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About 7:00 PM tonight, I started upgrading (?) my computer from Vista to Win 7. It is now almost 1:00 AM and I am asking myself just what in the hell I was thinking? They changed things that I liked just fine, now I gotta figure out how to do them now. I was so happy being able to fun two screens and now none of that works. Norton doesn't even look right any more.
Now I am even thinking of going out and buying a refurbished Apple. YUKKKK!!! I hate Apple computer company. Like I would rather swallow a fence post.
I wonder how long until I stop feeling like throwing this whole thing in the river. Hey, it is right out my door! Thank God I got castrated or I would be really pissed.
Khadijah
Comments
I don't like win 7
I upgraded from Vista to win 7 on a laptop I had and absolutely hated it.When I put in a new hard drive on my old desktop I upgraded it from XP to Vista business instead of to 7 because of how much I disliked it.Seven will work for you but I think Vista is a friendlier and somewhat faster operating system.As for Apple I don't think they're all that and they're overpriced to boot. Good luck Khadijah don't let the frustration of it get you down remember it get's better(LOL).
Hugs,
Lisa
As a computer consultant,
As a computer consultant, who works with XP, Vista, and Windows 7 on a regular basis, I think I can give you a better comparison.
1) XP is a faster OS. A huge chunk of this is simply because it was designed with less of a RAM and processor footprint. Unfortunately, it's being left behind.
2) Vista is a _dog_. If you've noticed, Microsoft abandoned all mention of it within days of Windows 7 launching. _All_ mention. It also disappeared off of the shelves, where you can still buy XP. Even Microsoft doesn't want anything to do with it any more.
3) Windows 7 looks, feels, and acts virtually identically to Windows Vista (less UAC, but trying to manipulate the OS is still a pain). If you're having a lot of problems with 7 vs Vista, it's most likely one of two things. 1) there are customisations that were designed by the hardware manufacturer that are interfering with the OS. 2) You need a clean install, rather than an upgrade install. (I usually recommend this anyway. It takes barely any more time, and you can use the 'easy transfer wizard' stuff to offload everything including settings to an external hard drive)
If you're still in the middle _of_ the upgrade, that's to be expected. The Windows 7 install is one of the longest installs I've ever worked on. It takes almost as long as installing RedHat linux from 18 floppies to get the kernel and N series of drivers loaded so you can start downloading the rest of the system. (Yes, I just dated myself)
You can PM me directly if you want any advise or suggestions, or just someone to scream at who knows what you're going through (with computers).
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Installed twice now and had to install twice each time
I received Windows 7 Ultimate from my mother's friends who all chipped in to pay for the support I'd given them throughout the years.
I guess my mom bitched them about not being grateful for the money I'd saved them not to mention the stress relief of having me around gave them.
Anyways... I write software and that requires compilers, components, databases, and I telecommute so I have mail, web, and ftp servers running.
I've installed windows 7 twice now since dec 13th of last year (not a friday). The first time I get as far as installing my compiler and it will not open. Last year I struggled with it for almost a day before finally giving up and reinstalling. Surprisingly it worked great the 2nd time.
This past month I had my system drive die. So of course had to reinstall windows. Same story as last year. Installed twice second time no issues.
I have no idea what could be going wrong or why it works the 2nd time (with formatting in between)
If you want a trick for turning stuff on/off. Do a google search for "Windows 7 Godmode"
it walks you through creating a shortcut that once created allows to you access every feature hidden and easy to access all on one screen.
Good luck.
Going from winXP to Windows 7 is harder on your "hey I liked it that way" PITA scale than from Vista to Windows 7
Nobody.
I'm surprised you use
I'm surprised you use Windows at all, let alone Windows 7. I run Linux on my main workstation.
On the 'install twice'. You probably have an edgy piece of hardware - meaning one that's JUST on the edge of being fully supported. I'd suspect the video card. (have you checked for bad capacitors on the motherboard, video card, or in the power supply?)
I'd also suggest making an image of your windows drive. (I LOATHE that little 100 meg 'boot partition' that Windows 7 creates if you don't stop it. If you try to image the drive, even for a backup, it can blow itself to smithereens trying to fix. There's a workaround, but it's a pain. If you image, just image the main partition, but be ready to do three system repairs before it'll boot once you've restored it.)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Alternative to MS
I have been using mostly open source software for the last 6 years, since the MS versions are priced completely out of our economic range here in the heart ouf South America. I have dabled with Linux over the last 10 or so years. And I finally commited to Linux a year ago. I am using openSUSE - both the 32-bit and the 64-bit versions - with very little problems.
In general, hardware support is very good. The exception AFAIK being scanners and some low cost printers. Though I can live perfectly well with those limitations.
I just love all the good applications available free for the download, on the install DVD as well as the online repositories. And I have yet to encounter a data file originating from a MS app that I can't open on my Linux machine.
