Easy migration Vista 32 to Win 7 64

[nemophoto]

I'm in the initial stages of migrating from my older computer, which ran Vista Pro 32-bit, to a new custom rig from Cyberpower with Windows 7 installed. (So far, the computer seems great and fast: new AMD Phenom x4 II 965, 8-gigs RAM, nVidia GTX 275 graphics card, 1TB hard drive, and a motherboard equipped with the latest ports -- USB 3.0 and SATA3.)

I REALLY didn't want to do a step by step reinstall of everything on my system, so I did a search and found PCmover from Laplink. I'd owned Laplink products in the early days when I needed to sync or trade files between my notebook and my desktop. But this program not only moves preferences and settings for Windows, but also moves programs and data. No proble going from a 32-bit environment to a 64-bit. The process has taken several days, but nothing like the 2-3 months it took me to reinstall all my software, etc. when I did a clean install of Vista 2-years ago. So far, most apps seem to work. Lightroom booted up instantly, bringlin up the last catalog of images I had worked on. Photoshop CS4stumbled a little. It started up, but then rendered a 147:20 error message code -- whatever that means, so I'll probably have to reinstall it. No problem with Acrobat (which is usually horrible). I believe it has to do with the automated licensing service that starts up. I had to install an updated antivirus, and reenter a couple of program serial numbers, but otherwise, it's been comparatively effortless. The one thing that is obviously also needed are updated, 64-bit drivers for printers, etc.

I highly recommend the prgram to anyone who wants to make the 32-bit to 64-bit move.

Nemo

[paulbk]

Just an fyi for those interested. I did an upgrade from Vista 64x to Win7 64x. Mostly painless. No major re-installations required. It takes a few weeks to learn the differences (improvements) in the UI and OS control windows.

Win7 is worth every penny. Very stable.

[armand]

For me the upgrade Vista 64 to 7 64 didn't work out that well. First it told me to uninstall several programs that are incompatible, such as the ATI driver (I have a Lenovo laptop with both Intel and ATI video) but when I tried to install it didn't find the video and told it cannot install because my video cannot run Aero ?!
And I couldn't get it to be recognized and reinstall it again in Vista also after the failed upgrade.

First I restored from WHS and tried to upgrade without uninstalling the ATI driver but it wouldn't want to because it's incompatible    So I did a clean reinstall after all. Luckily I don't have that many programs installed these days (~ 20) so it didn't take more than a day.

[Theresa]

For me the upgrade Vista 64 to 7 64 didn't work out that well. First it told me to uninstall several programs that are incompatible, such as the ATI driver (I have a Lenovo laptop with both Intel and ATI video) but when I tried to install it didn't find the video and told it cannot install because my video cannot run Aero ?!
And I couldn't get it to be recognized and reinstall it again in Vista also after the failed upgrade.

First I restored from WHS and tried to upgrade without uninstalling the ATI driver but it wouldn't want to because it's incompatible    So I did a clean reinstall after all. Luckily I don't have that many programs installed these days (~ 20) so it didn't take more than a day.

I had to do a full install to Widows 7 64 as I had the release candidate installed.  Windows 7 has trouble with technology that is more than a few years old, such as ancient ATI hardware.  Companies make nothing from making new drivers for very old hardware.  Aero is very demanding on the video hardware and that obviously excludes old, old, video cards.  You don't need to run aero to get the non-visual benefits of 7.  It would probably help to get a modern video card which can be had for less than $100 if you have a pci-e slot.

[armand]

The problem was not he hardware (I bought the laptop only few months back, and now it's running Aero just fine) but the driver in Vista.
Win7 couldn't install if that driver was present, but uninstalling it made the Vista to not recognize the video board, hence Win7 also didn't see the video when trying to upgrade so it thought I don't have the requirements to run it.
When I did a clean install had no issues though. Pretty stupid from a 2009 software.