Quirks and Tips For Upgrading To Vista

jcatcw writes "Computerworld's Scot Finnie has some advice for those considering an upgrade to Vista. He praises the work Microsoft has done on the installation program, but thinks it still presents problems for those who wish to upgrade. He recommends the free Windows Vista Upgrade Adviser. Then, be sure to pick the best edition for your use." From the article: "Don't bother wiping your hard disk. Just run the in-place upgrade from your previous installation. You'll be given the option to perform either an Upgrade or Custom (advanced) installation. Opt for the Custom install to clean-install Vista, and Windows Vista Setup does something smart: It creates a folder called Windows.old in your root directory that contains your old Documents and Settings, Program Files and Windows folders. (Note that on my test machine, this added step used an additional 7GB of disk storage.)"

Print version

[PIPBoy3000]

Here's the relatively ad-free all-in-one-page print version [computerworld.com].

Re:Not this time

[gEvil (beta)]

I can't believe 'home' editions can not fax or scan. must be a misprint. Surely since MS is trying to be all 'lifestyles' like everyone else these days. and scan is no different from camera.

I'm assuming they're referring to using the built-in Windows Image Acquisition service for scanning and whatever the appropriate fax service is. In which case, I won't miss it. Chances are your scanner or fax/modem has drivers and/or software which handles all of this without using the less-functional built-in Windows abilities...

Be careful with in-place upgrade

[duffbeer703]

While alot of things get moved to Windows.old, other things don't. Make sure you backup your stuff!

For example, Firefox bookmarks in are stored an application data folder, which doesn't get moved.

Re:Downgrade Advisor

[Ramble]

Actually if you use vLite to trim the Vista install CD you can cut out quite a lot of the stuff (plus fit it onto a 700MB CD). vLite [vlite.net]

Re:No going back afterward!

[east coast]

what the heck are you supposed to do with your system (as mine) when you depend on it, and a complex configuration you've spend a long time building?

Image it first? That's my guess.

Not to slight you but anytime you're doing an operation of this magnitude on a system that you truely value the information on you should take steps to create some type of backup of said system in case of any number of failures. In your case you stepped into an unproven product (and no, I'm not MS bashing by saying that) on what you make seem like a critical system. Anything could have happened, be thankful it went as well as it did. You seriously risked total data loss.

Bad Microsoft. I don't *care* if there was an option for having Windows.old - it's still bad practice to *not* explain and make this obvious.

Again, not to slight you but anyone with any significant time using PCs can tell you that installs of this nature normally aren't very easy to roll back if it's an option at all. Not to say that MS has put out a good product and probably didn't fumble the ball in some aspect (again, not MS bashing, I simply haven't used Vista) but normally MS is fairly good at pointing out to users that OS upgrades and service packs may (as in probably will) cause system changes that simply can not be undone.

OSs aren't meant to do everything except wipe. Users need to be aware of the potential data loss/system failures they face without having their hands held through the process. Unless you're a "n00b" you should have known better than to simply "flick the switch" and hope for the best.

Hopefully making images of such a vital PC will become a practice in your future instead of another hindsight regret.

Re:Downgrade Advisor

[Yoooder]

If you are serious that you only use your computer for chat and email, then you _really_ should consider Ubuntu Linux. At least give it a try from the CD (you don't need to even touch your harddrive contents until you decide that you really want to install it). Booting from the CD gives you the entire OS, you can add/remove applications and use it like a normal OS. The only downside is running from a CD is inheritly slow--but seriously, save yourself several hundreds of dollars (or even into the thousand+ range considering hardware upgrades/office 2007) and give it a whirl.

Re:Be careful with in-place upgrade

[crabpeople]

FUD or ignorance. It moves everything from my documents, program files and %systemroot% into windows.old. This includes "C:\Windows.old\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\default.v4c" which is where your bookmarks are stored. I didnt even have to reinstall any plugins. You do have to copy the folder manually, but your post makes it sound like windows just deletes it which it assuredly does not.

Re:Downgrade Advisor

[VertigoAce]

It's funny that you should mention this, since Vista includes a new Reliability Monitor that helps you visualize the reliability of your system. It keeps track of the success/failure of installs, application crashes, hardware problems, and Windows crashes.

For example, my computer [tinypic.com] has not had any serious reliability issues since Vista RTM was installed in mid-January. Furthermore, the application crashes includes programs you write yourself, so developers will have to pay more attention to the details than the chart.

This combined with a few other diagnostic improvements should make it easier to help family and friends that complain of computer problems but can't describe what is happening.

Re:Can we tag as "appledidit"?

[0100010001010011]

OS X has both. They have an 'upgrade' path where it will leave all your files in place and upgrade system components. They also have an "Archive and Install" which is somewhere in between an upgrade and a full clean install.

I usually do the "Archive and Install" just so that everything gets wiped. However maybe I'll forget to backup my httpd.conf or some other small config file. I usually run for a month and then delete the "Archived" folder. All the programs I installed but never used, everything goes and I find I usually gain a few gigs.

My Xperience

[Avatar8]

I just bought a new gaming system a few weeks ago and it arrived last week. I thought I'd give Vista a try.

Specs: Core 2 Duo E6300, 2GB RAM, dual nVidia 8800 GTS 320Mb in SLI config, Seagate 320GB perpendicular storage SATA HD, ASUS P5N32 SLI mobo.

Installation was the best part. It asked a few questions and took off. I came back 30 minutes later to the sign-on screen. It went downhill from there.

I downloaded Vista updates (don't think there were many) which required a reboot. No big deal; reboot is rather quick ( Since I couldn't right click on the desktop to get my display settings, I dug into Control Panel. Looked for Display. Looked for Graphics. Aha, nVidia control panel. Interesting that it installed that. I wanted to extend my desktop to my second monitor. Only the single monitor choice was given. Checked device manager. Both graphics cards detected, but only one monitor. Checked 3D settings. It recognized my PC was SLI capable and recommended enabling it. Sure. "Accept or deny?" Accept. Reboot.

Back into control panel, nVidia panel. Still only one monitor choice even though I see both monitors now listed. I downloaded the 53Mb nVidia driver file. "Accept or deny?" Accept. (Crap, that Mac commercial is 100% true.) I'm on 15Mb fiber. Throughput was only 400KB/s and took this about five minutes. Installed, reboot.

Back into the panels. Still only sees one monitor. THAT'S IT!!! I'm done.

Out comes the XP Pro CD. Wipe the disk. Install.

I downloaded all 67 updates in less than 2 mins. Installed in about 7 mins.

Downloaded nVidia 53Mb driver at 1.7MB/s in less than 30secs. Installed. Reboot.

Right click, properties, settings, extend. Viola! Two 19" LCD monitors working together.

Downloaded Serive Pack 2 in one minute and installed in about 10 minutes.

No mas Vista. Estupido!

Re:c'mon

[TheNetAvenger]

GeForce MX 5500, it would crash every 15 minutes with an infinite loop driver

Ok, did you happen to read the drivers? the 100.xx NVidia drivers DO NOT YET have support for any card lower than the 6000 series of Geforce cards.

Use the non-OpenGL ICD MS drivers in the box, or find the 97.xx or 98.xx series of drivers for the 5xxx series of NVidia cards. If not, the drivers usually lock up, just as you describe.