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Dfference between the 3 Win7 versions?


Llama8

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Since my install of WinXP is on the fritz, I'm thinking of asking for Win7 for my birthday (in just under a month) rather than re-install XP now.

 

I'm not sure which version I should get though: Home Premium, Pro or Ultimate. I would get the 64-bit version regardless ('cause I want moar ram!).

 

So what's the difference between the three versions?

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Since my install of WinXP is on the fritz, I'm thinking of asking for Win7 for my birthday (in just under a month) rather than re-install XP now.

 

I'm not sure which version I should get though: Home Premium, Pro or Ultimate. I would get the 64-bit version regardless ('cause I want moar ram!).

 

So what's the difference between the three versions?

 

I am using Home Premium on my game machine and laptop. The reading I did showed that the added features of Pro and Ultimate were geared more towards business computing. (netword options, back-up functions etc.) all stuff that is easy enough to do with 3rd party software if I ever choose.

 

Here is the link to Microsofts Win 7 comparisons. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare

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Since my install of WinXP is on the fritz, I'm thinking of asking for Win7 for my birthday (in just under a month) rather than re-install XP now.

 

I'm not sure which version I should get though: Home Premium, Pro or Ultimate. I would get the 64-bit version regardless ('cause I want moar ram!).

 

So what's the difference between the three versions?

 

The $64,000 question is what do you expect to do with your system (besides gaming and the usual email, web browsing and other stuff...).

 

Do you plan on taking your system and connecting it to a business network with a Domain? If so, you will want at least Win 7 Pro.

 

Are you going to be needing encryption? In that case, you might want to look at Ultimate.

 

If the answer to the two previous questions is NO - then Home Premium will likely be all you'll ever need.

 

Microsoft got smart with Windows 7. Each higher version of Windows 7 now contains all of the features found in the tier below it. Previously, Vista Business did pretty much everything Home Premium did - except for the Media Center feature. For that you had to get Ultimate which had everything. With Windows 7, they didn't do any of that sillyness and included the Media Center feature in the Pro version.

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Home Premium it is then...

 

One final (not particularly related) question, since I've kinda decided to reinstall XP anyway (since we're doing housework), what XP services can I disable to get things running faster/better/etc?

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Home Premium it is then...

 

One final (not particularly related) question, since I've kinda decided to reinstall XP anyway (since we're doing housework), what XP services can I disable to get things running faster/better/etc?

 

Google is your friend... Search for "Windows XP Services Disable" and you'll get a lot of potentially useful hits.

 

But here's one article you can use to get things started.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I bought Win7 from here, but apparently it's an upgrade version not a "proper" install, so when burnt to a DVD it's not a bootable disk so I can't install the 64-bit version.

 

Any ideas if I can upgrade from Win7 32-bit to 64-bit after upgrading to the Win7 32-bit?

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Thats odd. I bought the student upgrade version and it came as some crappy install thing which I changed to an ISO file and was able to boot and simply perform a fresh install with. What sort of format did the download come as?

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It dl'd as an img file, which I mounted with Virtual Clone Drive & then burnt with Nero. But then when I tried to boot from it the BIOS said it wasn't a bootable disk...

 

The 32-bit version works fine & I wondered whether I'd be able to upgrade from Win7 32-bit to 64-bit? Or whether that would require a bootable DVD as well.

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I think the problem is that Nero didn't create a bootable DVD, since I checked the 32-bit version onto a DVD & that wasn't bootable either, though obviously the installer did work from XP 32-bit.

 

So, the next question is how to get Nero 8 to create a bootable disk...

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I think the problem is that Nero didn't create a bootable DVD, since I checked the 32-bit version onto a DVD & that wasn't bootable either, though obviously the installer did work from XP 32-bit.

 

So, the next question is how to get Nero 8 to create a bootable disk...

 

Now that file, the one you downloaded... Was that in the standard ISO format? If so, there's a program out there called IMGBURN - it's freeware and works better than Nero for dealing with this sorta thing.

 

As far as installing Win 7 64 as an upgrade to any 32 bit version - the answer is no. It would have to be a clean install. 32 bit and 64 bit is NOT directly compatible.

 

Now then... There is a way to install an upgrade version of Windows Vista (and 7) as a clean install on a bare drive. It's not exactly sanctioned by Microsoft, but it's a lot faster and easier to do it this way than to fiddle around with and XP to 7 upgrade - especially since you can't upgrade XP to Windows 7 (any version) anyhow. Since you are technically upgrading from XP to 7 - it's not that big a deal.

 

Of course, you first have to get a bootable disk with the 64 bit OS installer on it. Once you've got that, boot from the DVD and let it install BUT you do not enter the product key. What you wind up with is essentially a demo version of Windows 7 64 bit. It'll work for 30 days and then quit.

 

The next step then is to reinsert the DVD into the machine and run the installer from within Windows. Install the upgrade on top of the one you just installed - THIS time, however, you will need to use the product key. Windows' installer is happy - it got to upgrade something - even if it's just a copy of itself. Microsoft is happy - you have a genuine version of Windows 7 installed.

