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TECH REVIEW

Switchover to Windows 7 a Big Pain

Move from XP may require external hard drive, patience

By Matt Cantor| Posted Jul 23, 09 9:56 AM CDT|

(Newser) – The latest Windows incarnation beats Vista and XP, but don’t expect a smooth transition: upgrading from XP to Windows 7 is an ordeal, writes Walt Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. “In fact, the process will be so painful that, for many XP users, the easiest solution may be to buy a new PC preloaded with Windows 7,” Mossberg notes.

Installing the new operating system means wiping your hard disk, deleting everything except personal data files—and to keep those, you’ll likely need an external hard drive and face a “long, multi-step process.” Then you’ll need to reinstall your programs. Meanwhile, XP drivers won’t work on 7. Microsoft does offer some options to ease the process, however, and it should be smooth sailing for Vista users.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

In this photo provided by Microsoft, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, right, and Windows president Steven Sinofsky announce the anticipated release of Windows 7 to PC makers July 22, 2009 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Microsoft, Erik S. Lesser)

In this combo made from product images provided by Microsoft Corp., packaging for the 3 versions of Microsoft Windows 7, Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate, is shown. (AP Photo/Microsoft Corp.)

In this screen shot provided by Microsoft Corp., a look at the upcoming Windows 7 is shown. (AP Photo/Microsoft Corp.)

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This migration issue may be moot for many XP computers, because (they) lack enough memory, hard disk space, or graphics power to accommodate Windows 7 anyway. - Walt Mossberg

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27 comments

VIEWING:

keybored
Jul 23, 09 10:01 AM CDT

Microsoft = sadists Reply

IN RESPONSE:

keybored
Jul 23, 09 10:14 AM CDT

Those who continue to purchase their products = masochists

IN RESPONSE:

2-bits
Jul 23, 09 10:17 AM CDT

It's just the nature of the software business. XP is basically a legacy operating system. Just look at its minimum system requirements! Upgrading to Vista would be painful, so why not Windows 7? At least this time the driver model should be hopefully sorted out.

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Jul 23, 09 10:18 AM CDT

@2bits it's not that hard to upgrade my Mac.....

-11

IN RESPONSE:

2-bits
Jul 23, 09 10:30 AM CDT

godawgs: Your mac upgrades are really really small. XP to Vista (or Windows 7) is like OS9 to OSX, only worse than that. Your mac upgrades, on the other hand, are more like service packs you have to pay for. BTW, I'm a Linux user, so I don't really have a stake in this... just tellin' it like it is.

+10

IN RESPONSE:

wwwonderer
Jul 23, 09 12:22 PM CDT

2-bits has it right. XP is going on what, 9 years. Really? Upgrading from XP to 7 will be a pain of course. IF your machine can't handle a modern 64-bit OS. Time to get rid of that Pentium III, even though it was capable of HANDLING XP. Godawgs upgrading your Mac SHOULD be easier: ONE company makes the hardware AND the software. If Microsoft made THE MAJORITY OF HARDWARE in a Windows PC, this wouldn't be as big a deal. It is the third party drivers that are the issue and ARE on a Mac if you use something from a non-Apple developer. How about the upgrade path from OS9 to OSX to Universal Binaries. How many software developers had to redo their code to work for those platforms? The fact is if you have a G4 you are probably struggling with OSX. If you have a G3, you bought a new Mac to run OSX, effectively. My general internet machine has a chip in it that may not be the greatest (AMD Athlon64 3800). I can always find a BETTER chip to put on my motherboard: 4100, 4800, etc. At least I have that option and it's one of the reasons I like the cost of ownership of a PC. And I've used Macs since the IIci and the IIcx, about 1994. Nice machines, just not very cost effective. Certainly not the super superior machine Apple markets them to be.

