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Upgrading or switching operating systems often comes with some trials and tribulations and the Windows 7 upgrade is no exception. Microsoft has tried to provide the tools users need to make the transition as easy as possible, but you may hit some snags. Here are five things you should be aware of as you upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7
1. Unfortunately, Microsoft has not provided Windows 7 with the capability to upgrade directly from Windows XP. The explanation is that so much has changed between Windows XP and Windows 7 within the operating system kernel itself, the Registry, the drivers, etc. that trying to get from Point A to Point B just won’t work. That isn’t as horrible as it sounds. Frankly, although in-place upgrades are convenient, experts always recommend doing a fresh install when moving to a new operating system in order to ensure the best performance and overall experience. Just think of it like Microsoft did you a favor by forcing you to do it the right way. You’re welcome.
2.You can’t get from Windows XP to Windows 7 directly, but there was a little known operating system that came out between the two. I know you have blocked out that part of your memory to avoid horrible Windows Vista flashbacks, but surely you could make the switch to Windows Vista if its only for an hour or two. Windows XP users can work around the upgrade issue if they have a copy of Windows Vista. It doesn’t even have to be licensed since you won’t be activating it and won’t have it loaded for more than a few hours– well within the 30-day trial period. Just upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, then upgrade the Windows Vista system to Windows 7. I make no assurances that this will go off without a hitch. I will add a disclaimer: refer to the first tip where I reminded you that it is recommended that you do the clean install.
3. If you bought your printer when Clinton was still in office, or your graphics card when Michael Jordan was still ruling the NBA, you might have a hard time finding software updates and drivers to make them work with Windows 7. Thankfully, Microsoft has an app for that. Microsoft created the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor tool which scans your hardware and software and identifies any known compatibility issues. It provides guidance on how to resolve identified issues, and makes recommendations for what you should do to ensure a satisfying Windows 7 upgrade experience
4. Whether you do the clean install or some sort of crazy work-around to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, arguably the most important part is making you’re your data and personal preferences stay intact. That’s where the Windows 7 Easy Transfer tool comes in. The actual file is You can find it on the Windows 7 DVD under First you run it on your existing Windows XP system to migrate your user profile(s) to some external storage. Then, after Windows 7 is installed you run it again to import the user profile(s) to Windows 7. One small caveat. If you have 32-bit Windows XP and you are taking the opportunity while upgrading to make the switch to 64-bit Windows 7 you might run into some problems. I was unable to transfer user settings from a 32-bit to a 64-bit system using this tool during a previous upgrade.
5. If you’re running Windows XP I assume you have invested in some security software– antivirus, antispyware, personal firewall, etc. Because of changes that Microsoft has made to protect the operating system kernel, those Windows XP-era security programs will most likely not work in Windows 7. The good news is that the Windows 7 firewall is significantly better than the Windows XP firewall, and Microsoft provides adequate security protection for free with Windows Defender and the recently released Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus program. You may still want to explore alternatives and install more robust protection, but these tools should provide sufficient protection for the time being without costing you any money.
If you don’t want to spend all that time alone, maybe you could throw one of the Windows 7 parties and you and all of your Windows XP friends can have ice cream and cake (or pizza and beer) while you make the transition.
Of course, you might better off to simply invest the extra money and get a whole new system with Windows 7 already installed. If you have held on to your computer hardware as long as you held onto the Windows XP operating system then you are really skewing Moore’s Law and its time you upgrade.![]()
1. Unfortunately, Microsoft has not provided Windows 7 with the capability to upgrade directly from Windows XP. The explanation is that so much has changed between Windows XP and Windows 7 within the operating system kernel itself, the Registry, the drivers, etc. that trying to get from Point A to Point B just won’t work. That isn’t as horrible as it sounds. Frankly, although in-place upgrades are convenient, experts always recommend doing a fresh install when moving to a new operating system in order to ensure the best performance and overall experience. Just think of it like Microsoft did you a favor by forcing you to do it the right way. You’re welcome.
2.You can’t get from Windows XP to Windows 7 directly, but there was a little known operating system that came out between the two. I know you have blocked out that part of your memory to avoid horrible Windows Vista flashbacks, but surely you could make the switch to Windows Vista if its only for an hour or two. Windows XP users can work around the upgrade issue if they have a copy of Windows Vista. It doesn’t even have to be licensed since you won’t be activating it and won’t have it loaded for more than a few hours– well within the 30-day trial period. Just upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, then upgrade the Windows Vista system to Windows 7. I make no assurances that this will go off without a hitch. I will add a disclaimer: refer to the first tip where I reminded you that it is recommended that you do the clean install.
