Upgrade Windows Vista to Windows 7

Perform the following actions:

1. Connect the drive containing the Windows Easy Transfer file to the system.

2. Access this external hard drive in the My Computer window.

3. Find the location to save the Easy Transfer file, named Windows Easy Transfer - Items from old computer and then double-click this file.

If you have a different name, we need to find the correct file.

4. Enter the password and then click Next .

Note: If you see a message saying there is not enough free space on the drive to move data back to the computer with Windows Easy Transfer, we can use the Disk Cleanup utility to delete the temporary files created in when installing Windows 7.

5. On Choose what to transfer to this computer page , we can choose the method of moving user accounts on Windows Vista to Windows 7.

To approve the current account mapping method, click Transfer.

To change click Advanced Options .

6. On Your transfer is complete page , click the See what was transferred link to check the list of user accounts and data that has been moved from Vista to Windows 7. Click on the See a list of programs you might Want to install on your new computer to check previous applications installed on Windows Vista.

7. Click Close . Maybe we will have to restart the system.

If you move multiple user accounts, you may be asked to change your password the next time you log in.

Reinstall the application

After running Windows Easy Transfer and all the data and settings have been moved back to the computer, we can reinstall the applications and update the driver.

Windows Easy Transfer will output a detailed report of the applications we have used on Windows Vista. Then we will have to use the installer or the installation disk to manually reinstall these applications.

Also in this report, we will see very few or never used applications.

Note: Some applications like Windows Mail and Outlook Express are no longer integrated in Windows 7. If you've used Windows Mail or Outlook Express, we'll have to install a new mail application.

After installation

When installing Windows 7, if you do not format the partition, the files used in Windows Vista will be stored in the Windows.old folder.

After using Windows 7 for a certain time, we can confirm that the data and settings have been moved correctly, we can delete this folder to increase free space for the drive.

We can also delete this folder when we notice that there is not enough free space on the drive while moving data and settings back to the computer.

Important: Before using Disk Cleanup to delete this folder, make sure that all data and settings have been moved correctly to Windows 7, because when you delete the Windows.old folder we will not be able to restore it. OK.

Do the following to delete:

1. Go to the Start menu, in the Search Disk Disk Cleanup box. In the list of results click on Disk Cleanup .

If prompted to select a drive, select the drive on which we installed Windows 7.

2. Click Clean up system files . If you are prompted to enter an admin password or confirm, enter the password or the required confirmation information.

If prompted to select the drive again, select the drive containing Windows 7.

3. Select the Previous Windows installation item (s) and any other data you want to delete.

4. Click OK and then click Delete Files .

Update Driver

Driver is a software that allows the computer to communicate with hardware devices. Without drivers, the hardware connected to the computer, such as a video card, sound card, printer, . will not work.

In most cases, the drivers are included with that device, but when installing Windows 7 we need to update the latest drivers of these devices to suit the operating system. We can find these updates using the Windows Update service (go to the Start menu | All Programs | Windows Update ).

If Windows Update can not find the required driver, we can check in Windows 7 Compatibility Center , which contains direct links to driver downloads and the manufacturer's support page.

Netbook and driver

Some netbooks and laptops that are using Windows Vista may not have their own Windows 7 drivers for some features, such as function buttons. If Windows Update does not detect any drivers, we need to visit the manufacturer's Web site to search and download.

We can try installing the driver for Windows Vista on a Windows 7 PC. If the Windows Vista driver cannot be installed, we can use the Program Compatibility debugger to try to fix this problem.

1. Download or copy the driver installation file to the computer.

2. Right-click this file and select Troubleshoot compatibility .

3. Then follow the instructions to change the compatibility settings for this driver.

Here we have completed the upgrade process to Windows 7!