Monday, November 16, 2015

Windows 7 upgrade from OEM Vista - what info is needed?


I would like to upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium. I currently have a Dell PC that came pre-installed with Vista Home Premium on it. I can't remember if the PC came with a Vista CD or not (I think nowadays Dell just offers the factory restore option from a hidden partition), but if it did come with a CD I'd rather not try and find it.


My question is do I need to have the Vista CD in order to successfully use the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade? Or, if not, what info do I need to have ready in order for the upgrade to work? I don't want to purchase Windows 7 upgrade version only to find out that I need some piece of info that I don't have.


Thanks,


~ Justin


Answer



I've upgraded working Vista machines to 7 several times now and never required the Vista DVD.


Make a backup, and ensure System Restore is turned on as well.


Ensure you have all your Windows 7 drivers collected ahead of time.


Run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to help identify potential problems.


Uninstall any hardware related applications (ie: scanning packages, printer utilities) that have a new Windows 7 version. Since you'll have to probably have to replace them anyway if you uninstall them first the upgrade will go quicker/smoother.


Also, remember to uninstall any Anti-virus/security packages.


Don't be surprised if it takes 2-3 hours or more for the actual upgrade. :)


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