I'm slowly coming round to the idea that sooner, rather than later, I'll have to upgrade from XP to Windows 7. I've read some tutorials, and I've run the Windows 7 upgrade adviser. A couple of problems have emerged. One is that I don't appear to have enough space on my C drive for the upgrade - but won't the C drive be formatted during the upgrade? So, what does that matter?
Secondly, it seems one of my most used pieces of software, Sony Soundforge 8, won't be able to run on Win7. This would be a complete disaster for me, as it has certain tools that don't appear in later versions, plus, the cost of an upgrade wouldn't be insignificant. What are the chances that old software will actually run, despite what the Upgrade Adviser says?
Take a look at http://www.keyboardforums.com/threads/ot-anyone-get-sound-forge-8-working-on-win7-x64.21381/
If you are doing an 'upgrade' of XP > W7, then the disk will not be formatted, only the files will be updated, all the detritus that XP has picked up over it's life on the drive that clogs your profile will be retained. Personally I would do a backup of all my important files ect, then start from scratch formatting the drive and installing W7.
From what I've read, you can't 'upgrade' from XP to 7 anyway, it has to be a clean install, but the formatting of the 'C' drive seems to happen from within the Win 7 installation. I should know this, as I've done it plenty of times before - I think I may have read too much and should just do it the way I know.
When I purchased a new machine with Win 7 I found that much of my software and many of my devices would not work and could not be updated. For a short time I installed a virtual XP machine on my Win 7 machine but was not happy with it. Now run both computers but do not use the XP on line.
Well, I'm doing it. It's got as far as extracting the new files, and was cruel enough to give me a last glimpse of my old desktop. :bawl:
I didn't get the option to delete the old C drive. I had to choose Custom install, and it claims that it will do a clean installation on the chosen drive. It refused to boot from the disc, even though I'd selected the option in the boot menu, so I just followed the instructions and started the installation from the running OS.
Still extracting... :yawn:
Once it's installed you will have 2hrs or so of updates. ;)
:bore:
Installed. Just adding AV. One immediate problem is, I can't bloody read anything, as its all so small, and changing the screen resolution makes the display larger, of course, but all the text seems very soft and blurry. I know my eyes need testing, but I didn't have this problem before.
Try Ctrl and + a few times. That should make it larger.
I hate it!! :bawl: I can't find any settings to change the fonts, and only a Small, Medium or Large size adjustment. The text is not sharp enough, whatever I can find to change. Further, the clock is wrong, even though
It's set to the correct time zone. It's four hours out. I also still have a load of stuff left on the C drive from the XP installation, so it obviously didn't perform a clean install, so I'm going to have to start all over again. AND, it won't boot from the CD because the keyboard is USB and it won't load in time to press any key to boot from the CD drive, and I can't find the sodding PS/2 adapter that's been knocking around for years. To say I'm unhappy is an understatement. Bloody computers!
You need to go into the BIOS and turn on the USB devices on from boot
I thought they were but I'll check, Glenn. I've had this issue for years, so if it's something that simple... Anyway, I've now found the PS/2 adapter. :!
Had this issue when flashing the BIOS on the Gigabyte board in my PC the first time, thank goodness for USB to PS/2 adapters.
You will really like it Simon, I'm having to use a couple of programs at work that will only work on XP which like you I used to adore and after using Win 7 on my main work desktop for 2 years and now at home for a year I really hate going back and that blue bar makes my eyes hurt.
Once you get it working properly you won't look back. It's better than XP by a mile and much more secure.
Getting it working is the first and foremost challenge! I still can't boot from the CD. I've been through the whole of the BIOS and can't see any options for starting keyboard / mouse or USB devices, and the PS/2 adapter doesn't work. Im now having trouble getting it to boot up at all. What if I set ALL the boot options to CD?
The primary boot option should be CD, you can always change it to C: later. I have a PS2 keyboard kept for the sole purpose of getting I to BIOS on a couple of old machines I've got . The video is possibly a driver issue or screen resolution is not set correctly for the monitor.
This is getting ridiculous. I've now set all three boot options on BIOS to boot from the CD, and still it just goes straight to bloody Windows. The most annoying thing is, the keyboard works long enough to hit Del and get into BIOS, and obviously works within BIOS, so why won't it work when it comes out of BIOS?
