randroid Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Gents, Most of you probably recall the trials and tribulations I so generously shared with you last month concerning a worm that found its way into my computer. The worm is now gone but after the knowledgeable intervention of two computer shops in town the poor bastardly little machine chokes on its own phlegm whenever I boot it up and isn't getting better. It's fairly obvious that Windows will need to be reinstalled but I wonder if it might not be worth my while to install Win7 instead? I'll need to archive my personal files and programs either way so that's moot point. According to a chart put out by MS the biggest difference between their $119 version of 7 and the $199 version is that you could operate a program in XP mode for $80 more. I never had a lot of luck trying to run a program in a different mode and I'm curious if any of you have used this feature in 7 and if so is it worth $80 to have? Thanks, -Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
49 Dodge Dude Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 I switched from XP to 7 about a year ago. 7 works great, is a lot less buggy & has some great new features. I don't know what your system consists of, but I'd have at least a 1 gig processor and 1 gig memory before I upgraded. Bottom line - it's worth it. You should also download and use Windows defender & run Malware Bytes for malware protection. Very few computer attacks these days are viruses, they're almost always spyware & malware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randroid Posted March 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Dude, Thanks, the general opinion seems to be that it's preferred over XP, but do you feel it's worth the extra $80 to be able to run a program in XP mode? I checked the programs I have and they'll all do fine in 7 and I'm not sure it would be worthwhile to get the more expensive program. There are other features, too, such as greater networking capabilities but I don't use them. -Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eneto-55 Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 I don't know what the $80.00 is about. If you have a valid installation of Win 7 you can download (for free) the programs necessary to create the Virtual PC Windows XP Mode. I have done this myself, but I have not yet found a program that needs the XP Mode to run. (I build computer systems and have installed all sorts of old style programs in the Win 7 environment. You may, however, encounter problems with older programs if you go with the 64 bit version - I only work with the 32 bit Win 7.) I don't have the link on Microsoft's site (for the download) right in front of me here, but I believe I could find it again if you need it. I just looked in my notes, and found the following: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/ This site contains 3 downloads which need to be used to construct a virtual XP mode in Windows 7. It is required that the computer onto which they are downloaded has an authenticated (registered) copy of Windows 7. The file WindowsActivationUpdate.exe is an authentication process to validate the machine for the downloads. The third file is to enable Windows XP Mode for systems w/o Hardware Assisted Virtualization Technology. Neto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randroid Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Neto, Thanks, that's just the answer I was looking for. MS wasn't too vocal about those downloads while I was researching 7. -Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatS.... Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 I dislike change, so will stick with XP for a while. After the Vista debacle, I'll wait till the bugs are out of 7. I'm not so confident in MS anymore. I use ZoneAlarm Free, AVG Free, and Spybot search and destroy (donation) I have had this combo for about 7 yrs...only one virus and it was zapped easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mulders Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Pat, wait till the bugs are out of seven? I guess the watertube comes out by itself sooner than that will happen. Win7 is better than XP. Things to consider : can your hardware handle it (if you have an older PC you may want to check that first). 32bit vs 64bit - eventually everyone will use 64 but if you use the basic software (office, browser etc) you are fine with a 32 bit OS. Printers etc, make sure you can get drivers for it. Most problems with systems are caused by installing and trying new software, add 'add-on' features etc. Not the basic stuff. Even when you uninstall software entries will stay in the Registry and on the system and that will eventually cause problems and slow things down. with a 32 bit OS your old software will probably run and if needed you can setup a virtual PC for free. The Virtual PC is also handy for people who want to try software, have a test Virtual PC ready and run the program there, if you really like it you can install it on your system. If you don't no harm done. A virtual PC can be made quickly. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Pat what I've heard is 7 is back to the substructure XP was built on while Vista was on its own. My laptop has 7 on it and its been fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
later Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Microsoft has a compatibility check program that you can download and run to see if your computer will support Windows 7 or not. You can get it a this link. http://windows.microsoft.com/upgradeadvisor I found that while I could run 7 my pc's performance would be marginal at best. I stayed with XP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randroid Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Rodder, Thanks for the link, but I've already run it and found my machine to be more than capable and my programs all compatible. My big question about the "XP Mode" was if there was something running in the background or that I may want to add later that wouldn't sail, and Neto answered that for me. The only hurdle in my path now (other than coughing-up $119.00 for 7) is archiving my personal stuff because my CD and DVD writers don't work, but it turns out my flash card reader does work and I can get 8 gigs of flash cards at Burst Buy for $20. That would be more than enough room and would be easier than CDs. Anybody know any reason to not use flash cards? -Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatS.... Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 You can buy an external case for your existing hard drive and use that as a slave while transferring your old files. I'm in the middle of doing that now while I replace the old 40 gig hard drive in my computer with a new 250gig. The external case was $29 and uses USB and becomes E drive. Once that is done, I may upgrade to 7 but I'll likely wait...I have no issues with XP at the moment that a new hard drive with a fresh copy of XP won't fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martybose Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 We've been trying Windows 7 at work in preparation for an upgrade later this year. The one major issue for us has been printer drivers; we've had to get new versions for all of them. We've also been trying the newest version of Office; other than looking a lot different, we haven't had much in the way of problems with files created by older versions of Word, Excel or Access. Marty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefebvre Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 The only use I've found for the extra 80 dollars is when you have an important program that you use that is not compatible with Windows 7. Unless you use something other than MS Windows applications and surf the web - I'm sure you're be fine. At work - we have expensive software we purchase from vendors to do specfic tasks, and those apps may not be compatible with Windows 7, so we'd run those apps in XP mode. I think you will be fine with Windows 7. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustang6147 Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 I have windows 7, and the newest version of Office. I like it, it is simpler. but as with anything new, (I resist change) it takes a little time to adjust. My laptop is 7 my desktop is xp. I like the ability to watch TV, I shut my cable off. I like everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eneto-55 Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 (edited) In my work I assist a variety of businesses get set up with the software they need. Small engine shops use parts look-up programs which are sometimes not really Windows compliant, but they will work in Windows 7, and easily so if you run in administrator mode. Some farm programs, and software packages for small general stores, for instance, were written decades ago, and have just been tweaked to be "Windows software" (they aren't really), but still, I have not yet needed to use the XP Mode to get a program to work. In fact, we are dropping it from our standard configuration. We will still make it available if needed, but I don't really expect we'll ever need it. Again, I readily admit that it is probably much more of an issue with Windows 7 64-bit. One question I do not know the answer to is whether you could run a 32-bit XP Mode in Windows 7 64-bit. Anybody know?) Neto Edited March 29, 2011 by Eneto-55 grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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