Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion

XP to Windows 7 advice

<< < (2/6) > >>

app103:
I just set up a laptop with Win7 x64, as a first step in migrating away from XP.

There were very few apps I had trouble with, as long as I followed a few rules when installing them.

I created an additional folder for portable & other problem apps. If an app didn't work properly after installing them normally, I uninstalled and tried again by installing them into my extra programs folder. They usually worked well there. There were only a few exceptions, which were easily replaced. (Winzip 9's context menu integration didn't work, Panorama's installer wouldn't run, and latest installer for Opera threw a weird error about not being a valid 7zip archive, and a calculator that I will have to do some extra fussing with to get it to work) I was even able to get Delphi 6 and Paintshop Pro 7 installed and working, and those are 2 apps that have known Vista/Win7 issues.

If you are a bit nervous about Word and Excel 2002, then do the same and create your own extra folder for portable & problem programs, and install it there. My guess is that even the old Office 97 would work ok, if installed this way. (although I'd never do that, for security reasons)

And if you still can't get something to work, then just google the name of the app, version, and "win7" and you'll likely find a guide to installing it so it will work.

If you really like OE, I'd go with Windows Live Mail, as 4wd suggested. It is probably the easiest and most painless migration and will give you the successor to OE, with much less of a learning curve.

And if you like the classic theme in XP, you can have the same in Win7, except that the start menu will be different.

Explorer will take a bit of getting used to, though. No way to have that looking/acting like the one in XP.  :(

Oh, and an extra warning related to installing Win7 on a laptop (mine is a Dell Studio). If you have trouble getting it to boot up, unplug all USB devices until after you have installed all updates, even if you have boot from usb disabled, like I did. I started having troubles after installing SP1 and had to unplug my mouse to get it to finish booting, and one of the later updates that was not included in SP1 resolved it. No more issues.  :)

 

Carol Haynes:
Windows Live Mail is an easy upgrade from Outlook Express (copy the whole Outlook storage folder and import it) - don't forget the export your address book from OE to a WAB file.

Re. Office apps - the official line is that Office 2003 is the oldest supported version from Windows 7 onwards.

I have seen a couple of Windows 7 systems in a right mess with Office 2000 and Office 97 installed and I would really recommend following MS advice on this. Even Office 2003 has a few minor issues in Windows 7.

If you can't afford an upgrade why not go with free LibreOffice ?

x16wda:
If you can't afford an upgrade why not go with free LibreOffice ?
-Carol Haynes (March 03, 2014, 03:53 AM)
--- End quote ---
+1 for that, and LibreOffice generally does a fine job with the Office 2002 file formats.

Stoic Joker:
Oh, and an extra warning related to installing Win7 on a laptop (mine is a Dell Studio). If you have trouble getting it to boot up, unplug all USB devices until after you have installed all updates, even if you have boot from usb disabled, like I did. I started having troubles after installing SP1 and had to unplug my mouse to get it to finish booting, and one of the later updates that was not included in SP1 resolved it. No more issues.-app103 (March 03, 2014, 02:57 AM)
--- End quote ---

I ran into something like that on a (2008 R2) server awhile back. The RDX removable cartridge backup drive was identified as an internally connected USB device, and it would stall/fail the boot if the server was restarted when a cartridge was inserted - eject the cartridge and it booted just fine. This issue had plagued the (then new) client for years. Disable boot from USB was disabled as you mentioned but it would still fail. What I found was that the seemingly completely unrelated Legacy USB Support was the actual culprit, as disabling it resolved the issue.

Steven Avery:
Hi,

Is the concern here the (April?) withdrawal of XP support by Microsoft?  Is that really a problem for a well-layered security system, if you are not some sort of sensitive business enterprise that has to follow auditing directives?

When my Windows 7 had 2 Gb it was slow, it really needed 4. XP does fine on 2 (with a slight preference for the 4 max, not all usable). It seems like a lot of effort to get a new OS and expand the hardware just to maintain the same level of speed.  Would it make more sense to try to get a newer or refurbed Windows 7 (still available?) or 8.  A friend just got a Gateway 8 with 6 GB at some Walmart special in the $200s.  How much is the Windows 7, the memory upgrade (I say its probably necessary) and the time and effort to convert a 6-year old box. Maybe the older box can be converted to a good Linux box instead?

Just some thoughts, since I face a similar situation, my older XP box is a Dell Precision, which is slowly just now decreasing so that the Windows 7 PowerSpec can increase.  The XP box is even tight on space with about 100Gb disk.

Steven

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page