Re: Windows 7
 

Do you think the disk I saw that asked if you wanted Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate was a dodgy one :rolleyes:

Re: Windows 7
 

I admit to being somewhat sceptical about advice from PC World's 'Tech Guys' and until totally satisfied that my peripherals will work as before, I will remain with the status-quo. Thanks to all for the input.

Re: Windows 7
 

Try going to the website of the manufacturers of your peripherals. check the support and see if they have drivers available.

I have Windows 7, and my Lexmark printer & Hauppage TV tuner, both work fine with vista drivers. But the USB video capture card, from Roxio, doesn't work.

All usb storage devices (sticks and external hard drives) should work without problem. They have generic drivers and have been supported since Windows 2000 and Millennium.

You can't use 32 bit drivers on a 64 bit system, and vice versa. Many keyboards have extra buttons that need drivers to work, this goes for laptops as well. Unfortunately, support for 64bit drivers on keyboards, is almost non existent.
Also Adobe don't support flash player on 64bit browsers.

At the moment the only benefit of 64 bit over 32 bit, is the amount of useable memory. 32 bit has a ceiling of 3Gb. Most programmes are still 32 bit, but this should change in the next few years, with 64 bit programmes becoming more mainstream.

Re: Windows 7
 

i also think you will ne nagged for activation after a few weeks lol and despite getting teh fix it will re-occur

get a better copy mate :)

Re: Windows 7
 

I ended up sticking with my original XP.

2 install disks kept causing my PC to reboot while copying files from DVD to hard disk.

Its a shame because if I liked it and wanted to keep it I was going to get my lad to buy me a genuine copy for £30 with his student discount

Re: Windows 7
 

I'm sorry but I don't see the point in that, if you are going to use Windows illegally why not just pirate it ?

Re: Windows 7
 

hmmm :D

Re: Windows 7
 

Hello Stumped,
Just a bit of FYI to understand the issues with 32-bit and 64-bit OS upgrades and later options that may or may not be available to you later:
When upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 you must upgrade the version currently installed within Windows Vista to the corresponding version in Windows 7. I.E. Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium; Windows Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional; and Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate. You also cannot upgrade a 32-bit operating system to 64-bit -- to migrate from 32-bit to 64-bit will require a custom install.
The architecture between the two is too drastically different to allow such a change. To learn more about the differences between a 32-bit operating system and 64-bit please go to the following link: 32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions
You can visit the official Microsoft Migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 site here: Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 - Help & How-to - Microsoft Windows
There are some nice videos tutorials and steps to take when migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7. And yes it is true you cannot directly upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 you can take some steps to ensure a smooth process.
Thanks again and good luck!
John M.
Microsoft Windows Client Support

Re: Windows 7
 

this laptop is on windows 7, i can't see much of a difference between this and xp, maybe its just me not using it to its full potential yet

Re: Windows 7
 

There is also a 'basic' version of W7 and I susp[ect as yours was a low end lappy then it will only come with the cheapest version they could get away with.

I am not sure that is a bad thing.
You can then had extra applications to give you the features you need.

Re: Windows 7
 

Acer Extensa EX5235Z-901G16Mi Laptop LX.EE30Z.004 - Screen Size - Acer Outlet

what dya call 'low end' Ian?

Re: Windows 7
 

thats low spec nowadays...

My phone has the same amount of memory as your lappy, 40 gig in storage, better 3D graphics chip, longer battery life, more stable OS, and its a phone and camera to boot :D

if you want to make it run a lot faster particularly if it does have W7 ( the link you posted says XP ) then add another gig or 2 of RAM

1 gig is 25 quid , 2 gig is 47 quid from crucial, you may get it a little cheaper on the market etc

Re: Windows 7
 

yeah i noticed it said xp, thought you meant cheap and nasty, don't need much space on it really, its only for Reece to do his homework on, it has office and power point on it and all that, it's easier for him to use the laptop than use the pc

Re: Windows 7
 

absolutely, you forget that low end stuff today was stuff of dreams 10 years ago....

my first PC was a 286 ( pre pentium ) with 1 meg of RAM and a 20 MEG hard disk.

I still have my first computer which has 1 Kilobyte of RAM and no storage.......

This reply is probably more than 1K :D

Re: Windows 7
 

Thanks for your input. As my current system has only 2gb of RAM, I have been advised to forget Windows 7 unless I go for a new system with it preloaded. An expense I can ill afford, so I'll blunder on with the crap that is Vista Home Premium.