 

If you're going to install on top of an existing Windows installation - then, of course, back up any files you might need or want before installing and you can skip directly to the 2nd part. You will still need to make sure you've got a bootable DVD first. Since you can't directly upgrade XP, it'll force you to do a clean install... You'll run the installer from within Windows - which will check to see if you've got a Genuine copy of Windows installed and then it will reboot itself and proceed with a clean install where your drive gets wiped before installation.

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Why would you install windows and then install it again wolfie? Its not needed, once its installed thats fine. I used a win 7 upgrade to clean install win 7 from a dvd onto my comp without having to then re use it to upgrade over the top of itself.

 

Hopefully you can make a bootable disk llama, perhaps googling making a bootable disk from your img file may help IMGBURN sounds like a good program...or, and this might be a worst case solution, but you can redownload as an ISO file from somewhere and use that.

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Why would you install windows and then install it again wolfie? Its not needed, once its installed thats fine. I used a win 7 upgrade to clean install win 7 from a dvd onto my comp without having to then re use it to upgrade over the top of itself.

 

Hopefully you can make a bootable disk llama, perhaps googling making a bootable disk from your img file may help IMGBURN sounds like a good program...or, and this might be a worst case solution, but you can redownload as an ISO file from somewhere and use that.

 

It's because the installer can recognize the product key that comes with an upgrade is an upgrade key as opposed to a full install key. If you put in the product key and it finds it to be an "upgrade" it will tell you that it can't install anything without a prior version of Windows. Therefore, the installer must upgrade something - even if it's a "eval" copy of Windows 7. Yes, I know - it sounds braindead, but that's pretty much the way it works.

 

And yes, I do know what I'm talking about - I took part in the Vista and Windows 7 betas. Here is an article discussing the process as well.

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And now I have to go through all the tedium of re-installing everything...

 

Thanks for the help guys, once I realised that the DVD with the 32-bit version wouldn't boot, I knew that the issue was making the DVD bootable, rather than the specific version it was trying to install.

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Well...I dont know, I know that wasn't the case for me although I understand the principle of an upgrade being limited to specifically upgrading.

OK.. Well.. You could have a full version. The full version can be used to do a clean install on bare metal OR upgrade an existing installation. I'm assuming you got it from your university's bookstore or some such program - correct? Student editions may have slight differences.

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Student editions may have slight differences.

Apparently not 'cause that's what I've got.

 

Now I need to make it not boot up slower than my previous (relatively new) XP install.

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Ok, in Explorer how do I turn off the shiny on the left side of Explorer. I liked XP's folder hierarchy & really don't like Libraries/Homegroup/Current User...

 

So, how do I go back to what worked & wasn't broken in XP?

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Student editions may have slight differences.

Apparently not 'cause that's what I've got.

 

Now I need to make it not boot up slower than my previous (relatively new) XP install.

 

Eh.. I dunno..

 

That's odd that you say XP boots faster. On my old (now dead) rig, XP took like 2:15 on average to boot. With Vista it was like 1:20 and with 7, I was getting 1:00 to 1:10 average on the same, identical hardware.

 

Ok, in Explorer how do I turn off the shiny on the left side of Explorer. I liked XP's folder hierarchy & really don't like Libraries/Homegroup/Current User...

 

So, how do I go back to what worked & wasn't broken in XP?

Uh.. What "shiny" are you referring to?

 

Btw.. Just as an FYI... The folder structure in Vista/7 didn't change all THAT much. The only major change between XP and later versions is that they renamed C:\Documents and Settings to C:\Users - much to the delight of anyone having to type in a path manually.

 

Therefore, you should find your stuff in C:\Users\Llama8\documents\.

 

Libraries are cool. They're not actual folders - they're all virtual collections of files. As a for instance... Let's say you've got 3 hard drives. C:, D: and E:. Your DVD drive is F:. Let's say you've also got a collection of MP3s on C: in C:\Users\Llama8\Music, another collection in D:\MP3s and yet another in E:\Music. By default, the C:\Users\Llama8\Music folder is part of the Music library and you can add the additional files on D: and E: to the library - and it will all show together as one big happy collection. The same can be for any file type, project, or whatever. Another good example would be pictures. Say you've got a folder full of family pics on drive D:, another pile of pictures from the zoo (family outing) on E: and of course, your collection of Sacred 2 screenshots in "Llama8\Pictures\Ascaron Entertainment\Sacred 2".. All of those can be combined into one library called "Pictures.

 

You don't need to use libraries if you don't want to. You can't turn them off - but you can collapse the Libraries tree to get 'em out of the way. In Windows Explorer, you should still see your own personal folder which is the equivalent of the My Documents chain and the Computer - which in previous versions was "My Computer". If you really miss the My - you can rename the Computer item to read "My Computer".

 

All in all, after all of the new glitz - it's still Windows underneath it all.