:hairpull:
Even though it's set to boot from the cd, most time you have to press any key to boot from the cd at a prompt.
Yes, that was the problem, but I've now managed to find the USB option hidden about eight layers down in the BIOS, so I've now enabled it and it's booted from the CD, I've formatted C drive, and the new installation is starting.
:thumb:
I don't believe it. It's now saying "This copy of Windows is not genuine". I bought it from Tesco!
Bugger!
Make sure you enter the product key and not the product ID.
No, I definitely entered the product key, but I must have done it wrong as I rebooted and it asked for it again, and this time it's activated. :red:
Easily done with all those numbers and letters to type in!
I really must get some reading glasses! :nerd:
You should of waited for Windows 8.1.
Desktop is nearly the same as Windows 7, just better..
Enable boot to desktop option to bypass the Modern UI..
Install one of the many free or paid for programs to bring the start menu back..
Memory management in 8/8.1 is much better than Windows 7 & is faster..
I'm still tearing my hair out, now trying to download iTunes, which I can't seem to do in any browser. Can someone check that the download link is working here?
http://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/download/
The links on the left have side don't look right to me.
That is the link, well I've managed to download the windows version.
I think I must have a browser plugin missing, as that side where the download link is, is all plain text, and the actual button itself is missing. Strange it's like it in all browsers, though. Still, I managed to find it via another source, and it's installed, but it still won't show any content.
I really am getting too old and grumpy for all this. Next time I need a major upgrade, I'll get a professional to do it. I've built PCs from scratch, but I just don't have the patience for this now.
It does seem that there are more important things in life than installing an OS, more so I feel as I get older. 10 years ago I used to enjoy the challenge , now it's just a pain, if it's not straightforward.
Quote from: Steve on Aug 19, 2013, 09:06:38
It does seem that there are more important things in life than installing an OS, more so I feel as I get older. 10 years ago I used to enjoy the challenge , now it's just a pain, if it's not straightforward.
Strange that, I feel the same and I know many others in my age group likewise. I thought it was a sort of "been there done that " kind of thing, but it may be because nothing has really improved since the ZX81 days installation wise, it was a pain then and it still is. It took hours to feed in the disks in dos/win 3.1 days, now it takes hours to download and install the patches and upgrades needed, or are we just becoming impatient grumpy old men/ women ? ??? ??? :mad:
TBH using a tablet is easier for me as its simpler, rarely dodgy updates etc. I hate the new OS with bugs malarkey, argh it all gets to much, these days I just want an easy ride and not to muck about with upgrading unless its easy, and so far on the mac it has been :fingers: give it a few years and I'll probably not want to use a computer at this rate at all. ;)
Quote from: Simon on Aug 19, 2013, 08:58:32
I think I must have a browser plugin missing, as that side where the download link is, is all plain text, and the actual button itself is missing. Strange it's like it in all browsers, though. Still, I managed to find it via another source, and it's installed, but it still won't show any content.
I really am getting too old and grumpy for all this. Next time I need a major upgrade, I'll get a professional to do it. I've built PCs from scratch, but I just don't have the patience for this now.
That sounds like a Javascript issue Simon. :-\ Have you installed the latest drivers for you Graphics card just in case its some nonsense with that, best to never use the ones from Microsoft.
Quote from: Gary on Aug 19, 2013, 10:30:42
That sounds like a Javascript issue Simon. :-\ Have you installed the latest drivers for you Graphics card just in case its some nonsense with that, best to never use the ones from Microsoft.
I haven't installed Java yet, so it may just be that. Anyway, I blame you for all this, Gary. If you hadn't posted that bloody Register article, I wouldn't have thought about doing it! >:( ;) ;D
Quote from: Simon on Aug 19, 2013, 11:56:50
I haven't installed Java yet, so it may just be that. Anyway, I blame you for all this, Gary. If you hadn't posted that bloody Register article, I wouldn't have thought about doing it! >:( ;) ;D
Not Java, Simon, javascript. TBH unless you use Java specifically for a webpage or program don't install it. Blame me? :hide2: ;D
I think I have the latest graphics drivers, as it actually took me to the nVidia site to get them. How does one resolve a JavaScript issue?