IN RESPONSE:

scootersrockin
Jul 23, 09 5:42 PM CDT

Just start with a blank hard drive and load 7. Just make sure all your crap is on an external. Keep all your software install disks handy. I upgraded from XP to Vista on my old computer, not a big problem. If you know how to set the settings correctly, Vista is nice. I've tried the evaluation version of Windows 7 and good luck getting any drivers to work. I have a HP HDX18t and I couldn't get my video card, my BD drive and my wireless card to work. Vista works great for me for now. I'll upgrade after a few months until they can get the bugs worked out. By the way, 2-bits knows what he's talking about so pay attention to his comments. Enough said.

| 0 minutes ago

long7000
Jul 23, 09 10:11 AM CDT

Apparently this is Microsoft's way of rewarding those who switched to Vista and punishing everyone else. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Mad
Jul 23, 09 12:23 PM CDT

Good. We deserive a gimme after putting up with this POSOS (I just made up that acronym!) I wish I never 'upgraded'. XP did everything I wanted and never gave me a lick of grief. I could go months between rebootings. Just one example: -Search- is completely worthless. If I misfile an image or document, Vista simply NEVER finds it. No matter how many hoops I jump, Vista refuses to believe I have said file. Vista Sucks. No wonder M$ had to put out many commercials 'bragging about their product, while privately ordering their executives to use Vista

IN RESPONSE:

AClotfelter
Jul 23, 09 12:40 PM CDT

There is no reason anyone should be "Upgrading" from XP to 7. a) A clean load is ALWAYS the better way to go if you don't want to have issues down the road, and b) The VAST MAJORITY of computers out there running XP can't handle Vista/7. If you have less than 2 GB of RAM, DON'T TRY WINDOWS VISTA OR 7! If you do, you will be disappointed. You can install more RAM, but most computers with less than 2 GB will feature older CPUs that won't handle the new OSes very well. I would seriously recommend (although not quite as big of a deal as 2 GB or RAM) that you do not install Vista/7 on anything less than Dual CPU/Dual Core computers. I have run Vista very happily for 3 years. I am running 7 now. I have through trial and error installed Vista on many different types of hardware, and I can say that I have not been satisfied on anything less than (at least) a dual core CPU and 2 GB of RAM. Windows 7 is very much like Windows Vista (mostly a good thing) and I am running a quad core CPU and 6 GB of RAM (x64 edition, of course). It runs extremely well in this config. Sorry, but updated software likes updated hardware.

| 0 minutes ago

psycada
Jul 23, 09 10:18 AM CDT

The transition isn't that bad. XP provides good enough backup solutions to aid in the transistion and user's should have regular backups of their personal data anyway. This step still has to be implemented if a new computer is purchased as well, how are they expecting customers to get their data from one computer to the other? Most don't have a clue about networking, and XP did not make that seemless. Also, they will not lose anything if their data is stored on a drive other than C:, or whatever their system drive is. Third party apps will have to be reinstalled regardless and 7 has native drivers for many or the peripherals out there, or can automatically download almost all but the newest drivers automatically. This article does a huge disservice to Windows XP users and is doing nothing but instigating fear and anxiety, while pushing for people to buy new equipment, which will be equally frustrating. Nothing more than a sales pitch to prop the computer hardware industry who have not had the expected levels of three year computer replacements. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Reader65069154
Jul 23, 09 10:31 AM CDT

It's not that bad... to an experienced technical person. To the general populace, any upgrade from XP, be it Vista or Windows 7, is a painful experience. Get ready to throw away half your hardware, because there's no Windows 7 driver.

IN RESPONSE:

Jojo
Jul 23, 09 10:35 AM CDT

Don't think it has anything to do with fear and anxiety - it's just common knowledge that anything regarding MS and OS upgrades are major pains in the ass until you are in the computer/IT business. For those of us that aren't, it's simply torture. I got a laptop that had Vista and when I realized how terrible it was, I never upgraded desktop, thank god. Now the laptop sits in a spare bedroom never used. MS is notorious for making stupid changes that did NOT need to be changed just to make an upgrade appear different visually, so users can justify spending a fortune to upgrade. If they would just quit doing that shit, make improvements in performance and just let us know that the upgrades are behind the scenes, everything would work cohesively and everyone wouldn't need computer degrees to deal with their upgrades.

IN RESPONSE:

psycada
Jul 23, 09 10:40 AM CDT

reader - as I said, drivers are out there. I have some fairly outdated hardware and windows 7 found the drivers for me. So, you may get rid of a few peices of hardware, but most will work.

