Windows 7 Getting my ducks in a row before upgrading

[gibby]

I am in the market for some advice. I am considering updating my Vista SP1 to Windows 7 RC. My machine is a dual boot and I also have Linux Mint (ubuntu) installed. When it boots, the grub boot loader comes up first and I have to choose Vista from a list to boot it. Now, if I upgrade directly to rc7, is this boot loader going to cause issues? Thanks!

Another semi-related question. For those that run the rc, when the gold comes out, is there any speculation on how a person transitions to that? Or will it just involve getting an activation key and the rc being updated via the auto updates?

 

[Radenight]

Hello and Welcome to Windows7forums..

In answer to your first question, No if you upgrade the boot loader SHOULD be fine (please note I'm not 100% on this because I always clean install rather than upgrade). I also run a couple different flavors of Ubuntu in dual-boot with Windows.. The only thing is, it's NOT recommended that you do an upgrade.. a clean install is the way to go when going to the RC.. That being said, there are some who have upgraded problem free but like I said, its NOT the recommended way to do it.. So, if you do a clean install that most likely will screw up the boot loader as when dual-booting Windows and Linux one must install Windows BEFORE Linux.. so you'd have to reinstall Ubuntu (or try to salvage the boot loader which could prove difficult) if you go the clean install route..

As for upgrading to the final version of 7 once it's live, no unfortunately you won't be able to simply put in a key and upgrade from the RC, a clean install will be necessary..

Hopefully this clears things up a bit for you..

 

[gibby]

Cool, thanks.

I ran that update advisor beta thingy from MS and it states all my hardware is fine. It only flagged Acer specific software as having potential issues. It also flagged Skype as incompatible. If I do a clean install, I won't have to worry about that software anyway, right? Because it will be gone is my logic.

 

[Radenight]

Cool, thanks.

I ran that update advisor beta thingy from MS and it states all my hardware is fine. It only flagged Acer specific software as having potential issues. It also flagged Skype as incompatible. If I do a clean install, I won't have to worry about that software anyway, right? Because it will be gone is my logic.

That's exactly right.. Clean install will erase EVERYTHING that you currently have installed.. So make sure you do a backup of all your personal files prior to the installation.. Those apps will be supported sooner than later too so once they are you'll be able to continue using them without fear of them crapping out on ya..

 

[gibby]

Well, I started the upgrade and the script flagged my ATI Radeon x1250 graphics card as having driver issues. I am surprised this did not come up in the update advisor script. Did some googling and it sounds like there are no driver's available for Windows 7. I checked the Microsoft site and the AMD site and could not find one. So, I did not go through with it yet until I learn more about this.

As far as backup, I have backed up all files. I also made an image snapshot of my system and saved it on a network drive.