Review by Doctor C

Let me start by saying that I am in no way a Microsoft or Windows basher. I have installed and used Windows from version 2.4 (yes, there was such a thing) through 3.0,3.1,95,98,ME,NT,2000,XP, and Vista. I’ve also built several desktops and would be considered proficient with computers. I also run Windows 7 64 bit on my new laptop (it came preloaded) and loved it so much that I decided to buy the upgrade for my older desktop. That’s where the story takes a sad turn. In short, this review is about my experience with the UPGRADE version that I paid for and not Windows 7 it self. If you can install it, it’s pretty great.

I got this because I wanted to take advantage of the 64 bit capabilities of Windows 7. The computer in question is older, but still more than capable - Dual Core 6400 with intel DG-965RY motherboard, 6 gigs of ram, 2 320 gig hard drives and a Nvidia 7900 GS card. Originally it was running XP 32 and later upgraded to Vista ultimate 32.

The first problem I ran into was that because this is the upgrade version, it requires a valid previous installation of vista or XP. What I usually like to do is wipe everything off my old drive before installing the new OS but this requirement prevented me to do so. I don’t see the point of checking the OS. Yes, I know this is the upgrade but it could just as easily ask me to put in the VISTA or XP dvd to check to see if I have it.

Next, the installation was painfully slow. I started the installation in the afternoon and by the next morning it was only at 74% done. later in that afternoon (after around 20 hours) it booted up for the last time and indicated Windows 7 was about to start. I thoguht the nightmare was over but it was just starting. After asking me to choose a name and password (very sluggishly) I was asked to type in the product key which i did. Then the system froze and appeared to be doing something. so again i went to bed and woke up the next day only to see my computer had gone into standby mode.

For the next 7 hours I waited for it to finish installing (turning the mouse to make sure it wouldn’t go into standby mode again) but it never did. I restarted the computer and went through the last step again but again it froze. This time I decided to install XP again (which installed in about 25 minutes) and wipe everything off the hard drive, disable my USB ports, etc. and went through that again.

Long story short, after 5 days, the upgrade freezes right after I put in my product key. I have not tried the 32 bit version yet but the whole point of getting this was to use the 64 bit and extra RAM. It’s very obvious Microsoft did not test this enough for upgrades. Even by their own admission, their own people took around 20 hours for upgrades so that should have been a red flag.

So my recommendation is don’t bother upgrading if you already have a system that’s working. Either put it in a brand new system that’s windows 7 certified or buy a computer with it built in. I’m out a $100 but you shouldn’t have to be.

*update*nI called MS tech support and was surprised at how eager they were to help. I got several call backs to check on the status of the install, but unfortunately my machine just isn’t made for windows 7 despite intel having windows 7 drivers for it. I added another star for tech support’s efforts.

*final update*nOverall I should take some of the blame too because when I ran the upgrade advisor, it told me that I was good to go (minus my linksys USB adapter) for the 32 bit version and I falsely assumed that it would be true for the 64 bit version as well. Before installing, I tried to run the 64 bit upgrade advisor off the DVD but the actual program wouldn’t run on a 32 bit platform which I found kind of odd. For me the whole point of the upgrade was to go 64 bit and take advantage of my CPU and access to extra RAM so I am back on Vista (which runs great btw). So take my review with a grain of salt.