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Topic: Vista - Upgrade or Fresh Install? |
Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 12 Jan 2007 10:21 am |
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Wiz - Here's a question I'd appreciate your input on.
I'm kinda' anxious to get on board with Vista Home Premium on my system, not only for the various enhancements, but also DirectX 10. I'm running XP Home now. I've run the Vista Upgrade Advisor, and it gave me thumbs-up on my current hardware. Would your advice be to do the full Vista fresh install, or upgrade?
Pros and cons are obvious: Fresh install eliminates potential issues with old files left from the existing XP iinstall. But, and it's a BIG "but", upgrade avoids the difficulties of restoring all my old email and the rest of the settings/prefs in all the apps.
I have a total of 3 internal and two external hard drives, all NTFS, and all with data on them that XP recognizes. Would Vista be able to read those drives and their data if I did a fresh install?
What do you think? |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 12 Jan 2007 11:45 am
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Obviously, I'm not Whiz but I'll put in my two cents.
The "clean" install is always the best. If Vista is like XP, you will have to reinstall many applications anyway even if you just did the upgrade over the existing XP. You will also have to find Vista drivers for some hardware and install that too as the XP may not be compatible. I see a lot of posts on the Dell users forum from users that are already on Vista (commercial users) that want drivers for their Dell printers. Same way with those looking for Vista drivers for sound cards, etc. |
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 12 Jan 2007 12:27 pm
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| Jack Stoner wrote: |
| The "clean" install is always the best. If Vista is like XP, you will have to reinstall many applications anyway even if you just did the upgrade over the existing XP. You will also have to find Vista drivers for some hardware and install that too as the XP may not be compatible. I see a lot of posts on the Dell users forum from users that are already on Vista (commercial users) that want drivers for their Dell printers. Same way with those looking for Vista drivers for sound cards, etc. |
Yeah, thanks, Jack. I knew you felt that way, and your points are well-taken. 
I took a look at Creative's Vista Driver Availability Chart, and I see they do have a Vista driver for the Audigy II, thankfully.
I'm just emerging from an XP crash, and it's always a goat-rope, even with backups. I have trouble reinstalling Thunderbird, for example, and getting the old data files back in the right place so it'll see all my old newsgroups, folders, and email. This time, 1st time I tried to do that, I broke it altogether - it wouldn't load. Fixed now, however.
And, my wireless printer, an HP color laser. XP drivers absolutely refuse to load over the network. I have to lug the thing over to the router and hard-wire it into the router to get the driver installed - that kind of stuff.
Oh, well - staying on the edge takes some effort. |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2007 1:07 pm
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When I upgraded from XP Professional to Vista Beta 2 it went badly. So, I formatted that drive and did a fresh install when RC1 arrived, and it went fine. I would agree with Jack that a fresh install is you best bet. Before you do that you can export your files and settings to an external, or secondary drive, or partition, using the XP Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, then restore same to a similarly named account in Vista, if that works under Vista.
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"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 12 Jan 2007 4:15 pm
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| Wiz Feinberg wrote: |
| Before you do that you can export your files and settings to an external, or secondary drive, or partition, using the XP Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, then restore same to a similarly named account in Vista, if that works under Vista. |
It was going so well, until it got to that part "if that works under Vista. 
I'll give the settings export option a go, but it sounds like this is gonna' be another "you pays your money, and you takes your chances" kind of a deal. |
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