP on my new laptop, but it also came with Vista disks. Is it worth all the trouble to back up my data, and re-load a new OS ?

Views appreciated

[cpofc]

Vista was a disaster. XP is a decent stable platform. If you wish to go beyond that, go for Win 7, use Vista at your peril.

[skippybangkok]

Vista was a disaster. XP is a decent stable platform. If you wish to go beyond that, go for Win 7, use Vista at your peril.

Thx

Dont want to waste time unless there is a clear benefit

[mrclough]

Couldn't agree more! I think you would find moving from XP to Windows 7 a lot easier than moving to Vista.

[nikster]

I second the above. Put your Vista disks in the trash. Windows 7 is a proper upgrade over XP. Vista was a step back.

[skippybangkok]

Thx.... Will give it a pass then. Any big reasons to go for W7 then? XP still seems to be ok

[sammycic]

Thx.... Will give it a pass then. Any big reasons to go for W7 then? XP still seems to be ok

upgrade to windows 7 you won't want to use XP again.

[Jingthing]

Thx.... Will give it a pass then. Any big reasons to go for W7 then? XP still seems to be ok

upgrade to windows 7 you won't want to use XP again.

Agree 100 percent.

[welo]

Since you have security concerns (if I remember correctly from another discussion) I recommend to go with Windows 7 64bit for security reasons.

Only reason that would keep me from going with Win 7 is the costs and slow hardware. But any recently purchased Laptop should be up to the task.

welo

[astral]

Agreed. Windows 7 is the way to go.

[skippybangkok]

Cheers

W7 it is then ! Will do it when get time

[Pib]

No...no...no!!!! Don't go from XP to Vista; go from XP to Windows 7.

While Vista was very stable (at least on my computers) "once you got all the right hardware and software drivers loaded (took me months to get the computer running 100% again), it was like a journey thru the Valley of Death to get to that point. Then all you really had was a slower, more eye-candy version of XP

My upgrade from XP to Vista was painful. But my upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 went real easy, to include retaining all my loaded programs and data. Now the "basic/core" upgrade from XP to Windows 7 goes easy also, because I remember right going from XP to Windows 7 requires a "clean" install--that is, Windows 7 basically reformats your disc, loads itself, then you must reloade all your programs and data. Windows 7 calls this install a "Custom" install...I guess Custom install sounds more warm and fuzzy than a clean install which is basically a: Reformat C: Drive and Reload Everything." Now you can upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 without doing a clean install, but why go thru that pain...it's kinda like going to the dentist twice to refill the same tooth twice. Just go to Windows 7 from XP!

However, but, if you "don't" want to go the the process of reloading all you programs/data, then you could try going from XP to Vista and then buying a Windows 7 upgrade disk and go from Vista to Windows 7 "without" having to do the Clean/Custom install route, but I don't know how well a Vista to Windows 7 upgrade would go without fixing the XP to Vista problems first (i.e., getting your computer back to full health after the XP to Vista upgrade and before the Vista to Windows 7 upgrade). But hey, if you want to experiment, just back up your data/files and give the XP to Vista to Windows 7 upgrade a try; if it don't work out you can then punt and do the Clean/Custom install. If nothing else you'll learn a lot as you go thru the Valley of Death. Good luck.

Important P.S.: "Before you upgrade" to either Vista or Windows 7 be sure to go to your laptop's manufacturer's web site and download the unique drivers/utilities/etc., for Vista or Windows 7, as laptop's are real picky about having the right drivers to operate under operating system XYZ. . Also, go to the Windows 7 web site and run their Upgrade advisor as it will give you important info as to what needs to be done before you upgrade and what limitations, if any, your laptop may have under Windows 7 depending on the capabilities/age of your computer. Once again, good luck.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Pib

[welo]

I don't recommend doing an upgrade, I've read quite a view reports where people ended up with an unstable system after an upgrade.

Just make sure your data is backed up and safe before install - recheck if backup contains all data!

A shop might just wipe the whole drive during install. Or do you plan to do the install yourself? If so, I recommend a bit of planning before you start - it might save you troubles and time in the end.

If you plan to go with the 64bit version of Windows 7, an upgrade won't work anyway.

64bit is not necessarily better, but gives you better protection against root kit infections, and is 'required' for 4GB of RAM and more. Why don't you post the hardware specs of your PC (CPU/Ghz and RAM - right click 'My Computer', choose properties - or the exact laptop model number - check the sticker at the bottom of your laptop).

welo

[Digitalbanana]

Have XP on my new laptop, but it also came with Vista disks. Is it worth all the trouble to back up my data, and re-load a new OS ?

Views appreciated

XP will not be supported by MS soon, move to Win7. Forget Vista.

