Installing Windows 7

lanod2407

I'm reasonably clueless regarding my technologies - so upfront apologies if I'm asking dumb questions!

I've a Dell XPS One with Vista installed ....... it crashes almost daily and the error code indicates that I'm missing .dll files ..... apparently the google searches say that it's possibly caused by installation / uninstall of various apps.

My local IT guru has advised that I should install Windows 7, and I can get access to download Windows 7 online from the MS site.

Here's my question - how do I do it?

I'm guessing that I'll need to clean down the HD on the Dell - backing up my own files to an ext HD beforehand.
Where should I download the Windows 7 ISO to? Should I save it to an Ext HD?
Then, how do I install it on the Dell system?

See - told you I was neanderthal!!
Would ask my 11 year old - but he's at school, and would probably just roll his eyes in despair!!

Fysh

Step 1:

Plan your migration. Figure out what you need to back up and what software you want to use once you've got Windows 7 installed.

Step 2:

Decide on whether you want 32-bit or 64-bit, and get Windows 7 (either buying a copy or accessing it through an authorised download service if you've got access to an MSDN account or a volume licensing scheme). You should also get the Windows Easy Transfer Tool for Vista to Windows 7 migrations (the version for 32-bit Vista is here, the 64-bit version is here. Burn an installation DVD if required and make a note of your product key.

Step 3:

Make a copy of anything you want to keep from your current computer. Depending on how paranoid you are, you can do this in any of several ways:

• Manually copy your files to DVD/an external hard drive
• Use the Easy Transfer Tool to create a profile migration file that can be imported into Windows 7
• Clone your hard drive
• All of the above

Personally I'd suggest a combination of the first two options if you've got time and space available.

Step 4:

Decide whether you want to go for an upgrade installation or a clean install. Upgrade lets you retain your existing program installs but on the other hand may lead to the recurrence of whatever problems you're currently experiencing. Clean install loses your existing program files (though you can retain your general profile setup using the Easy Transfer Tool) but should eliminate any problems you currently have.

Step 5:

Get the drivers for your hardware and chosen version of Windows 7. (I've checked the Dell website and can't find any Win7 drivers for your hardware, and only 32-bit drivers for Vista for your hardware, so alarm bells should be ringing at this point).

Step 6:

Install!

Step 7:

Once complete, install whatever antivirus/firewall software you plan on using. For the love of God don't put anything from Symantec or Norton on there, though. Run Windows Update and reboot as necessary until no further updates are available. Install whatever other software you planned to use in Step 1.

Step 8:

Run the Easy Transfer Tool to import your profile, if necessary.

That should cover everything.

lanod2407

Fysh,

That's brilliant - thanks a million.

What's the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit? Which one should I be aiming to use?

I'll check with my buddies in Dell to see if the system is OK for Windows 7 - your comment gives me cause for concern re the drivers.

What AV would you recommend? Why is NAV not on your preference list? I've installed it on other machines - find things getting a bit sssllllloooooooooowwwwwww........

Fysh

lanod2407 wrote: »

Fysh,

That's brilliant - thanks a million.

What's the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit? Which one should I be aiming to use?

It's primarily about address space - how much RAM it will be able to see and use. 32-bit operating systems can use 4GB of RAM by default (although some use trickery to be able to access greater amounts of memory), whereas 64-bit operating systems can access much higher amounts (I forget exactly how much but it's of the order of 2 to the 64th power, so quite a lot).

If you have 4GB or more of RAM and a decent graphics card in your computer, you should be going for the 64-bit. If not it probably won't make that much of a difference. (If you're going for a 64-bit OS it's worth double-checking that
your processor is 64-bit capable, as not all processors are).

lanod2407 wrote: »

I'll check with my buddies in Dell to see if the system is OK for Windows 7 - your comment gives me cause for concern re the drivers.

Check and see what they say - it's possible that the generic drivers bundled in Windows 7 work fine for the hardware, in which case you've got no problem. Better safe and sorry though.

lanod2407 wrote: »

What AV would you recommend? Why is NAV not on your preference list? I've installed it on other machines - find things getting a bit sssllllloooooooooowwwwwww........

I've found most systems that have had Norton or Symantec products on them run much faster when those products are removed. I've used Sophos, Trend and F-Secure in working environments in the past - I've found them all to be a good balance between security and impact on the system. They're all commercial products though.

On the free side, I've found AVG to be good though occasionally very annoying, with the developers doing one or two remarkably dumb things in the last couple of years (rolling out a "feature" that automatically scans every page that comes up in search engine results, before you click on them, in case they might not be safe - which is fine until you realise how much bandwidth you're losing on pages you aren't even looking at. Or then making it impossible to remove the component unless you run the installation from the command line with a specific switch active that they omitted to mention in the documentation). Avast is supposed to be pretty good too, though I haven't used it.

You could also check the Malware Prevention Tips page in the Virus & Malware Removal forum for more suggestions.