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Well...I dont know, I know that wasn't the case for me although I understand the principle of an upgrade being limited to specifically upgrading.

OK.. Well.. You could have a full version. The full version can be used to do a clean install on bare metal OR upgrade an existing installation. I'm assuming you got it from your university's bookstore or some such program - correct? Student editions may have slight differences.

Nah, it was definitely an upgrade version/license. It came as a .exe to install it from inside your current OS. I turned it into an iso, burnt to dvd and booted from it and installed like normal.

 

Ok, in Explorer how do I turn off the shiny on the left side of Explorer. I liked XP's folder hierarchy & really don't like Libraries/Homegroup/Current User...

 

So, how do I go back to what worked & wasn't broken in XP?

Hmm...I don't know, this site has some registry edits to remove the favorites/libraries/homegroup links from the navigation bar and leave the computer part behind, but I don't think theres an easy way to do it.

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Windows is now refusing to boot (it boots into safe mode fine, I'm going to try the startup restore in a sec).

 

It shut down fine last night (as far as I'm aware) & installed some updates (not sure, but how could I find out what these are & remove them if necessary?).

Booted up fine this morning & ran the AV & then turned off automatically.

Now it refuses to boot up properly & my wife's not used it during the day. :sigh:

 

Edit: Oh yeah, I tried enabling the boot log, but that only keeps a log for the most recent boot, ie, into safe mode, not from the previous attempted boot...

 

Edit #2: And by "doesn't boot", it does the swirly windows thing, but instead of going to the login screen, I get a black screen with a mouse pointer (which does move), but nothing else.

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Windows is now refusing to boot (it boots into safe mode fine, I'm going to try the startup restore in a sec).

 

It shut down fine last night (as far as I'm aware) & installed some updates (not sure, but how could I find out what these are & remove them if necessary?).

Booted up fine this morning & ran the AV & then turned off automatically.

Now it refuses to boot up properly & my wife's not used it during the day. :sigh:

 

Edit: Oh yeah, I tried enabling the boot log, but that only keeps a log for the most recent boot, ie, into safe mode, not from the previous attempted boot...

 

Edit #2: And by "doesn't boot", it does the swirly windows thing, but instead of going to the login screen, I get a black screen with a mouse pointer (which does move), but nothing else.

 

Windows 7 service pack 1 came out recently, but it is not an automatic update. It did however take a very long time to boot the first time. Is there any HD activity while its on the black screen?

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The version I installed includes SP1, so that's not it. There's HD activity for a few mins but then it tails off. The startup restore said that I'd connected & removed some hardware (a camera) recently, but other than that all it's tests came up ok...

 

I think that my options at the moment are either trying to find these updates that it installed yesterday & getting rid of them, if that's the issue (but if it was, wouldn't it not have booted up this morning?), or re-installing windows.

 

Or give it ~20-30 mins while I'm having dinner to see if it'll start up...

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Ok, apparently it was just taking forever (~10 mins or so) to start up & since I didn't see a "Windows is installing/running some update" screen, I assumed that it'd fallen over...

 

Edit: 'Cause that's what windows has taught me over the past few years, if it doesn't boot up, it's probably fallen over. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions & handholding. ;)

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Windows is now refusing to boot (it boots into safe mode fine, I'm going to try the startup restore in a sec).

 

It shut down fine last night (as far as I'm aware) & installed some updates (not sure, but how could I find out what these are & remove them if necessary?).

Booted up fine this morning & ran the AV & then turned off automatically.

Now it refuses to boot up properly & my wife's not used it during the day. :sigh:

 

Edit: Oh yeah, I tried enabling the boot log, but that only keeps a log for the most recent boot, ie, into safe mode, not from the previous attempted boot...

 

Edit #2: And by "doesn't boot", it does the swirly windows thing, but instead of going to the login screen, I get a black screen with a mouse pointer (which does move), but nothing else.

 

Hmm.. Sounds like the dreaded Black Screen of Death... It seems you may have some sort of malware on your system. Did the AV find any issues the last time it ran? Better yet, can you run the AV in safe mode?

 

From Wikipedia:

 

Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 also display a Black Screen of Death when the operating system cannot boot. This is usually due to a missing file. This also happens when the user enables file compression on all files and the operating system compresses. Often the user must reinstall Windows, if the missing file is critical to the boot process. However, more often than not the boot screen will inform the user of the missing file. If the operating system is compressed, it will not be able to boot, even into safe mode.

 

In late 2009 several new reports of the Black Screen of Death in Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 emerged. At first several claims pointed at a Windows Update. It was later recanted by Prevx as an erroneous report.

 

Microsoft reported that no security update was causing the issue, and it may be tied to malicious software, or malware. In other cases, the black screen of death was replaced with the Blue Screen of Death.

 

Emphasis added to the important bits...

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There may have been something in that update. When I was shutting down Sacred last night, I saw that Windows had updates to do. Tonight, it rebooted itself the first time I tried to start it up. The second time, it gave the message saying that it was configuring updates.

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