[skippybangkok]

Thanks..........maybe i shud read before starting a post - had original XP and W7 CD's ( no idea why got both ) not Vista

Recon will do a clean install.

64 Bit........ heard be never thought about it.

Intel ® Core 2 Duo CPU

P9400 @ 2.4 ghz

3.45 GM RAM

320 GB HDD

Can i use 64 bit, and how to install as 64 ?

Thx

[bangkokburning]

Go with 7 but be aware there are still many driver issues w/ 64bit OS.

[Tywais]

Go with 7 but be aware there are still many driver issues w/ 64bit OS.

I also would recommend 32-bit version due to the above mentioned issues plus compatibility issues with legacy software. My technician had a problem with two or three computers trying to get drivers loaded. I took a look and after spending time trying to get them operational decided to take a look at the system configuration - Windows 7 64-bit. Had him reinstall with 32-bit, no problems at all.

For the general user 32-bit is sufficient in terms of memory and security.

[welo]

64bit adoption is very good with Windows 7, and you should have no troubles finding 64bit drivers for your laptop if it is a recent model (<1 yr).

With older hardware it might be an issue, just check whether there are 64bit drivers available on the manufacturer's support page or not.

Going 64bit has pros and cons - you can google for 'windows 7 32bit vs 64bit' and you will find tons of information and opinions, this will not necessarily help you make a decision afterwards.

The main discussion is about the maximum amount of RAM that the OS (Windows) can use. 32bit is limited to a 4GB address space, whereas 64bit goes far beyond that (2^32 vs 2^64 - it's not just double, we're talking about terrabytes here!).

However, due to the inner workings of the OS, 32bit Windows can actually use only about 3.3GB - starting with SP3 Windows XP (as does Vista and Win7) will REPORT all available memory (e.g. 4GB), but will still not be able to use all of it.

So the point is that you are not using your laptop to its full potential (that is the 4GB of RAM)

However, to further complicate things, 4GB is not necessarily a strong indicator for going 64bit. The problem is that 64bit Windows will use more memory by default due to 64bit being the smallest amount of data chunk that it handles, as opposed to half the size with 32bit Windows (VERY SIMPLIFIED, not absolutely sure my explanation comes close to the real technical facts, but it is undisputed that 64bit Windows WILL use more RAM than its 32bit counterpart).

So the actual difference in available RAM on a 4GB system between 32bit and 64bit Windows 7 might be less than those 0.7GB.

Since you are using a laptop it is also not very likely that you will upgrade your RAM in the future.

Other aspects of the 32bit vs 64bit discussion are very similar and won't actually aid in your decision making process.

Some programs will run faster on 64bit than on 32bit, especially those that do a lot of calculations (encoding, encryption, etc), but only if they are actually optimized for 64bit. Some 32bit programs might actually run slower on 64bit Windows than on 32bit. That said, more and more software companies provide 64bit versions of their software, and just in a view years time (1-2yrs) there will be no question whether to go with 64bit since computers will have more than 4GB of RAM and software will target 64bit as default platform.

64bit will offer slightly better security, since most malware is designed for 32bit systems. Of course 32bit code/programs do run on 64bit Windows, so most malware does as well, but the more nasty ones that install device drivers to hide themselves (root kits) will not work. This is called 'security through obscurity', for the very same reason less popular software like Mac OSX, Firefox, etc are more secure than there more popular counterparts like Windows, Internet Explorer, etc

Any more questions?

[dominique355]

Go with 7 but be aware there are still many driver issues w/ 64bit OS.

Yep agreed. And many application programs don't run under 64B version. You either have to upgrade or run it under 32B, which makes the whole Windows 7 64B version questionable, in my view.

W7 knows really almost all and any device drivers and unless you have some totally unusual hardware components, you don't need anything else than the W7 DVD.

If you want to do it the 100% safe way: Buy a new hard-disk and put it in your PC and install W7 on this new HD. Then attach the old HD (via USB) and copy whatever you need. Keep the old HD, just in case.

[Crushdepth]

Windows 7 uses less resources than Vista. I haven't had any driver issues with the 64 bit version.

[2008bangkok]

Backup all your data get a win7 disk and do a clean install no need to upgrade...much better

Vista wasnt that bad at all infact all Win 7 is the same vista but just cleaned up a bit, added a few bits and rebranded and now all if a sudden very1 loves it.. had no problems ever with vista

[bendejo]

Here is yet another endorsement for the idea of sticking with XP if you're happy with it, and if you upgrade go to Win7.

I considered doing 64bit, but from what I could make out there won't be much a performance advantage for me (I run a laptop, no server software, no CPU intensive stuff like rendering), also sounds like the same ol' driver messiness as with earlier win versions, whereas Win7 32 seems to (finally) have the driver installation in order.

