Win 7 RC about to expire??!

[MasterBlaster76]

I just had a pop up to the effect that Win 7 RC will expire in 14 days - it said to back up files and install a released copy. I thought this S.o.B was supposed to last until June or something? I'll probably have to get it then, I really don't want to go back to XP!

Edit: OK, had a look round the 'net and it seems that it does expire in June, but the system will start shutting down every two hours on March 1st. The thing I'm a bit concerned about is it says 'Windows 7 Ultimate' on the welcome screen on my RC - does that mean certain features will be unavailable to me if I get Win 7 Home Premium (which I will be - sod paying ?130 for a damn O/S)? Play.com says that Win 7 Premium doesn't allow you to use Win XP Mode - does that mean that things that are working now won't be when I get the full Windows 7 Premium? I could really do without having to shell out almost ?70 right now.

Ideally, I'd like to keep Win XP for dual booting - but it does seem as though Win 7 is better at running older things than XP anyway, so maybe that's not necessary. The thing is, the XP is on the old HDD, while Win 7 is on the new one. I'd like to keep Win 7 exactly where it is, given that the old HDD is much more likely to pack up sooner than the new one.

 

[Cricketman]

I have no extensive knowledge on the issue but I think you'll be fine with just Home Premium. I was running many 'XP-only' programs on Vista and they still work after I upgraded to Home Premium.

Not sure if they still have the $30 upgrade for students - that is if you are in university or know someone who is.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

What - $30? That's about ?20, isn't it? Damn it, no I'm not a student - I might be this September if my Drama school attempt is successful, but I'm going to need it a long time before then.

OK, if I have to do a clean install of Win 7, so be it, but would I have to format the whole damn partition? That'll really be a pain in the neck.

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

What - $30? That's about ?20, isn't it? Damn it, no I'm not a student - I might be this September if my Drama school attempt is successful, but I'm going to need it a long time before then.

OK, if I have to do a clean install of Win 7, so be it, but would I have to format the whole damn partition? That'll really be a pain in the neck.

I had that for 3-4 times : after then decided to switch back on XP

 

[MasterBlaster76]

I could never go back to XP. Compared to Win 7, it's clunky and slow. It used to take forever to shut down, and start up wasn't the world's best either. Also, I love Win 7's features, like 'Snap'. As well as that, for some reason, I can't get online now in Win XP. And with Win 7, I like it so much, I can't see myself having to buy another O/S for a very, very long time.

 

[barmyarmy]

The RC was ultimate. You'll lose things like virtualisation and bitlocker with home.
I bought ultimate back in October and haven't really used either of the above.

 

[sohum]

Like Colin said, Windows Ultimate doesn't introduce any major features that normal users use. In fact, if you don't know whether you are using a feature of Ultimate, you probably don't need it. That said, Win XP Mode doesn't work on Home Premium or Home Basic. It only works on Enterprise, Ultimate and Professional. So you may need to get Pro if you want that feature... although if you have an XP disc lying around you can very easily get free virtualization software (such as Sun VirtualBox) and create your own XP VM.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Fair enough. Most things seem to work on Win 7 without having to use 'XP mode', so maybe that's no great loss. What I need to know is will I have to reformat the entire D:\ partition (that's where Win 7 is now)? Or will it just overwrite the Win 7 installation itself? Can I choose to have it on D:\ instead of C:\ (C on the older HDD, so I'd rather Win 7 goes on D:\ which is on the newer HDD).

Edit: Is Win XP mode the same as the 'Compatibility' tab found in a shortcut's properties? That's what I've been using if something doesn't want to work. Surely backward compatibility will come with Win 7 Home - it's come with other Windows, hasn't it?

As long as Win 7 Home has that, then I don't think I'll miss anything else Ultimate offers.

Thanks in advance.

 

[sohum]

That's not Windows XP Mode. Windows XP Mode is a virtual machine of Windows XP running of Windows Virtual PC 2007. So, it will be a window in Windows 7 and when you maximize it, it'll appear as if you are running Windows XP on your computer. You can share data between your 7 installation and XP Mode as well as things like internet connections, printers, etc.

You can choose to install 7 on any partition you want when you get into installation. I'd highly suggest you back-up any and all data yourself, though, and not rely on the Windows 7 migration mechanism. I'm not sure that there's even a valid upgrade path from 7RC to 7 Retail.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

That's not Windows XP Mode. Windows XP Mode is a virtual machine of Windows XP running of Windows Virtual PC 2007. So, it will be a window in Windows 7 and when you maximize it, it'll appear as if you are running Windows XP on your computer. You can share data between your 7 installation and XP Mode as well as things like internet connections, printers, etc.

