Windows 7 Upgrade For XP Users

Hello, sirI! Actually there are no compelling reasons to upgrade to Windows 7 in October. Aside from the fact that Windows 7 is more secure than XP, and possesses some new features, it is purely a matter of personal preference as to whether or not to upgrade. I use XP on my Core2Duo desktop PC, and there are applications installed that probably will not be Windows 7 friendly. Since Microsoft will be supplying XP security update patches (but no bug fix patches) until 2014, security is not of great concern.

I plan to buy a new desktop loaded with Windows 7 at some point rather than upgrade my XP machine. I am considering an upgrade of my Toshiba laptop loaded with Vista Home Premium because I believe Windows 7 will run even better on the unit, and I would like to install the 64 bit version. Since I would go with a clean install, switching to 64 bit would not be a problem.

Hi Cheerfuldoer! Sorry to hear your desktop crashed. I too have a six year old XP machine I use to evaluate free software, check e-mail and browse the web. I will never upgrade this PC to Windows 7. I use my Core2Duo XP machine for some games, video editing, etc. Much faster than the old Pentium 4. I believe you will be much happier with an brand new PC loaded with Windows 7. Enjoy!

Hi Cheerfuldoer! You mentioned that your XP problem began with installation of IE 8. If so, you are not alone in that regard. Did you happen to backup your hard drive before installing IE8? If not, don't despair, because most people do not. However, get a good image backup software program such as Acronis True Image (my favorite) or Norton Ghost. When you get your PC fixed, get in the habit of backing up your hard drive, and you will be able to restore your hard drive in about thirty minutes. I believe the IE8 installation setup made a 'system restore point' just prior to the install. If so, that is a possibility we can look at. Take the following steps to see if they enable you to use your PC again.

First, go to Control Panel and double click 'Add Or Remove Programs'. Look for the entry 'Windows Internet Explorer 8', and write down the date of the IE8 installation. Uninstall IE 8 and reboot your PC. Hopefully you will find IE7 back again. See if you can go online now and check e-mail again. Open and close some of your apps to see if everythings behaves properly. If so, then you should be okay.

If there are still problems, click the 'start>All Programs, Accesories>System Tools>System Restore', and choose 'restore my computer to an earlier time'. Click next, and see if there is a system restore on or before the date you downloaded and installed IE8. If so, select it and follow the prompts. It will take a few minutes, but XP will be restored to the way it was on that particular date. If IE8 was not on your PC on that date, it will be gone when the process finishes.

If these two suggestions do not work, then you may need to do a fresh installation of XP. It is actually good to do this every now and then as it give you a fresh, clean operating system uncluttered by old unused files accumulated over the years. If your PC has a 'restoration partition' on the hard drive, or came with restoration CDs or DVDs, then you can probably return your computer to the state it was the day you purchased it. Of course if you do this or a fresh install of XP, you will have to install your other software programs and user data as well.

I hope one of the first two options work for you. Give it a shot. If you are successful, then you will have your XP machine back. It may be six years old, but it is still a viable computer, and you can use it as a standby computer when you get your new Windows 7 desktop!

Hello Grace, and thank you for your gracious comment. We are all on a learning curve and the fact that there is always more to learn about computing is what makes it so interesting. It may get frustrating at times, but it is always challenging and interesting. Safe Computing!