Quote from: Simon on Aug 19, 2013, 12:39:27
How does one resolve a JavaScript issue?
Which browser and have you installed any browser plugins? The download button is Javascript driven so I'd take a guess you've either installed a browser plugin that's blocking Javascript or scripting needs to be enabled in your browser: http://www.enable-javascript.com/
It's IE, Firefox and SeaMonkey, Zap, so it's either a global setting or something's blocked them all. :dunno:
Do you have an Anti-Virus product installed?
Make sure that the version of Antivirus you are using is for Windows 7 some older may support xp but not windows 7 maybe? I would just use Windows security essentials and the windows firewall tbh, clean and simple.
I have F-Secure 2014, so it's definitely Windows 7 compliant. Funnily enough, the iTunes website issue seems to have rectified itself, although, I haven't a clue how. This system is still downloading updates, so maybe things will just take a while to bed in.
I'd imagine F-Secure was the culprit because there's nothing much else I can think of that would have that effect at a global level. It doesn't mean the product is not compliant, but it does suggest it's somewhat aggressive.
Probably better to be over protective than under protective, if it was that. But SP1 has just downloaded and is installing, so I think perhaps it may have just been that updates were required that it hadn't grabbed at that point.
I'm getting more to grips with it now, but I still find the text hard to read, in comparison to XP. ClearType is turned on and optimised as best I can, but the fonts seem really 'light', if you get what I mean.
One big annoyance is that it won't let me have my Windows Start music, as there's no option to change the startup sound, without a fairly iffy registry hack. Why would they remove that option? :dunno:
Oh, and the other thing is, it seems to have cordoned off the right hand edge of the desktop, by about an inch and a half, which is irritating, as I like my icons around the circumference of the desktop, and they don't look central.
Id not worry about a music hack, its not worth it leave it as it is. Also cleartype I found it made things blurry on some monitors, try turning it off and see. Have you set the screen resolution correctly because I dont remember Seven looking that way, I know the icons were changed, try giving it time, Simon. Its bound to look different, and check the screen resolution is set right because the icons looked okay to me on all the seven desktops I remember seeing. :-\
Regarding the music , if you disable the Windows startup music,I believe you can select a Windows Logon music of your choice.
As you know Simon, F-Secure gave me a lot of grief and I had to abandon it. Now I use the free version of Avira.
I have had the odd issue with F-Secure, and had to abandon it in 2012, but they offered me a free six month trial of the pre-release 2014, so it seemed rude to decline, and so far, it's been working well on both XP and 7. Of all the suites, I find it's the least intrusive and it doesn't slow the system down. I'm not convinced it was F-Secure causing the problem.
However, restoring backups is once again proving problematic, with Outlook 2007 so far refusing to accept my backed up calendar and contacts data. This is probably the most difficult and time consuming upgrade I've ever had to perform.
Steve, yes you can, but the music only plays when you actually log on with a password, and I don't bother with that as it's just me using it. I just don't see why they've removed the option, as you can set different sounds for virtually everything else, including Windows shutdown.
One thing I had to come to terms with was the loss of Outlook Express which I had used since it first came out. Changing to Live Mail was a huge effort. But you should be fine with Outlook though.
Yes, providing it will import all of my contacts and calendar data. I don't use Outlook for email, as SeaMonkey covers that, but my contacts and calendar are essential.
Absolutely.
And it has, but now I've got weird fonts all over the place! :bawl:
I always downloaded my graphics drivers and sound card drivers first, then wiped drive, installed windows, then with Windows firewall up only installed graphics drivers and sound card drivers, then patched than added AV, otherwise some AV's corrupt installs of things like graphics drivers I found. It shouldn't be this messy though, Simon. :dunno:
Not with all the pre planning involved. >:D ;D
Quote from: Steve on Aug 20, 2013, 08:35:41
Not with all the pre planning involved. >:D ;D
;D Also chipset drivers I downloaded in advance as well, most of these used to say to turn off your AV before installing as once again they could get corrupted. Mind you with a thumbdrive/disc I used to have it set up and running quite quickly, then just waited for one of the patches to fail installing ;) Then installed a decent defrag program and waited for it to all defrag, generally involving a bootime defrag too. I really don't miss those days I have to admit.
