XP -> 7

[nub]

So yeah, I've basically decided I want to get Windows 7. Just for the shit of it. I don't want to do dual boot as that's a lot of work and my hard drive already has 2 partitions on it.

Basically, what I want to do is just put Windows 7 in place of XP, which I'm pretty sure I can do.

My hard drive has 2 partitions. One is C:, which is where Windows XP is installed. The other is D:, which has all my important data (including games). So basically I already backed my system up. However, what I want to know is if I can even do this without consequence. If I were to just clear out the C: partition and install Windows 7 on it, would I still be able to access the D: partition without any issues? Or would I have to reformat that partition to so Windows 7 could interact with it? I have reinstalled Windows XP on C: before without having to do anything to D:, but that's probably because I made both partitions when installing XP the first time...


Anyway, any info would be appreciated.

[zombie@computer]

yea, should work no problem.

[Major Banter]

Windows 7 has an upgrade option that moves anything that might pose a problem, then replaces it post-install. It's rather brilliant. I installed it 2 hours ago. I can't imagine you having any problems at all.

On top of that you won't have to delete the partition from what I know.

[nub]

Alright thanks a lot. I'll be doing this later on tonight.

[Blink]

Why don't you play it safe and just buy a new HD and leave all your files intact?

The cost of storage is so cheap I just bought two 1TB drive and shoved them in a RAID. These days you shouldn't be thinking about storage as it's so cheap.

Just my opinion anyway!

[Psy]

It should work flawlessly.

[nub]

Why don't you play it safe and just buy a new HD and leave all your files intact?

The cost of storage is so cheap I just bought two 1TB drive and shoved them in a RAID. These days you shouldn't be thinking about storage as it's so cheap.

Just my opinion anyway!

When I do my next upgrade, that's exactly what I plan on doing. This quick jump to Windows 7 is merely because I want to see how it is...plus I want to keep up to date with DirectX.

[Terr]

Every time I've upgraded or moved my stuff to a new computer, I dump my existing registry to a text file, grab a new drive, and the fresh OS on that drive. Then I copy programs over between the two disks manually, moving applications' registry information as needed. Then new drivers for old hardware, etc.

I'm probably just a control-freak with too much time on his hands that way, but I like to think it leaves everything minty-fresh.

As an interesting side-effect, I now have a folder on my drive that has the contents of my old drive--the stuff I didn't move over. And inside that folder is another folder of the contents of my old-old drive, that I didn't move over to the old drive... It's like frickin' tree rings.

[whiffen]

I have been using Windows 7 since the beta and I too have finally bought in on it. It's the first legitimate copy of a windows OS i've ever owned. Primarly because I've had my first job for a year now though so I actually have some money

Great upgrade IMO, I hope it lives up to your expectations as well. Fortunatly for me I don't have to many important files to backup so I have everything backedup on a flash drive. Mainly just my firefox bookmarks and the installers for all the programs I use.

[Chopium]

I find a clean install great to get rid of all the junk I collect after some time. I got plenty of external storage to back up the files I really need. After the clean install, I reinstall everything I remember that's needed. After that, I just drag data files into their correct program folder to merge my custom files.

[nub]

Note to self:

Check hardware compatibility lists before upgrading OS.


Soundcard doesn't work.

[The Doctor]

What sound card do you have?

[nub]

It's a pretty old Creative Labs one. There's no actual name for it, but the model is CT4750. I scoured the internet for like an hour trying to find drivers for it. Most of these sites just try and get you to download shitty programs that supposedly do it for you. I finally found some legit drivers, but I couldn't even install them. The card is just so old that there's absolutely no support for it anymore.

My integrated sound card stopped working years ago when I first reinstalled Vista (this PC came with Vista). I haven't been able to get the card working since. I even had my uncle try and get it running, and even he couldn't (he's a computer technician). Dell's drivers don't do shit and I can't even download them now since they moved to this REALLY shitty download manager. Trying to download straight from the browser just makes you download the manager program. Fail on Dell's part.

Anyway, my uncle is currently looking at some sound cards he has lying around and is going to see if they have some Win7 fixes for them. If he doesn't, then I'm going to just buy this Turtle Beach Riviera 5.1 PCI card. $22 and I checked their website and they already have Win7 drivers for it.

[The Doctor]

That's an old SB128. I have one of them sitting around somewhere with two old AWE64 cards (one is gold), and an old SB Live! 5.1 Value. The 5.1 card apparently has Win7 support. Maybe you'd be able to grab one of them or an old Audigy card on the cheap or hope your uncle has one.

[nub]

Nah it's alright, I already ordered this Turtle Beach card. It was cheap enough and it's got 5.1, so I'm happy. I was getting sick of only being able to use 2 of my speakers from my 5.1 system.