Windoze 7

[Unisaw]

Some of the conversion time was due to the specifics of my tablet pc.  I spent at least an hour removing/updating software that could present a compatibility issue.  On the advice of an IT fellow, I also did a complete backup before converting and also removed existing anti-virus software that was then replaced/updated after the conversion.  Finally, I spent time resetting various preferences, pen calibration, etc...

[Sergeant Bob]

I just built a a new puter (catastrophic failure on the old XP box) and installed the Windows 7 Home upgrade version (which I pre-ordered in the spring for $49) and I'm liking it pretty well so far. Not much of a learning curve involved.

You can install the upgrade version on a clean hard drive as well, so don't spend any extra money for the "full" version.
You simply have to do an install, then when you get to the enter serial # part, it will tell you the serial # is not valid. Then you do a "Custom" install, and it will then take the S/N.

[Mabs2]

I've been running Windoes 7 for about a week now.
Intel i7 Duo Core, two GeForce 8800 GTS and ONE gig of RAM (second stick was bad).
I hope it's only due to the ram (as I have two sticks of two on the way), but Windoes itself is a bit sluggish (quite a bit better when that second stick was working) but so far I quite like it.
It's very slick, and seems much better put together than XP ever was (I skipped Vista).

[erictank]

Running Win7 Home Premium (32-bit) on my new netbook - an HP Mini 311 - and I'm liking it so far.  Of course, I'm not asking too much of it, really, either.  Heard it described as "The way Vista should have been", and probably can't disagree with that, but then, I didn't experience too many of the horror stories others went through with Vista, either (which is on both my desktop and laptop).  It came preinstalled, so I can't pass on any upgrade info.

[Gewehr98]

Ok, Windoze 7 Enterprise Edition does not like the built-in SCSI controller of my IBM workstation.  Nor does it like additional ATA-133 hard drives.  Aargh!   

[Silver Bullet]

Oh, the drama !


 


 

[Perd Hapley]

If anyone is interested, you can get a copy of windows 7 home premium for $30 with a student email. 

Thanks, Physics.  If you hadn't said anything I wouldn't have this nifty new install of 7 Pro 64.      (Same price as the home version.  It replaced my release candidate version.)

I'm really liking Windows 7, but then so does most everybody, it seems.  Things have changed since last year:
http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=12616.msg228689#msg228689
 


Does anyone know how I can move my Documents folder to a different partition?  I'm dual-booting, and when I had the release candidate, both OS's shared the same Doc folder in a third partition.  Now, I can't figure out how to do it.  :(

[Marnoot]

Does anyone know how I can move my Documents folder to a different partition?  I'm dual-booting, and when I had the release candidate, both OS's shared the same Doc folder in a third partition.  Now, I can't figure out how to do it.  :(

http://hubpages.com/hub/Windows-7_-_Moving_My_Documents

[Physics]

Thanks, Physics.  If you hadn't said anything I wouldn't have this nifty new install of 7 Pro 64.      (Same price as the home version.  It replaced my release candidate version.)

No problem.

I couldn't tell from the pre-purchase wording, can I use that as a fresh install?  I have registered for mine, I just stopped right before clicking bill me, because I couldn't tell.  I didn't really want an upgrade version, although I guess for $30 who cares.

[Perd Hapley]

Yes, it let's you clean-install.  You can download an .exe file and an image.  In case you didn't know, you'll need a DVD writer if you want to make an image disk.  You can also have them ship you a disk, for an additional 13 bucks. 

Thanks Marnoot. 

[Ben]

Okay, after a few days of playing around with it, I really like it. I think I like it even better than XP. It took me probably a total of a couple hours worth of time figuring out where settings are, what settings controls changed, etc., but it all seems pretty intuitive now. As I start moving more stuff over from my old system and continue configuring, I'm sure I'll still have to play a bit of hide and seek with stuff, but overall I'm pleased. I caught onto this MUCH faster than Office 2007, which still finds me turning the air blue every once in a while looking for stuff.

On the cons, I've already found a few of my 32bit prgs that won't run and that I haven't found equivalents for yet. I also wish that Pro included Bitlocker so I could play around with it. Oh well, maybe in a Service Pack...

[Brad Johnson]

I caught onto this MUCH faster than Office 2007, which still finds me turning the air blue every once in a while looking for stuff.

You too, eh?  Too bad Microsoft "forgot" to include an ability for the user to switch back to the old style menu bar.  I'd just gotten the old system halfway figured out when they came up with this steaming pile of... stuff.

Brad

[Perd Hapley]

Since I'm a dum guy and don't know how OS's work, I will list some things dum guys can appreciate 'bout Win 7, and then some things I don't so much like about it.

1.  You can set an entire folder (like maybe your folder of Firefly pics) as a desktop background, select the pictures you want to use, and set it to rotate through that set of pictures at your desired interval.  Also, you can save different "themes," that determine the look of your desktop, cursors and screen saver.  

2.  Desktop images look much more clear and rich, or at least they seem to.

3.  You can move your toolbar to the top, bottom or side of your screen.  I like the top, although there is a problem with the tops of windows getting trapped back there.  

