Upgrading from XP to Windows 7
July 29, 2009
by Walter S. Mossberg
This week’s Mailbox is devoted to the most common of the hundreds of questions I received in response to last week’s Personal Technology column describing how difficult and time-consuming it will be to upgrade a Windows XP computer to Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows 7 operating system.
To avoid the difficulties you described last week with migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7, what do you think about a two-step approach whereby we buy Vista, upgrade from XP to Vista, and then go from Vista to Windows 7?
That would work, since–unlike those running XP–PCs running Vista can be upgraded to Windows 7 directly, without wiping their hard drives, displacing any files or re-installing any programs.
However, you’d be doing twice the work and paying for two new versions of Windows instead of one.
If I bought a Vista computer, but had it downgraded at the factory to XP, will my situation be any different than what you described should I choose to migrate to Windows 7?
According to Microsoft, the answer is no. Your computer is now a Windows XP computer, and thus still has no direct upgrade path to Windows 7. You would still have to remove and later restore your personal files, wipe your hard disk clean, and then re-install all your programs. However, if you received Windows Vista installation disks with the machine, you could upgrade it to Windows Vista first, and then, upgrade it directly to Windows 7, a process that doesn’t require any of those cumbersome steps.
Does the difficult scenario of moving from Windows XP to Windows 7 that you described last week also apply to those of us who run XP on Macs in virtual-machine programs like Parallels or Fusion?
Yes. Microsoft says the same migration steps are necessary whether the Windows XP computer is physical or virtual, and that includes Macs running XP via the Parallels or Fusion software.
It also applies if you are running XP on a Mac using Apple’s Boot Camp program and wish to move to Windows 7.
After Windows 7 comes out in October, will Microsoft somehow force us XP users to stop using it? Is there any reason I have to upgrade, or can I keep using XP, which meets my needs perfectly?
You can keep using Windows XP and all your current programs on your current computer. It won’t suddenly expire.
Especially in light of how hard it will be to upgrade, can you please explain what advantages Windows 7 will have over XP, which is tried and true? I deliberately skipped Vista and am inclined to skip this new Windows version as well.
People should never feel stampeded to upgrade their technology and should keep using whatever meets their needs and makes them comfortable.
However, based on my testing of pre-release versions of Windows 7, I would say it is significantly better than XP, which, after all, was designed a decade ago, an eternity in computer time.
I’ll cite just a few examples. Microsoft says that Windows 7 is more secure than XP, because its underlying architecture allows more defenses against malicious software than in the older product. Microsoft claims, and my tests bear out, that Windows 7 makes networking computers much simpler, quicker and more reliable than XP does. And the company says that Wi-Fi networks work better and faster than they do with XP.
I would add that, if Windows 7 catches on in a way that Vista didn’t, you may gradually find that new software and hardware makers will stop bothering to make their products compatible with XP, though this process will take years.
You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.
Comments
Walt, I took the liberty of looking back in your archive for your take on upgrading from XP to Vista, back in Jan. 2007, since folks are asking about the feasibility of doing XP to Vista, then Vista to 7. Talk about twice as much work:
“The vast majority of existing Windows PCs won’t be able to use all of Vista’s features without major hardware upgrades. They will be able to run only a stripped-down version, and even then may run very slowly…..”Even if you buy the Home Premium or Ultimate editions, Vista will revert to the Basic features if it detects that your machine is too wimpy to run the new user interface…..For most users who want Vista, I strongly recommend buying a new PC with the new operating system preloaded. I wouldn’t even consider trying to upgrade a computer older than 18 months, and even some of them may be unsuitable candidates….If you bought a PC in the past few months, and it had a “Vista Capable” sticker on it, it should be able to run at least Home Basic.”
In other words, BEWARE.
Remember that even some of the new “Vista Capable” computers, weren’t. I believe there is or was a class action lawsuit to that effect. Those stickers were there primarily to move product; both Intel and MS internal documents have revealed as much.
7 is based on Vista; it was no easier to migrate from XP to Vista than it would be to go from XP to 7.
For those who might wish to read Walt’s review of Vista, it is at
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20.....ATD_search
Posted by Dave Shepard at July 29th, 2009 at 9:53 pmWalter, I was the first one to ask about the 2 step XP-Vista-7 upgrade. I just looked on Microsoft’s website and you can buy an upgrade from XP to Vista and get a free upgrade to 7. So, while you do have to do twice the work, the price is the same as a single upgrade. And the work is less then the clean upgrade directly from XP.
Posted by Gabor Garai at July 30th, 2009 at 10:16 am“… Windows 7 makes networking computers much simpler, quicker and more reliable than XP does.” Does this statement still apply if one machine is W7 and the other is XP?
Posted by Jon Delfin at July 30th, 2009 at 1:18 pmYeah
I agree, forget the 2 stage process and just do a clean install.
the biggest benefit is there wont be residual vista software in 7. I upgraded from xp to vista and I see partitioned drive where the old xp stuff sits, and I am not confident in deleting that partition.
doing a clean install makes the drive partition and OS clean, and saves time by doing one install.
btw, M$ is famous for requiring hardware upgrades to their OS. Minimum requirements are just that. Just the minimum to adequately run services and apps.
Posted by mike Diaz at July 31st, 2009 at 3:33 amI have several i7 based computers running xp with thousands of programs installed! obviously can run vista/windows 7 with lots of power to spare. Microsoft is insane if they think I’m going to spend months reinstalling thousands of programs because they were too lazy to provide a realistic upgrade path.
If one could truly upgrade from
xp to vista and then windows 7, then microsoft could of designed a xp to windows 7 path if they really wanted to.
Whenever clients I’ve worked with had issues with windows, microsoft’s tech reponse usually was wipe reinstall everything to fix the problem…
In one case I got involved with the situation and saved a client weeks of reconfiguring a machine from scratch by just simply fixing 2 entries in the regsitry that were corrupt.
I’ve looked at the windows 7 rc and it looks neat.. but still many functions are slower than xp and many new capabilities it offers I can get through 3rd party solutions and I don’t have to loose months of productivity by having to reconfigure/reinstall a machine from scratch
d
Posted by daniel sternklar at August 5th, 2009 at 1:33 pm