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MOP
01-08-2010, 05:59 AM
A warning from one of my tech sites! No one wants to lose precious data!

If you've got a Windows XP machine at home and you're looking to upgrade it to Windows 7, there's something you should know before you hit the install button. It turns out that Microsoft does not support what they call an “in-place” upgrade for Windows XP, meaning that Windows 7, upon install, will erase all of your old data and put all of your programs into a “Windows.old” file folder.

It's basically a clean install...

Take it from me, when I upgraded I lost a bunch of programs and files because I assumed Windows 7 would just migrate everything over, but boy was I wrong! In reality, I should have backed up all of my files to an external hard drive and uninstalled all of my important programs, then performed the “upgrade”. Then I could have just reinstalled all of my old programs and brought my files back over after it was finished, but alas, I didn't think I had to... Besides, what a time-sink!

Schnook
01-09-2010, 10:20 AM
I was wondering about that, I've got a vista machine and a new copy of 7. Don't know if it'll have the same problem as XP, but instead of the upgrade I think I'll do a clean install anyway. Outside of deauthorizing i-tunes, any other heads up I should keep in mind?

MOP
01-09-2010, 11:07 AM
Take you time looking over what ever you may have saved, you may not need it right away but I have screwed myself a few times losing stuff that I needed later on. But then again there are always search engines!!!

piper_chuck
01-09-2010, 11:35 AM
Things like this are one among many reasons why I never bought into the MS concepts of "My Documents" or allowing individual programs to control where I store things. When I build a new system programs go on the C: drive and data goes on D:, E:, etc. When it's time to rebuild or replace, I can wipe the C: drive with complete confidence that no important information is there. I can also easily backup data because it's not scattered in a variety of folders on the C: drive.

txtaz
01-09-2010, 12:36 PM
Phil, You should have given me a call.

I also do not use "My Documents" to store information. I store to C: and mirror to a secong drive. Then I back it up to the server.

MOP
01-09-2010, 07:52 PM
No problem Wes I am going to wear out my copies of XP before moving on, 7 looks interesting but I am not ready. I have a buddy that went 64 bit and cursing the move, I told him that I believe the disc has both 32 ans 64 and to wipe it and redo it. I now have XP on six machines here. Four of mine and two that I am prepping for donation, a fellow I know sends them off to 3rd world countries to help the kids.