[Pib]

Assuming the OP plans to keep his current computer, our discusson over whether he should load Windows 7 32bit or 64bit will be determined on whether he has a 32 bit CPU or 64 bit CPU.

If it's a 32bit CPU he'll have to load Windows 7 32 bits as Windows 7 64 bits won't run on a 32 bit CPU.

[skippybangkok]

I wrote the spec above for the CPU. How to know if it's 64 bit capable?

[Supernova]

^ Core 2 Duo is 64-bit.

You could also run CPU-Z to gather information about certain hardware devices on your system.

[Pib]

If I remember right (could be wrong) if you click the Start icon in the lower left edge of your display, then "position" the mouse cursor over My Computer, then "right" mouse click, then click on Properties, it will tell you what type of CPU you have and I think whether it's 32 bits or 64 bits. Otherwise running CPU-Z will do the job.

[welo]

All Core 2 Duo CPUs sold within the last 2 years are 64bit for sure! As well as all currently sold Desktop and Laptop CPUs from Intel and AMD (except the Intel Atom in netbooks).

Intel started introducing 64bit support back in 2004/5(!) with the later Intel Pentium 4 Desktop CPU models, and in late 2006(!) for mobile CPUs with the Core 2 Duo 'Merom'. (source: wikipedia)

The OP stated the exact CPU model - P9400 - a quick google search easily proofs that this model supports 64bit, as do actually all 35 Core 2 Duo mobile models listed on the Intel website.

If I remember right (could be wrong) if you click the Start icon in the lower left edge of your display, then "position" the mouse cursor over My Computer, then "right" mouse click, then click on Properties, it will tell you what type of CPU you have and I think whether it's 32 bits or 64 bits. Otherwise running CPU-Z will do the job.

No. The only information related to 32/64 bit in this dialog is that that the system will be reported as 'Microsoft Windows XP 64bit' if running the 64bit edition of Windows XP. On the 32bit edition of Windows XP no 32bit or 64bit tag shows up, no matter whether the CPU supports 64bit or not.

Edited June 10, 2010 by welo

[NALAK]

i have 2 laptops, the new one has vista, i hate it i dont even use the computer because of it, i was thinking of putting xp on it it. i definatly would not use vista. i miss the resize picture tweak on vista that xp has.

[Pib]

Just do a Windows 7 "Upgrade" instead from Vista. Although you should always backup your data before during a major system upgrade, the upgrade won't delete your programs or data files. But you will need to do some minor driver upgrades and maybe some program upgrades/updates. Run the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser found on the Microsoft web site and it will tell you what programs/drivers you will probably need to get upgrades/updates for. Also don't forget to check your computer's manufacturer web site for Win 7 drivers/utilities unique to your computer.

My upgrade from XP Professional to Win 7 Home Premium on my Toshiba 32 bit CPU laptop about 8 months ago went pretty easy and with little pain...the only little pain was a wireless driver issue (would lose my wireless connection) and monitor resolution issue (couldn't adjust it to my monitor's best resolution) which I figured out/fixed in a few days...the monitor issue was more of me not understanding the new driver's menu selections/adjustments....and the wireless issue just kinda magicially fixed itself. Ever since the computer has been rock steady on Win 7.

I got zero complaints about Win 7, and really none for XP other than it's a legacy operating system. Now, for Vista my two big complaints is it's significantly slower than XP and the upgrade from XP to Vista was very, very problem prone/driver hel_l at the time (several years back). RIP Vista!

[TheyCallmeScooter]

Vista was a disaster. XP is a decent stable platform. If you wish to go beyond that, go for Win 7, use Vista at your peril.

I don't have the technical skills to comment with any real insight into the matter, but my opinion is there should have been a Senate inquiry or something into Vista. The fury and tilt of my first few weeks of Vista before I crumbled and bought XP was just...I think I have PTSD 2 yrs later.

When my new PC came with Win7 Ultimate and I'd heard these stories about it being "like Vista", I was 100% ready to immediately buy XP again.

Within 2 days I could never go back to XP. I got no special love for MS but I reckon they were finished if they screwed it up again. Win7 is really just brilliant for a user like me [and I imagine I represent 80% of the market]. MS is probably marking time for oblivion anyway with Google Chrome OS looming on the horizon, but they hit a home run with Win7. imo

i have 2 laptops, the new one has vista, i hate it i dont even use the computer because of it, i was thinking of putting xp on it it. i definatly would not use vista. i miss the resize picture tweak on vista that xp has.

Yup. Just pure hatred for Vista here also. Pull the trigger on Win7 - as a fellow Vista hater, I think you'll love it no matter what the experts say.

The absolute single thing about Vista I missed [which I now have back obv] was the Snipping Tool.

Edited June 11, 2010 by TheyCallmeScooter