CGar Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Hey guys, I've been trying to keep up with all of the recent Windows 7 information, but I have a few questions about the switch to Windows 7 To start off, my hard drive is a 10k RPM one but only has 74GB, so I'm looking to buy a new 200GB 10k RPM one (Need more space for games!), so obviously I'm trying to decided when to upgrade, and what to put on it. My question is, is installing Windows 7 RC as my primary OS a bad idea for a new hard drive? Related things: -I've seen many good things written about the RC, is it stable enough for my primary OS? -How is the driver support for Creative/nVidia? I've seen some spotty responses -Will the RC upgrade to RTM seamlessly, or will it require a clean install? Additionally, will activating the Windows 7 in the future with a real CD-Key be easy? -I could technically just revert back to my Vista hard drive if things do not work, but I would rather not jump the gun on buying a hard drive if it's not worth it -I see that the RC license is valid until June 2010, but will there be any limitations on this license? Thanks in advance for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen W Veteran Posted May 5, 2009 Veteran Share Posted May 5, 2009 Hey guys, I've been trying to keep up with all of the recent Windows 7 information, but I have a few questions about the switch to Windows 7To start off, my hard drive is a 10k RPM one but only has 74GB, so I'm looking to buy a new 200GB 10k RPM one (Need more space for games!), so obviously I'm trying to decided when to upgrade, and what to put on it. My question is, is installing Windows 7 RC as my primary OS a bad idea for a new hard drive? Related things: -I've seen many good things written about the RC, is it stable enough for my primary OS? -How is the driver support for Creative/nVidia? I've seen some spotty responses -Will the RC upgrade to RTM seamlessly, or will it require a clean install? Additionally, will activating the Windows 7 in the future with a real CD-Key be easy? -I could technically just revert back to my Vista hard drive if things do not work, but I would rather not jump the gun on buying a hard drive if it's not worth it -I see that the RC license is valid until June 2010, but will there be any limitations on this license? Thanks in advance for the help! Hey there CGar, Your current amount of space is not an issue, you'll be just fine with what you have,but for todays standards it's pretty small..see point 4. As for your other questions: 1. The RC is definately stable enough for use for your primary operating system, at RC stage, you'll find that it will be about as stable as Windows 7 can possibly get as it is now in feature freeze, but you will need to consider that in about 6 months time you will likely have to upgrade to the RTM, which requires a clean install. More on this later. 2.The nVidia driver support is excellent, they have been releasing drivers for months now, and development has reached a point where they are very stable. As for creative, i have no idea, but I've been hearing alot of good chatter. 3.No. The RC provides no upgrade path whatsoever to the RTM product. You will have to perform a clean install. See this quote made in a recent Windows 7 Beta Tester email: Please note: All users of the Windows 7 Release Candidate (including Windows Vista users who have upgraded to the Release Candidate) must do a clean installation of Windows 7 RTM. Please keep this is mind as you consider downloading the Release Candidate as opposed to waiting for the general availability release. As for future releases, it will be easy to activate, same as currently, we can safely assume, but again, on a clean install. 4.Yes, you could revert, but seeing as you only have 74GB, IMO I'd go buy a new hard-drive just cuz 74GB is pretty darn small, and I think you'd be very satisfied with it in the long run. Keep in mind that Windows 7 can run in a 10GB HDD also, so if space is not an issue for you, don't sweat it. If you want to revert, my advice would be make an image of your HDD in it's current state that way you can go back the way it was, exactly if you need to :) 5.Only that when it hits that day you won't be able to use it any longer. By that point Windows 7 will have been released, and you should have already decided what you want to do. I hope this helps in any way, and I'm more than happy to answer further questions :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGar Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 Awesome, thank you for the fast reply! So it seems like there are no disadvantages with going to Windows 7 RC, other than the fact that I will need to do a clean install when Windows 7 RTM comes out. I think this is something I could easily live with, seeing as I like to re-format my hardrive periodically to keep it clean. One question I have though; I have seen you and many others mention making an image of my HDD as a backup. Is this really necessary if I install Windows 7 on a new hard drive? It was to my knowledge that as long as I left my current 74 GB HDD untouched, I could boot from it instead if I do not wish to use the Win7 HDD anymore. Am I wrong in thinking this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen W Veteran Posted May 5, 2009 Veteran Share Posted May 5, 2009 Ah, now I understand. In such a case, no you will not need to do that imaging of your hard drive. Are you planning to just install your other harddrive as well as your other one and dual boot? Or remove the 74GB one and keep it in a safe place? In saying that theres one disadvantage, being that its pre-release software/unfinished code, and it may still have bugs, so you *may* encounter problems, but as it's near final (seeing as it's at RC, which generally means feature freeze) you should be sweet.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGar Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 Sorry for the old thread bump but... Here's another thought I had. Is it possible to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 RC directly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xiphi Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Sorry for the old thread bump but...Here's another thought I had. Is it possible to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 RC directly? Yes you can do an inplace upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGar Posted May 10, 2009 Author Share Posted May 10, 2009 So are there any known drawbacks to doing a direct upgrade, such as maybe some lost hard drive space for old vista files, or any complications? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ad1977 Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I upgraded from vista home premium 32bit and found boot performance to be really poor - 4 to 6 mins. Though looking online this may have been an anomaly with my installation. General windows 7 performance was still faster than vista. I did a clean full install on friday night and Boot times are much much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornel001 Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I.ve done an upgrade vista-> 7 rc. Be warned that there are still apps that dont work properly under 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raa Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I wouldn't recommend upgrading any operating system "in place". Theres a lot of discussion on this and its associated problems. While it works, and may not present a problem, I always like a clean, fast system! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen W Veteran Posted May 11, 2009 Veteran Share Posted May 11, 2009 I wouldn't recommend upgrading any operating system "in place". Theres a lot of discussion on this and its associated problems.While it works, and may not present a problem, I always like a clean, fast system! Exactly. And remember that there is no way to upgrade from the RC once it's been released to manufacturing. You'll have to do a clean install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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