You can choose to install 7 on any partition you want when you get into installation. I'd highly suggest you back-up any and all data yourself, though, and not rely on the Windows 7 migration mechanism. I'm not sure that there's even a valid upgrade path from 7RC to 7 Retail.

Thanks for that - no problem then.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Since I'll be installing onto the D:\ partition, I only need to back up important things from there, right? I haven't got an external drive big enough, but it could go on the F:\ partition (new HDD's made up of D:\ and F:\).

This is such a pain though - because I've had the Windows 7 RC for so long, it feels like a ?64 outlay for nothing. Next time, I think I'll just trial the RC and if I like it, wait for the O/S to come out and buy it - at least that way, I have a physical object in my hand and don't feel like I've just spent ?64 on nothing. I don't think that'll be necessary for a long, long time - Win 7 looks like being an excellent O/S.

Edit: One other thing - I'm ok getting the Upgrade version of Win 7, aren't I? Is the Full version for people who haven't got an O/S on their system at all (becaue they've just built it, for example)?

Finally, I'll need to decide whether to install 32 or 64bit Win 7. My specs are in my sig. I've currently only got 3gb RAM - could I run Win 7 64bit with that until I get another 1gb, or do I need to go to 4gb immediately? Taking into account my specs, would I see benefits from 64bit instead of 32bit - or should I go 64bit anyway because future upgrades will take advantage of it. Would I have to install new drivers for my hardware if using 64bit Win 7? If you install Win 7 32bit, is it easy to go over to 64bit at a later date?

Sorry for all the questions - I appreciate your help.

 

[sohum]

Since I'll be installing onto the D:\ partition, I only need to back up important things from there, right? I haven't got an external drive big enough, but it could go on the F:\ partition (new HDD's made up of D:\ and F:\).

Correct. Remember that when you are installing, though, the installer probably won't refer to the partition by drive letter, but by partition number. If your partitions are of a different size you should be able to differentiate which one is which pretty easily. Whenever I install a new OS, I always take the opportunity to backup everything. You can never have too many backups.

This is such a pain though - because I've had the Windows 7 RC for so long, it feels like a ?64 outlay for nothing. Next time, I think I'll just trial the RC and if I like it, wait for the O/S to come out and buy it - at least that way, I have a physical object in my hand and don't feel like I've just spent ?64 on nothing. I don't think that'll be necessary for a long, long time - Win 7 looks like being an excellent O/S.

You paid nothing to use it for a limited time only. In that regard, you can think of the RC as being like "trial software" in itself. Works for a period and then you need to buy it.

Edit: One other thing - I'm ok getting the Upgrade version of Win 7, aren't I? Is the Full version for people who haven't got an O/S on their system at all (becaue they've just built it, for example)?

You can get the upgrade version as long as you have a license for a version of Vista (and maybe even XP). You've got to review what the upgrade license is valid for. You can do clean installs with an upgrade, but you will probably need your previous OS's serial number, for example Vista if it came installed with your computer.

Finally, I'll need to decide whether to install 32 or 64bit Win 7. My specs are in my sig. I've currently only got 3gb RAM - could I run Win 7 64bit with that until I get another 1gb, or do I need to go to 4gb immediately? Taking into account my specs, would I see benefits from 64bit instead of 32bit - or should I go 64bit anyway because future upgrades will take advantage of it. Would I have to install new drivers for my hardware if using 64bit Win 7? If you install Win 7 32bit, is it easy to go over to 64bit at a later date?

I'd go with 64-bit. You don't have to have 4gb of RAM to use 64-bit. All your hardware will need to have separate drivers installed, but since you will be doing a clean install anyway, this doesn't change things much. You should check older hardware to make sure that 64-bit drivers are available. Going from 32-bit to 64-bit is like installing a whole new OS. There's no upgrade path as far as I am aware.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Cheers. I downloaded the Windows 7 Upgrade advisor and it said I can upgrade to 64bit using a custom install (right now, it's reading me as using the fullest version of Windows 7 (as the RC is Ultimate). So, regarding partitions, I think the best thing to do is note down how much is on the D:\ partition so I'll know which is which.

 

[sohum]

Remember, you can always use something like dropbox.com that gives you 2 free GB of online storage backup. More importantly, if you do not have an external HDD, you can use dropbox to backup 2GB of data at a time on another computer.

 

[SciD]

Remember, you can always use something like dropbox.com that gives you 2 free GB of online storage backup. More importantly, if you do not have an external HDD, you can use dropbox to backup 2GB of data at a time on another computer.

Dropbox is great tool to use. Cannot imagine life without it.