3. If you bought your printer when Clinton was still in office, or your graphics card when Michael Jordan was still ruling the NBA, you might have a hard time finding software updates and drivers to make them work with Windows 7. Thankfully, Microsoft has an app for that. Microsoft created the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor tool which scans your hardware and software and identifies any known compatibility issues. It provides guidance on how to resolve identified issues, and makes recommendations for what you should do to ensure a satisfying Windows 7 upgrade experience
4. Whether you do the clean install or some sort of crazy work-around to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, arguably the most important part is making you’re your data and personal preferences stay intact. That’s where the Windows 7 Easy Transfer tool comes in. The actual file is You can find it on the Windows 7 DVD under First you run it on your existing Windows XP system to migrate your user profile(s) to some external storage. Then, after Windows 7 is installed you run it again to import the user profile(s) to Windows 7. One small caveat. If you have 32-bit Windows XP and you are taking the opportunity while upgrading to make the switch to 64-bit Windows 7 you might run into some problems. I was unable to transfer user settings from a 32-bit to a 64-bit system using this tool during a previous upgrade.
5. If you’re running Windows XP I assume you have invested in some security software– antivirus, antispyware, personal firewall, etc. Because of changes that Microsoft has made to protect the operating system kernel, those Windows XP-era security programs will most likely not work in Windows 7. The good news is that the Windows 7 firewall is significantly better than the Windows XP firewall, and Microsoft provides adequate security protection for free with Windows Defender and the recently released Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus program. You may still want to explore alternatives and install more robust protection, but these tools should provide sufficient protection for the time being without costing you any money.
If you don’t want to spend all that time alone, maybe you could throw one of the Windows 7 parties and you and all of your Windows XP friends can have ice cream and cake (or pizza and beer) while you make the transition.
Of course, you might better off to simply invest the extra money and get a whole new system with Windows 7 already installed. If you have held on to your computer hardware as long as you held onto the Windows XP operating system then you are really skewing Moore’s Law and its time you upgrade.
Posted: 03 Mar 2011 11:31 AM PST
If you have a Windows Vista computer and you try to upgrade it to Windows 7, you might end up getting a message like this if the upgrade fails:This version of Windows could not be installed, Your previous version of Windows has been restored, and you can continue to use it.
Whoops! Well, that’s fine right? Just restart and you’ll be back into Windows Vista. Unfortunately, there are some cases where the upgrade process will start again and then end with the same error message.
No matter how many times you try, you end up in this reboot loop problem that you can’t get out of. But do not worry, your Windows Vista operating system has not been deleted!
Windows Vista has actually been restored, but Windows Vista was not set as the default booting operating system in the Boot Configuration Database (BCD). In order for Windows Vista to be loaded back, the BCD database has to also be restored to the previous version.
Here are the steps to get Windows Vista back to the default boot OS and get rid of the reboot loop.
1. First, choose Windows Vista instead of Windows 7 when you see the boot menu.
2. Insert the Windows Vista DVD into your drive and exit the setup when it launches
3. You should be in Windows Vista at this point. Now open the command prompt by right-clicking and choosing Run as Administrator.
4. Type the following command at the command prompt and press Enter:
X:\boot\Bootsect.exe /NT60 All
“X” is the letter for the drive where you put the Windows Vista DVD media in. Now restart your computer and you should be good to go, no more reboot loop!
Other Reasons for Reboot Loop
If you have a restart loop problem with Windows 7 and it’s not related to upgrading Windows Vista, there could be other reasons that I’ll mention here.
1. First, make sure you disconnect all USB drives that may be connected to the computer! Everything! Why? Because it might be used for ReadyBoost and therefore causing Windows to try and boot from it.
2. If you computer restarted becuase of a system failure and now won’t stop rebooting, you might want to disable automatic restart.
You can do this by pressing F8 when your computer boots and then going into theAdvanced Boot Options. Make sure to select Disable automatic restart on system failure and press Enter.
3. In some rare instances, it could be a problem with the display you are using. If you are installing Windows 7 as a fresh install and you are using DVI or HDMI instead of a regular VGA, it could cause the reboot loop.
4. An older version of the motherboard BIOS may also cause this problem. Make sure you update the BIOS on the system.
If you are still having the problem, post what you have tried to do in the comments and we’ll see if we can help resolve your issue!
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