Windows 7
I have it but it came with my computer when I bought it in April. It was pretty easy to install for me...but I was kind of mad that my Dell didn't have a manual to show me how to operate it. I went out and bought a PC How to Guide on Windows 7 and a Smart Computing magazine that was all about Troubleshooting Windows 7. I still haven't read through either magazines but I'm not having any problems with 7. In fact I kind of like it. I never got Vista because I heard so many bad things about it. The last one I had was XP and though the two of them are different and it took a while to get used to 7, I find it much easier to operate.
Mac
The only way to fly.
Er, I mean compute.
Nancy Cole
(Mac user since 1987)
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
Problem with Win 7 solved (?).
ERm, I think it is OK, now or at least I can live with it. Things are well, "different", but its ok, I can live with it; already said that didn't I.
Well, I guess that Flight Simulator is still OUT, and that is the main reason that I bought this special machine. It has this video card that is just huge, and has a cooling fan, and a slave girl on it. I mean I did not buy the card, it was already in the machine, so I didn't deliberately buy a slave girl. For the GEEKS it is an ATI Radeon HD 3600. Well, um I only knew that because the hot sounding Punjabi guy at Microsoft showed me. God, I wonder what his sword looks like. I bet it is huge.
Achem, So, if anyone knows of a nice desktop game that does not involve killing the worlds bad guys and is not violent ... I would really like to know. That's why I liked FS so much. Of course, the FBI probably made my computer so it would not work on it as I am Muslim. Hyeah, right. LOL
OH, and I still HATE Apple company. The computers may be OK, but the company is run by this scrotty, adolescent minded berson that always made me mad!
Khadijah
Flight Sim on Win7
I am running Flight Simulator X just fine on my Win7 box, and as yet another computer consultant here, I agree with most of what Biblio said (although I do not currently have a Linux box up and running - does a VM count :P)
My PMS made me do it.
No really, I was so mad about not being able to run FS X that I just gave up and threw it away. I understand there is a new version of it out anyhow. I may get it.
Also my machine is 64 bit. Does that mean it is twice as fast?
Khaduuj
Twice as fast?
Twice as fast, dearie?
...no, twice as wide.
...does my program look big in this? :)
Penny
Does my program look big in this?
OMG ! I am going to have resort to using the seat belt in my computer chair again, I can just tell! LOL I almost rolled out of it onto the floor in a fit of giggles ! So are you saying that my little word processing self is wasting her time trying to make the 64 bit crinoline give me hips? LOL
Much peace
Khadijah
I would agree with Biblio
I would agree with Biblio too. A fresh install is much better, that's even from the Microsoft company rep that works with us. There have been lots of issues with the upgrade process.
Kelly
Fresh Install
Yes definitely do a fresh install. I recently loaded Windows 7 on my computer and it works great. I also went with a 60 gig solid state hard drive, for Windows and associated programs, everything else is on my regular hard drive.
It is blazing fast now! From starting my computer to surfing the net takes less than a minute!
Mr. Ram
A fresh install is better than an upgrade
As someone who for the past several years has downgraded to XP every system that came with Vista preinstalled, I've been pleasantly surprised by Windows 7. I have had it on my work laptop for most of this year with no problems. And I have never been a Windows fan having started my IT career on Unix System v. But I always recommend, and perform if I get dragged into it, doing a clean install rather than an upgrade - almost always less painful.
Just my couple of pennies.
Jamie
64 bit
Some of the compatibility difficulties people may be having with Windows 7 come not exactly from the move from (XP|Vista) to 7 -- but from the move from 32-bit to 64-bit.
There is a bunch of old 32-bit programs that are either too badly-behaved or need to have some sort of hardware access that just won't work correctly on x64 Windows. Not many, but still enough to be noticeable. For instance, my trusty old Palm handheld has no Bluetooth, so there's no way to sync it from Win7 x64, because there is no x64 version of HotSync (Bluetooth-enabled Palms have another option). The workaround was to install the entire Palm Desktop inside the "XP Mode" virtual machine and map the USB port to it.
Win7 is basically what Vista should have been. It is based on an improved version of Vista's guts, a bit slimmed down so it's now able to work (not particularly well, but acceptably) on a 1Gb netbook (a feat Microsoft never even attempted with Vista). Hardware specs jumped up quite a bit in the last three years (Vista bore the blame, 7 inherits the benefit). It's perceived as more stable than Vista, in part, because it benefits from three years of Vista debugging, both on Microsoft's side and on the application and hardware vendors' side. It adds a few snazzy features to the interface (not everyone's cup of tea, I know), so it appears to deliver more usability benefits. And computers with more than 4Gb of RAM are a reality now, which need a 64-bit OS, making people more willing to migrate (XP x64 had a lot of problems with drivers, so it was never really a good consumer option).
So, for most users, Win7 will probably offer the best experience right now. Think of Vista as the beta-version of Win7 (which it essentially was -- Vista had far too many bugs at launch). XP is stable, but it's also outdated, and lacks built-in support for many features of new computers.