My Journey from Windows XP to Windows 7
How many computers does it take for Lisa to install Windows 7 on her one XP laptop? Find out! It was an unnecessarily long journey and I even survived to tell the tale.
Windows 7 Minimum Hardware Requirements
- 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 GB of RAM (32-bit)/2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit)/20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics device with Windows Display Driver Model 1.0 or higher driver
These are the big 4 requirements but Microsoft has a list of additional feature based requirements also.
Looking at this screenshot of my Toshiba Tecra M3 laptop’s hardware specifications you can see that I am in pretty good shape for general hardware requirements. There is also a tool called the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (only a Beta version is currently available) that will tell me if all my devises will work with Windows 7 as well.
The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor
I downloaded and installed the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. This tool also requires .NET framework 2.0 or higher. I didn’t have it so I was automatically prompted to download and install it before continuing with the upgrade advisor install.
The upgrade advisor told me to make sure I install all my devices before running the tool so that they can be checked for compatibility. That reminds me. What about my USB adaptor for my Play Station controller? I better still be able to use that.
Success! I am Windows 7 ready! Sort of. While there was no mention of my game controller this message was given for my wireless card:
I wonder why it wants me to download the driver upgrade first before installing Windows 7. If I download it now I would have to have an external device to save it to (I do have one but that’s not the point). I decided to just ignore this advice and see it if bites me later.
There are several programs that the upgrade advisor is asking me to uninstall before upgrading to Windows 7. I will not be upgrading to 7 from XP as that is impossible. So I don’t need to bother uninstalling anything – everything will be wiped anyway. Did I mention that this tool is a beta?
File Backup
All I need to backup is My Documents, my browser favorites, and my Thunderbird profile. With those all safely copied and pasted onto a USB drive, I am ready to go.
Install Windows 7
I waited all morning on Thursday for the RTM downloads to show up on TechNet. Sometime around noon (CDT) I hit refresh and there they were – the versions of Windows 7 in all their shining glory. I chose the 32 bit version of 7 Ultimate and started the download.
I also got a key from TechNet and made sure it was saved in a .txt file on my USB drive. What? Did you expect me physically to write it down? How barbaric.
After 3 hours and still no completed download I saw a tweet form Keith Combs with a tip to use the Akamai Technologies Download Manager Browser add-on at TechNet’s Top Downloads. This was much faster!
My second attempt at downloading the ISO file finished in only 42 minutes. However, and this is a huge however – I simultaneously discovered that my DVD/CD-ROM drive on the Toshiba does not work. When was the last time I even tried to use it? I can’t be certain. This puts a damper on things.
Well, if I am going to embark on trying to make a bootable USB drive I might as well make it for my netbook instead and just get the Toshiba’s DVD/CD-ROM fixed/replaced. Now the focus switches to my Acer Aspire One A150X. This means a quick trip back to TechNet to get Windows 7 Home Premium instead of Ultimate (a new key too).
Create a Bootable USB to Install Windows 7 From
After some Googling I found a guide at IntoWindows.com for making a bootable USB drive. This guide shows the steps for making the drive bootable using Vista so I used a different (yes a third) computer to actually create the bootable drive.
I was using a 400GB external HDD instead of a little USB key. Therefore the line in the instructions that says “Format process may take few seconds” was a wee bit of an understatement. After an hour and a half the format was only at 18%.
Instead, I just used the normal Windows GIU method to do a quick format after assigning the drive a letter. This time, after an actual few seconds passed I just went back to the command prompt and continued on to step number 6. This worked for me just fine, but I would suggest sticking to the written directions if possible.
At this point I was getting impatient. I didn’t bother with the Upgrade Advisor, I just checked to make sure the netbook had the minimum hardware requirements (it does), backed up my needed files, and went for it.
My first trip into the BIOS to change the boot order did not list USB as an option – not all computers can do this. However, after trying it again … with the USB drive actually plugged in to the computer, the option was available.
Custom Windows 7 Installation
I then followed the install wizard as it did its business:
A custom install is a clean install.
I left the XP restore partition on the netbook (hey you never know), and chose not to further partition the drive. The third drive you see here is actually the bootable USB hard drive.
Besides asking for a computer name, username, time zone, and other expected configurations — the custom install asked me for my network information. You could always skip this step if you want, but why not set it up now.
Tada! Windows 7 on my netbook! That was easy.
All that is left is to get it configured just how I want. Sliding scale UAC controls here I come! Windows 7 sure has some wacky standard desktop backgrounds available.
So how many computers does it take for Lisa to install Windows 7?
The answer is 4. I know you probably only counted 3. In a momentary act of stupidity, I actually tried another ridiculously old machine I have that is running Windows ME. Needless to say it wouldn’t even open the Windows 7 install disk. So the final tally is:
- 2 broken/obsolete computers that were nothing but distractions from my true quest (you can’t polish a turd)
- 1 current Vista machine on which to create the bootable USB drive
- 1 slick little Acer netbook that eventually did run 7
Oh and don’t forget the 400GB external hard drive and my trusty Nikon D200 for all the awesome photos of the install.
Well, I hope your upgrade/custom install journey goes significantly better than mine did. I guess it was worth it in the end.
Share Your Journey: How did your Windows 7 install turn out?
Related Posts:
- Windows 7 — Downgradable But Not Upgradable
- How to Redirect Your Documents Folder in Windows 7
- W00T! Window 7 and Server 2008 R2 RTM
- How Can You Benefit from Windows 7
- Why Skipping Vista & Going Straight from XP to 7 is the Best Option – For Some of Us
3 Responses to “My Journey from Windows XP to Windows 7”
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JB Oz Says:
August 10th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Well your journey would have me throwing PC out the Window. Here 1 Download and Burn DVD. Not 1 glitch in Custom ( clean install ) install only had to find a couple of drivers but had already known that so they were on a usb flash drive just waiting worst was reinstall of apps I wanted and Perfect install
Lisa Szpunar Says:
August 11th, 2009 at 9:04 am
JB Oz,
See now that is how it is supposed to be! A few driver issues are expected.
It was like XP was hanging on for dear life trying desperately not to be replaced and breaking my laptop as a last ditch effort.
Lisa
David Szpunar Says:
August 14th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Hey, another person with my last name posting IT-related stuff? What, are you trying to pollute my Google results?
At least your first name is as easy as mine…guess we have our parents to thank for making up for hard last name with easy first names! Nice writeup.