12-06-2009, 01:20 AM
I had a 3 GHz XP machine on which I installed a beta version of Windows 7, on a separate drive. Then I installed retail Windows 7 Home Premium after removing the Beta version. The issue about upgrading is that (in my layman's terms) the boot record is changed since Vista so Windows 7 won't "upgrade" an existing Windows version older than Vista. I believe you can still install from the upgrade disk as long as you own a previous version of windows but it will have to be a "clean" install rather than an "overinstall."
And, yes, it can be complicated. My Windows 7 install now needs a new video card to drive my 22" monitor which worked fine with XP. Max resolution I can get with the MS driver is 1280x1024 and no Vista/Windows 7 is available for my video card.
Others will chime in with more detailed info as once I learned of the issues with the video driver, I pretty much have left the PC alone in disgust. I may even go back to XP and wait for SP1.
Here's a link that explains it better. Google is your friend (except in the case of Windows...)
And, yes, it can be complicated. My Windows 7 install now needs a new video card to drive my 22" monitor which worked fine with XP. Max resolution I can get with the MS driver is 1280x1024 and no Vista/Windows 7 is available for my video card.
Others will chime in with more detailed info as once I learned of the issues with the video driver, I pretty much have left the PC alone in disgust. I may even go back to XP and wait for SP1.
Here's a link that explains it better. Google is your friend (except in the case of Windows...)