PC Training & Consulting Weblog
thoughts about personal computers and the Web

Should you upgrade your computer to Windows 7, as opposed to buying a new computer with Win7 installed? That may depend on whether you have XP, Vista, or Win7 already.

Some manufacturers are shipping new systems (especially netbooks) with Windows 7 Starter installed. If you have Windows 7 Starter, the most basic edition of Win7, without many of the graphical enhancements, the answer is surely yes. The Home Premium edition will serve most people very well. I don’t think most people will have compelling reasons to upgrade from Home Premium to Professional or Ultimate, or from Professional to Ultimate.

If you are going to upgrade from one edition of Win7 to another, it’s hard to beat the convenience of Windows Anytime Upgrade, which lets you upgrade online. In Windows 7, type the word anytime into the Start search box; choose Windows Anytime Upgrade. You run through a few screens, including which upgrades you qualify for and what features you’ll be acquiring. Pay online and download just the missing pieces. Sweet.

If you have more than one home machine to upgrade from prior versions of Windows, the Family Pack DVD has a price you can’t beat for up to 3 machines.

If you have Vista, you may not need Win7 immediately, unless you’ve had trouble with hardware or software that Win7 supports better (don’t count on that for the oldest or oddest stuff). For example, I have two USB devices that add TV to my computer and enable recording digital video. Neither worked with Vista. With Win7, one worked immediately and even integrates with Windows Media Center (I don’t need any of the original software). The other doesn’t work (and never will). If you don’t expect to buy a new computer– which should have Win7 Home Premium on it – in the next couple of years, maybe an upgrade is worth it. If you expect to get a new machine in less than a year and you have Vista, I’d skip the upgrade.

If you have XP, you have the most to gain but fewer options. If your computer is more than a couple of years old, get a new one if you can and will.

Installing the upgrade can take anywhere from a half hour to an hour and a half (rarely). Without going into a full account of the upgrade process, I will point out your upgrade choices differ depending on whether you insert the DVD before you turn on the computer or with Windows Vista or XP already running. Starting (booting) from the DVD puts you directly into the Win7 setup program, which makes possible the option of wiping everything off your hard drive before installing. Make sure you have all data backed up onto some other disk and you have discs for all of your programs, each of which you will have to reinstall. This clean installation method results in a machine like new, with none of the garbage machines accumulate over time. (Both unnecessary programs and data.) The more trouble you currently have with your computer, the more advisable a clean installation is.

Aside from the clean install, which, again, wipes everything off your computer – have backups – you have the option to (1) Upgrade or (2) perform a custom installation (under which you find the advanced disk options to wipe out the contents of the computer, if you wish).

An Upgrade installation installs Windows 7 and then copies programs and data into the new Win7. As a result, you should be able to use all your existing programs and data. That’s convenient, although there is little doubt the process copies stuff you no longer need/use.

With the Custom installation, the old Windows folder is renamed Windows.old (most of your data is here, too) and Win7 is installed without copying your programs into the new version. This option lets you selectively install programs and move or copy data. It’s a good option if you only want to use some programs from your old setup (or you intend to install new versions of those programs).

I’d rank these: clean – custom – upgrade (most to least, in terms of work & time to get back to a fully productive system). But ‘clean’ gives you the freshest start (and is preferred by 4 out of 5 nerds – nah, all 5).

Ed Bott has done his usual thorough job of document every aspect of obtaining a Win7 upgrade: Seven perfectly legal ways to get Windows 7 cheap (or even free) | Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report | ZDNet.com