installing a new os

wardides

Have my new laptop arriving tomorrow(xps 1530) but the os on it is xp sp2.I was wondering how i would go about installing say vista or windows 7 as the os and deleting windows xp, or is it even worth it?ive not heard good things about vista?is it easy enough to do and will it do any damage to my laptop?!

elexes

vista is fine once your laptop is fully compatiable with it .

every time a new opperating system ( ms os )comes out there is always a huge rush of NAY sayers that come out of the woodwork saying that its a resorce hog and that its much worse then what we have have at present.

it happened with xp / 2k / nt / me / 98 /95 . they usually come out with wait till the service pack comes out for it then it should be a bit better.

i wouldnt install windows 7 on your laptop. its not a finished os. i probably wouldnt install vista also . id just get the laptop from dell and reinstall windows so all the crap software ect.. is removed from the os and that i know its properly setup to the way i want.

but to answer your question.

get the windows vista/7 cd put it in the cd rom drive make the cd from drive bootable during the install process format your drive and go from there. entering your cd keys along the way. then download the drivers for your hardware and any service packs currently available

Alanstrainor

As said i wouldn't go installing windows 7 as a main OS at the moment, if you want o dual boot with it to see what it's like, then you can create a partition say 20Gb and install it on that using windows 7 installer, which should make installing it just like installing any other program.

wardides

right so what do you think on the os then just stick with xp instead of vista then?i just prefer the look of vista meself the few times ive tried it on a mates pc it seems very slugish.

elexes

personally id go with xp/pro or home. thats only because

1. i dont have a legit vista cd key or even vista on cd.
2. i havent found anything that xp cant do well that vista can

im sure ill probably make the move to windows 7 when it gets released but by then i do hope to have more cores in the computers im using daily.

here.from.day.1

In the last year I have had an xps 1710 and have now moved to an m1530.

The 1710 came with Vista so I set up a dual boot with XP Pro and to be honest I found myself very rarely if ever using XP anymore. The m1530 came with Vista (so obviously all drivers are available for it if you do choose to change OS) and I find it runs with no problems at all, it really has come along way from the initial hate fest and is very stable.

wardides

ye im thinkin i may jump to vista now.i have a boot disc but not sure what to do really?sorry my for ignorance not the best wen it comes to this sort of stuff.do i just install it by bootin from the startup?how do i get rid of the xp which was originally on the laptop without messin it up!?

PaddyTheNth

elexes wrote: »

2. i havent found anything that xp cant do well that vista can

Support DX10 is about the only thing which goes here, which does make some games look a bit better/more realistic.

I use XP Pro, and I'll be going straight to Windows 7 when its released.

That new laptop should run vista fine, its a good OS now with SP1, but I wouldn't go spending money on a Vista license if I didn't have one already.

ye im thinkin i may jump to vista now.i have a boot disc but not sure what to do really?sorry my for ignorance not the best wen it comes to this sort of stuff.do i just install it by bootin from the startup?how do i get rid of the xp which was originally on the laptop without messin it up!?

Boot up with the Vista cd in the cd drive. You may have to go into the BIOS options at bootup by hitting F8 as its starting and setting it to boot from CD first.

When it boots to the CD you'll have pretty clear options how to install Vista - note that XP will then be gone and so will anything else you had on it. It is possible to dual boot - have both OSs installed at the same time - but that takes a little more work.

http://www.google.ie/search?q=how+to+install+vista

calex71

Id suggest a dual boot xp/vista if disc space allows, it's pretty straight forward to set up if its xp thats already on the laptop.

here.from.day.1

calex71 wrote: »

Id suggest a dual boot xp/vista if disc space allows, it's pretty straight forward to set up if its xp thats already on the laptop.

I thought I would use this but I always tended to stick to one OS or the other so its probably just easier to pick one or the other unless you have specific needs for both.

calex71

here.from.day.1 wrote: »

I thought I would use this but I always tended to stick to one OS or the other so its probably just easier to pick one or the other unless you have specific needs for both.

I know what you mean , i actually have a triple boot system xp/vista/ubuntu and vista is the only one i use regular, cant remember the last time i booted in to xp

Useful for the OP though if he is unsure he wants to use vista , can set up the dual boot and can go back to xp easially if its slow or doesnt like it.

here.from.day.1

calex71 wrote: »

I know what you mean , i actually have a triple boot system xp/vista/ubuntu and vista is the only one i use regular, cant remember the last time i booted in to xp

Useful for the OP though if he is unsure he wants to use vista , can set up the dual boot and can go back to xp easially if its slow or doesnt like it.

Yea in essence though it would probably be more practical and maybe easier to just install Vista and if he doesnt like it just wipe and go XP.

leninbenjamin

the only reason i would stick with XP would be if your laptop has 1GB RAM or less, and you only have say a 128MB video card in there. if you exceed those then there's no reason not to switch to Vista, but at the same time there's no reason to switch to Vista, they are both stable enough that it really comes down to personal preference for the UI.

I personally prefer Vista to XP these days, but at the same time there isn't enough justification in my opinion to spend the extra money getting a Vista license, so if i were in your shoes i'd just stick with XP.

Capt'n Midnight

wardides wrote: »

Have my new laptop arriving tomorrow(xps 1530) but the os on it is xp sp2.I was wondering how i would go about installing say vista or windows 7 as the os and deleting windows xp, or is it even worth it?ive not heard good things about vista?is it easy enough to do and will it do any damage to my laptop?!

First you would have to buy a new license.
Windows 7 is only available to some developers.
Vista you can download but it's quite expensive to buy on it's own.
If you buy a copy of OEM you CAN'T legally use it because your PC already came with a license.
You CAN'T legally use someone elses OEM CD or move an OEM copy to another PC.

Dual booting needs a second windows license too.

Vista is fine if you have once you have more than 1GB and turn off the worst of the eye-candy. Otherwise it is slower than XP for many tasks and they've moved things around. Your apps probably don't care anyway. Vista is more secure, but there are more third party security products for XP so no advantages to either there. Push XP SP3 on as soon as you can, if you had Vista I'd be saying push SP1 on as soon as you can

if you want a second OS for it's own sake, try ubuntu
or the trial version of windows 2008 server

But if you are getting a new DELL then it might be possible to have received a PC with a VISTA license but with XP installed so you have the option of legally changing to VISTA later on. I said change and not upgrade because you would most likely have to wipe and do a clean install if you change OS's

Bubba HoTep

elexes wrote: »

personally id go with xp/pro or home. thats only because

1. i dont have a legit vista cd key or even vista on cd.
2. i havent found anything that xp cant do well that vista can

im sure ill probably make the move to windows 7 when it gets released but by then i do hope to have more cores in the computers im using daily.

XP cant do DirectX 10