Windows 7 ROCKS

Well I spent all day Wednesday upgrading my computer from Windows Vista Home Premium to Window 7 Ultimate final release.

I was actually able to do an upgrade!  Very cool, very easy and VERY FAST.

Do you want to upgrade your current Windows Vista computer?  If so, do yourself a favor and download the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor – it will tell you if you can do an upgrade (keep your settings and software) or if you have to do a clean install (reinstall all software & restore ALL files).

This tool will also tell you if your current Windows XP machine is CAPABLE of running Windows 7 and which version you should pick.  From all the information that I’ve read, you can NOT do an upgrade from XP to Windows 7 – but rather you MUST do a clean install – which means backing EVERYTHING and I do mean EVERYTHING up, doing what is called a “clean install” and THEN you’ll have to reinstall ALL of your software and all of your data.

If you are running XP, you might be better off just waiting to get Windows 7 when you have to purchase your next new computer.  For additional information on Windows 7, visit the Microsoft Windows 7 site – be sure to compare the different versions that are available.

So, let me tell you about my new computer!  I’m as excited as a “kid in a candy store”; but seriously I HOPE this is the last computer that I have to buy for a LONG time.

Here are the specs:

  • Hewlett Packard E-9150t desktop
  • Intel (R) Core (TM) i7 CPU
  • 950 @ 3.07 GHz
  • 8.00 GB of RAM
  • 64-bit Operating System
  • Running Windows 7 Ultimate – final release

So I started out bright and early Wednesday morning (5 a.m. EST) and started with the Upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 – it took under an hour and yes I had what little software that I had wanted to save from Vista – which was mainly all of the HP stuff.

Everything seemed to be running smoothly – it remembered my network connections and everything.  Next I started installing like a fiend:

  • Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
  • QuickBooks 2010
  • Certified Payroll Solution – our software
  • Construction Application for Payment Solution – our software
  • Crew/Overtime Entry Solution – our software
  • Wage Manager Solution – our software
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0
  • RoboForm

AND then came the biggie, a Cannon MX330 series printer/fax/scanner, when I insalled that I just used the regular installation CD that came with it – works like a charm.

Thursday, I spent time doing some preliminary testing with our software in conjunction with QuickBooks 2010 and Windows 7 and am happy to say that I’m pleased with the initial results.

We’ll be doing more in-depth testing over the next month, so stay tuned….

2 thoughts on “Windows 7 ROCKS

  • Abel Lineberger

    Nancy,
    Congratulations on the new computer. Note that not that you have a 64-bit operating system, you want to be careful to insure that you install 64-bit drivers for your peripherals. From the sound of it, when you “just used the regular installation CD that came with it” you may very well have installed 32-bit drivers. If you have a Canon folder in your %root%Program Files (x86) folder then you did indeed install a 32-bit version of the driver. This is true of everything from video and network cards to printers. Why might this be an issue? Because those 32-bit drivers (and applications!) may only be able to access the first 3GB of RAM on that 8GB investment. You can generally find 64-bit Windows 7 drivers on the manufacturer’s web sites. As 64-bit becomes the standard, driver availability should climb.

    Good luck!

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