IN RESPONSE:

psycada
Jul 23, 09 10:51 AM CDT

@jojo - MS is notorious for that yes, but they actually got Seven right, well, as right as anyone can). And upgrading any computer, regardless of the OS, even if you are in the industry, is a pain in the ass. 7 is a great OS, and doesn't compare to Vista in any way regarding ease of use. The changes between the two are night and day and by no means incremental. Vista is crap and I recommended to anyone who bought a Vista PC to have the manufatcurer downgrade it to XP. Seven runs great on the same hardware for the most part, and people don't need to upgrade out of fear their only hardware will not longer work. Of course there are a plethora of other reasons to upgrade.

-2

IN RESPONSE:

Reader65069154
Jul 23, 09 11:17 AM CDT

Hardware drivers are out there? Really? Because Vista complains every day about my 2 year old NAS and 3 year old external hard drive because they don't have drivers (and shouldn't need them). It outright refused to work with my 3 year old (Microsoft) fingerprint reader, and 4 year old Canon scanner, Bottom line, you are much, much better off buying a machine pre-installed with Win Vista/7 than hoping your existing stuff will pass muster and upgrade.

IN RESPONSE:

Cegorach
Jul 23, 09 11:35 AM CDT

@Reader6.... - you are right, VISTA has a lot of problems recognizing older hardware, but how does that relate to 7? Because they screwed it up once, they will never get it right? I have played around with the 7 beta and RC, and I have had little, if any problems with hardware drivers

IN RESPONSE:

Reader65069154
Jul 23, 09 1:21 PM CDT

Were you running 64-bit?

| 0 minutes ago

Jojo
Jul 23, 09 10:30 AM CDT

I will stick with XP until it no longer works, then I will switch to Linux. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Nwambe
Jul 23, 09 10:44 AM CDT

Man, I'm dual-booting XP and OS 10.5. XP is an excellent operating system, but I can't stop using OSX. I highly recommend it. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Reader65069154
Jul 23, 09 11:19 AM CDT

Linux is stable, and OSX is the rich mans Linux...

| 0 minutes ago

Jojo
Jul 23, 09 10:49 AM CDT

There is no need for MS to make an entirely new operating system every 1.5 years. The ONLY reason for this is $$$$$. Everything they do could be done with updates to your current operating system. So to make it appear like it needed to be a fully released upgrade, they screw with bunch of shit they don't need to. Put things in different locations, change the graphics. Add stupid shit like making you verify what you are doing every 14 seconds. I hope one day people let MS know we've had enough. Give us XP, make adjustments through updates with regard to security or performance and work on an operating system when new technology is actually available to make a BETTER system, not the same system scrambled around to look different. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

2-bits
Jul 23, 09 11:07 AM CDT

It's either this or pay for updates. I suppose stagnation (no support for new hardware features, ever) is also an optin. Microsoft has to pay the bills too. Besides, XP is really, really broken from a security standpoint. Microsoft eventually threw their hands up in Service Pack 2 and added a notification balloon that appears if the user doesn't have antivirus. It's hard to fix without an overhaul. I think Vista (and especially windows 7) is a step forward. The composited graphics finally take advantage of the shiny graphics processing capabilities present in most computers that the average consumer never uses. If we never took advantage of the hardware we'd be squandering Moore's law.

IN RESPONSE:

wwwonderer
Jul 23, 09 12:30 PM CDT

And you must realize that A) They do make more than Personal Computing (the PC in PC) operating systems for desktops. Think Windows Server, Windows Mobile, etc. B) Vista took 7 years to come out, in a sense meaning MS has released 2 OS brands in 9 years. Conversely, if I am remembering correctly, it seemed like Apple charged for 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, and 10.5.

| 0 minutes ago

nevets
Jul 23, 09 1:00 PM CDT

Oh no! You have to back up files! You should be doing it anyways, and who doesn't own a flash drive nowadays anyways? Reply

-1

| 0 minutes ago

nathanielfoster
Jul 23, 09 2:30 PM CDT

Who does this even effect anyway? People still using windows xp are likely still using it because they are comfortable where they are and have no desire to re-learn the interface. Everyone knows that the vast majority gets a new OS from the purchase of a new computer. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

scottaco
Jul 23, 09 7:29 PM CDT

Exactly. I've had this conversation several time..."What's Windows7? Do I need it or will it come on my next computer?

| 0 minutes ago

View all 27 comments »

technology • Microsoft • Walt Mossberg • Microsoft Vista • software • operating system • Windows XP • tech review • Windows 7 • Windows 7 review

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Switchover to Windows 7 a Big Pain