I did back everything up, including all drivers, and have also reinstalled the graphics drivers from the website. I think the fonts thing is because I've been fiddling about, trying to find a font that I can actually read! Trouble is, when you change the font for one thing, it affects other things, and you can't always tell what is affected until you come to it, by which time you don't know which change caused the effect.
The Outlook thing was that the backup was restored to separate calendar and contacts folders, so they didn't show in the default folders. I've now copied that over, so that's sorted, and so is iTunes.
So apart from the hassles and the fonts how does the machine feel to use?
The fonts should be legible out of the box so to speak. I have not personally seen one that is hard to read. Even on small laptop screens. Then again I wear glasses >:D Seven should be pretty nippy, I cant remember what hardware you have though.
I'd be interested to see a screen shot of the font problem.
Here's a couple of screenshots - the buttons look odd, and also, some of the smileys have their sides shaved. :(
Quote from: Simon on Aug 20, 2013, 14:47:10
Here's a couple of screenshots - the buttons look odd, and also, some of the smileys have their sides shaved. :(
I can see some rendering issues which suggest a browser or possibly OS/browser compatibility problem. The font however looks correct to me, it's identical to what I see in both Firefox and IE as per the attached screen shot (I couldn't quite replicate the zoom factor).
It's impossible for me to know what you are actually seeing via your VDU so the font problem might well be something graphics card (hardware/driver) or monitor (hardware/driver) related. As all you've changed is the OS it's most likely to be a driver related. All I can tell you for sure is that the output sent to your graphics card is consistent with any other Windows 7 output.
Quote from: Simon on Aug 18, 2013, 21:18:37
No, I definitely entered the product key, but I must have done it wrong as I rebooted and it asked for it again, and this time it's activated. :red:
Not to worry. I'm certain you'll love 7 in the end. Much like 8, it's the previous incarnations under the hood (kind of), and can be set up just like those too. I actually prefer 7 over Vista because it reverted a lot of the options and layouts more like XP and less like fail.
I always thought Windows 7 was very slick and polished, with of course the added security you don't find in XP.
That's what I'm trying to do, Ben!
Zap, I'll try it with IE later, but I have a feeling they were all displaying the same.
What I think the problem is, is the screen resolution is now a lot higher than I'm used to, but if I set it lower, it letterboxes the desktop, or stretches all the icons out of proportion, but I can't read the small fonts on the higher resolution, so I've got to adjust them somehow, and as I said before, it's virtually impossible to work out what else is going to be affected by a font size change.
Quote from: Simon on Aug 20, 2013, 18:26:23
That's what I'm trying to do, Ben!
Zap, I'll try it with IE later, but I have a feeling they were all displaying the same.
What I think the problem is, is the screen resolution is now a lot higher than I'm used to, but if I set it lower, it letterboxes the desktop, or stretches all the icons out of proportion, but I can't read the small fonts on the higher resolution, so I've got to adjust them somehow, and as I said before, it's virtually impossible to work out what else is going to be affected by a font size change.
The screen resolution should just match the monitor size, Simon. Most modern monitors are 16:9 is your monitor 4:3? If yours is 4:3 this may help http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-desktop/windows-7-aspect-ratio-is-on-43-how-do-i-change-to/a26ebacf-329f-4d8a-8ace-810c253a3970
Yes, 4:3, Gary. I'll check that link our later, thanks.
I was setting up Mailwasher today, and even the dialogue in that was very small. All I want is the same as it was in XP.
Quote from: Simon on Aug 20, 2013, 19:08:54
Yes, 4:3, Gary. I'll check that link our later, thanks.
I was setting up Mailwasher today, and even the dialogue in that was very small. All I want is the same as it was in XP.
That link may help as most modern monitors are HD now 1920 x 1080 resolution and Windows 7 I think has a handshake with the monitor to determine optimum resolution. Since yours is 4:3 it may have issues I guess. It would be an idea to get a newer monitor maybe at some point. The higher resolution is much better. My Macs screen is 1920x1080 and the font is fine, some are higher like the 27" iMac, but then the font becomes really tiny.
