Upgrading from XP to Windows 7

Question

Hi Folks,

I just breathed new life into my 4-yr.-old Latitude D530 by installing a solid state drive. Man is it zippy now. But it’s still running Windows XP, which I’m reading will shorten the drive’s life because XP isn’t optimized for SSDs. So I’m thinking of upgrading to Windows 7. I ran Microsoft’s upgrade advisor tool on it and it said it's ready for the upgrade.

Does anyone who’s gone through this have any advice or cautions for this OS upgrade on a Dell laptop? I’m a little behind the curve, with Windows 8 around the corner. I know I’m going to need to re-install all my programs. Just wondered if there was anything else I need to be mindful of or careful about, or any rough spots encountered by others who've done this upgrade. I assume I can download any Dell drivers I'll need.

ejn63 · Answer

You can't directly upgrade XP to 7.  You will need to do a clean install -- meaning that you must back up your data first.  Other than that it should be relatively straightforward.

sudio · Answer

Thanks.  Yep, knew that; shouldn't be hard to do with an external drive.  Meanwhile, it just occurred to me that I should wait and upgrade from XP directly to Windows 8, which will only cost $40.

ejn63 · Answer

That assumes Windows 8 will be supported -- which it may not be.  Intel may not support the new OS with the older video system in the D530 (and note that the D530 won't run Aero, if it has integrated video - which is likely).

sudio · Answer

True that I'll need to confirm that -- hopefully MS will have a Windows 8 Upgrade Advisor tool that will answer that.  However, I ran the advisor for Win 7 on the D530 and it said it can run Aero, even though it does have integrated video.

Philip_Yip · Answer

Before jumping the gun and purchasing Windows 8, you should attempt to install the Consumer Preview of Windows 8. This will give you a taster of Windows 8. I got it working (the 32 bit version) on a Latitude D830 which is very similar to your model. It also has the integrated video.

The user interface of Windows 8 is very different and in my opinion absolutely awful to run on a laptop or desktop without a touchscreen.

If using Windows 7 use the Windows Vista drivers (32 bit Vista drivers for 32 bit version) and (64 bit Vista drivers for the 64 bit version) with the exception to bluetooth. For bluetooth use R231570<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>. See my wiki A Clean Install of Windows 7 for full instructions.

sudio · Answer

Thanks for the suggestion, Philip.  Actually, I did run the Win8 preview, but only far enough to confirm that the OS will run on my D530.  I'm not too worried about the Metro interface -- I run and love the Classic Start Menu on my Win7 desktop PC, and it will run on Win8 too.

Philip_Yip · Answer

Interesting software I will have a look at it, personally I have been using Actuals Windows Manager as I use 2 monitors.

Also was going to have a look at Stardock Start 8.

I would still recommend you give the consumer preview a try before committing to buy 8. I think most things will work out the box for Windows 8 as I never installed any drivers on my latitude but Dell Quickset for example likely won't work.

Dean2 · Answer

You will need a service tag from what I just found out to get updates on configuration of you system. Your system tag with a laptop is on the Ram lid, and of course desktop on the bottom. I just finished doing upgrade from XP to 7 and runs great with just regular install. Of course maybe you will be more successful at saving your hard drive information than I did, I only saw half my harddrive information. Love the speed though. Good Luck!

Windows General

Upgrading from XP to Windows 7

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