4.  It has a built-in desktop gadget for CPU/RAM usage and Weather.

5.  The shut-down button just gets better as you move from 2000 to XP to 7.  Maybe.  I like that I can shut down with one click on the start menu, but it might be a little too easy to shut down by mistake.  

Things I don't like as much.

1.  When you save downloads to your desktop, they don't actually show up on the desktop.  They end up on a list that is labeled "Desktop," which is not the actual desktop.  

2.  I don't like that it's harder to edit the menu options for multi-boot.  In XP, you can simply edit the file from System Properties.  With 7, I had to run command prompt as administrator and open bcdedit, then use google to find out what commands to use.  Or maybe I'm too picky about what my menu says.  

[Nick1911]

3.  You can move your toolbar to the top, bottom or side of your screen.  I like the top, although there is a problem with the tops of windows getting trapped back there.

Versions of windows back to 9x do this.

4.  It has a built-in desktop gadget for CPU/RAM usage and Weather/Time.

Doesn't vista's sidebar do this?  (I always turn it off...)

1.  When you save downloads to your desktop, they don't actually show up on the desktop.  They end up on a list that is labeled "Desktop," which is not the actual desktop.

Vista does this too.

[Perd Hapley]

On the first one, I did not realize that, thanks. I just tried doing this on XP Pro, SP3.  No go.  What's the secret?    Well crap.  That was very easy.  Color me simple.   

On the other two, I wasn't comparing it to Vista, as I have almost no experience with it.  I used it for five minutes when my friend had it installed on his old laptop. 

[tyme]

2.  Desktop images look much more clear and rich, or at least they seem to.

Wow.  The positive buzz about win7 has made you start hallucinating?!  :)  Colors are colors.  Your screen displays what it's given.  If an image really looks different in win7 vs vista, that can only mean that win7 is doing something to images (increasing color saturation perhaps?) before displaying them as a background.  Somehow, I doubt it's doing that.  I think it's all in your head.  Just like the voices.

[Perd Hapley]

But the voices agree with me. 

[InfidelSerf]

Doesn't vista's sidebar do this?  (I always turn it off...)

Only difference is, the gadgets are no longer locked to a sidebar... they are free to move around the desktop.

I bought a new 7200rpm hdd for my laptop and acquired an OEM copy of 7 ultimate.
Before making the switch I went to toshiba and painstakingly downloaded all the drivers available.
I didn't need to use any of them.  I did have to go to synaptics to get drivers to enable the pad sliding capability.

So far I'm happy with it.  Yet again it's an OS at a development stage at which the prior OS SHOULD have been at.
My laptop came with a copy of Vista Ultimate

Things have sped up a bit but that's mainly the upgrade to 7200rpm from 5400.
I have noticed that Firefox is a bit more stable under 7 than it was under Vista.

[Ben]

How did you install the OEM? A coworker of mine just built a system and bought OEM Win7 from Newegg. He said it's requiring a special "pre-install" program be run to meet some new MS licensing / activation requirements. It apparently also requires Vista or Server 2003 or better to even make the pre-install image (can't be done on XP).

I did a very cursory search for him which lead me to the MS website where you can apparently only download the image install if you have a system builder user/pass.

If you were able to get the pre-install elsewhere, could you post a link? Or if there's a way around it, info would be appreciated.

[Ben]

Well, got this OEM thing figured out I think, but what a pain in the Keester. Anyone can apparently create a technician account at the Microsoft site to get the software.

You have to download an image file, burn it to DVD, install on a compatible OS (I used the server 2003 at work), then copy the image file from your OEM copy of Win7 to the "technician machine", then create an "answer xml" (which is verified to your Win 7 image) with all the manufacturer info for your target system, which you then save to a flash drive, which you then stick in the target machine to interface with the OEM install disk, which then theoretically lets you install Win7.

We just got to the part of creating my co-worker's "answer xml". We'll have to wait till he tries to install tonight to see if it all works smoothly. Definitely not worth the 30 or so ducat savings over the retail package IMO.

[sanglant]

is this true ? if so bill gates really is one big, but lucky dummy.

[Brad Johnson]

Blank page for me.

Brad

[RocketMan]

Couldn't understand what they were trying to communicate for all the Jinglish.

[InfidelSerf]

How did you install the OEM? A coworker of mine just built a system and bought OEM Win7 from Newegg. He said it's requiring a special "pre-install" program be run to meet some new MS licensing / activation requirements. It apparently also requires Vista or Server 2003 or better to even make the pre-install image (can't be done on XP).

I did a very cursory search for him which lead me to the MS website where you can apparently only download the image install if you have a system builder user/pass.

If you were able to get the pre-install elsewhere, could you post a link? Or if there's a way around it, info would be appreciated.

First rule of Fight Club, we don't talk about Fight Club   

I'll just say I think I finally got my $400 worth of investment into M$

[Perd Hapley]

One more dum guy tweak for Win 7.

7's Empty Recycle Bin sound is pretty weak.  Change it to the old, XP sound.  Way funner.