It has certainly detected the monitor, and adopted the native resution, which I can't remember right now, but it's 1920 x something. I was used to 1024 x 768, so this is quite a leap.
I think Simon it's time for some glasses. Age related presbyopia gets us all eventually, in fact once it starts I found things deteriorated quite quickly before it then stabilised.
Well, it must have deteriorated bloody quickly for it to have got so bad just in the time it took to install an operating system! :nerd: I could read everything fine on XP. But you are right, Steve, I do need an eye test, because I've struggled with small text for ages now. This isn't just my eyes, though. I guess they don't provide a magnifier app for nothing.
That resolution seems quite high for a 4:3 monitor what size screen is it?
17", Steve. Not really got room for a much bigger one.
I can read the font on a 15" 1920x1080 screen fine, but I needed glasses for reading and for long distance too. They made a huge difference and like Steve the deterioration has stopped being so drastic. I cant use my iPhone without my reading glasses anymore though.
I can use my iPhone fine. The only time I struggle a bit is when I'm tired, but I can still read it OK.
Might try this:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/fonts-in-windows-7-are-fuzzyblurry/0d76de45-0e87-4554-b14c-2aef6eb6ea29
Perhaps I'm out of date but I thought the resolution of a 17in 4:3 monitor was 1280x1024
I can't help thinking I'm missing the obvious here. A couple of questions; is your monitor CRT or LCD Simon? What is the maximum resolution it will support and what do you have it set to? All of your visual issues could be explained if the VDU is an LCD employing interpolation. That's the problem being described by a few of those users on the Microsoft community site but nobody seems to have realised it.
It's a 17" Xerox LCD, Zap, and the resolution is set to 1280 x 1024, so apologies, that was my mistake. It sort of looks OK now, but oddly, some of the smilies are displaying incorrectly, and I can't work out why that should be.
OK, 1280 x 1024 is the native resolution for that VDU so there will be no interpolation and the display will be as good as it gets subject to some fine tuning. The clipping is odd but I'd certainly try browsing in IE to see if it does the dame thing.
Is there still a clear type tuner in Windows 7
There is, it's built in by default I believe.
There is, Steve, and I've been through it several times, but it's very hard to tell the difference with some of the test screens.
Quote from: zappaDPJ on Aug 20, 2013, 22:06:25
OK, 1280 x 1024 is the native resolution for that VDU so there will be no interpolation and the display will be as good as it gets subject to some fine tuning. The clipping is odd but I'd certainly try browsing in IE to see if it does the dame thing.
Hmm... The smiley clipping isn't evident in IE. I wonder what's causing that then? It didn't do it on XP. :dunno:
Thats really odd, Justina's Win 7 laptop has no issue with its display using firefox. Does seamonkey use hardware acceleration? Cleartype can be turned off I think, it helps with some LCD panels but others I have seen the font look blurry with it on. I wonder if it is something to do with F Secure possibly? You can download driver cleaner (used to years back) to remove all traces of the display drivers, then install the latest for you card again from whatever manufacturer you use.
Turn off the AV when installing them. Apart from hardware acceleration and bad drivers I cant see what else it could be, the refresh rate is 60 Hertz for most monitors and Windows generally finds that by default. The only other thing would be is a bad install possibly, but its odd IE works ok. If you cannot fix it I would be tempted to start from fresh maybe, zero the drive before install, and don't but the AV on till driver's and patches are installed. Possible use Windows Essentials instead of F-Secure, some AV's put hooks so deep into the system they can cause problems. :dunno:
You must be mad if you think I'm going all through this from scratch again, Gary! :laugh:
Tomorrow, I will try Firefox, and if the smiley clipping isn't there, I'll try a new profile for SeaMonkey, and if that makes no difference, a clean install. Trouble is, I don't want to lose all my bookmarks, passwords and other settings, so I have to pull some bits over from previous SeaMonkey installations. The fonts just look odd all over the place to me, like the user info in the header is much smaller now, as is the text in the forum toolbar buttons. Actually posts here look fine, but on other forums, the posts are in very small text now, yet, if I increase the font size in the browser, that rectifies the header text here, plus the small text on the other forum, but breaks the templates on another site I visit!
So, what I don't understand is, why ALL sites displayed well on XP, but now I have different issues on different sites! I really don't think it's anything to do with F-Secure, but I've just had another idea as I'm typing this, and that is to try SeaMonkey in XP compatability mode and see if that makes any difference. It's got to be something blindingly simple, and I'm buggered if I'm going to start again for the sake of a flattened smiley! ;D
Just export bookmarks etc save all you need on a thumbdrive. A a clean install should take no more than 6 hours , then a few days tweaking to get it how you want. I can see your point of view though, but if the system fonts have got messed up...Honestly XP and Sevens fonts looked the same to me pretty much size wise, so something has gone a bit awry to say the least. Also remember it takes time to get used to new things. Did you check before hand if seamonkey is windows seven compatible? Zeroing out a drive gives you a nice clean slate, that's why I mentioned that, also checks for bad sectors while you are at it.
Seamonkey seems fully compliant with Windows Seven from looking at the site, Simon, it should not XP compatibility mode at all.
Doesn't look like Sea Monkey to me, as I spent some time yesterday trying to get a Windows 7 guest install running on VirtulBox to install a usb video camera, complete waste of time. Sea Monkey display the forum fine for me- no truncated icons.
I still think its a dodgy install...possibly. Install windows, install chipset drivers as needed, then graphics and sound card drivers, then patch (with windows firewall up) Then install AV, it should be that easy tbh. All fonts should look fine from the get go. Trouble is once you start changing things unless you remember what you changed its hard to get it back to the way it was. I would avoid F-Secure, use Windows essentials with windows firewall, and malwarebytes, that should be fine.
I wonder Simon with Sea Monkey are you using a different theme? I only tried the default.
@ Gary . No idea I've never had an issue with the few 7 installs I've done , apart from the updates it's been fairly seamless with little intervention required from me. I do use the upgrade versions so they need a bit of help to activate. ;D
I have done a couple of installs, tbh it all went well, I an order I like to follow but that's my OCD coming though. They all worked well. :dunno:
I'm not going to reinstall it, and that's that. I've already spent too much time on it to have to start all over again. It was a clean install as the C drive was deleted prior to installation. I'm not going to 'nuke' the whole drive as there's hundreds of GBs of stuff on a second partition that I can't afford to risk losing. All this is, is a font issue. There must be a way to reset all the system fonts to default. But then I'll still have to change them, because the default fonts are too small - that's where all this started from.
Default fonts are fine as I see them Simon on every Windows 7 install I have seen. Hope you get it sorted. As to the C drive being deleted, if its a quick format its not, its just marked as 'empty' then re-witten. Running a full chkdsk would be a good idea at some point.
As far as hundreds of gigabytes of stuff I would say back that up, because its not 'if' but when your hard drive will fail, same as anyone else's really. Always have at least two backups just in case. Tbh an install of windows seven should not be this complicated, which is why I would have started again, easier than mucking around, but that's just me. No offence meant. :)
Well, my problems have all been solved by changing back to my old screen resolution, nd adjusting the fonts again. Doesn't mean I don't need an eye test, but at least I can read the screen now! ;D
Get Windows 8, best MS OS to date and getting better.
It couldn't have got any worse! ;D
But seriously, Alf, I've had enough of upgrading for now. I've even resorted to buying a new monitor, as I couldn't get a satisfactory display on my old one, since upgrading to Win7.
Quote from: cavillas on Aug 22, 2013, 19:22:00
Get Windows 8, best MS OS to date and getting better.
Sadly not what the general public, and computer manufactures and review sites think. Its been the biggest flop since Vista.
Quote from: Gary on Aug 23, 2013, 10:42:20
Sadly not what the general public, and computer manufactures and review sites think. Its been the biggest flop since Vista.
Kind of true. The OS is probably the best. The GUI... yeah, I should not get involved in the discussion. :laugh:
It's almost the opposite of Vista really. Vista had a nice/nicer/similar GUI to XP and was an "upgrade" in that department IMO. But under the hood, while "upgraded" in theory, it muddled and crashed along. :eyebrow: