I have an older pc and have XP Pro. My hard drive needs replaced. After replacing the hard drive,can I use a Win 7 reinstallation disk instead of my original XP Pro disk? Will the drivers and utilities that are already installed on my pc (lap top) accept the Win 7 reinstallation? Do I need to install the drivers and utilities disk if I do indeed install Win 7? What kind of problems can I expect if I do reinstal with Win 7
Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!
Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!
-
Congratulations SkipVought on being selected by the Tek-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!
change xp pro to win 7
- Thread starter frog40
- Start date
goombawaho
MIS
You must be saying that the Windows 7 re-installation disk is from another PC. If so............
The older PC may not be able to run Windows 7. Have you checked the Windows 7 system requirements and have you checked the manufacturer web site to see if that there are drivers for Windows 7?
Link
Do you have a Windows 7 license (retail) to use? You can't just use one from another system taken from the COA (OEM)
If the PC will run Windows 7 and you have a valid license to input, you will likely need some drivers from the manufacturer or from the individual device driver manufacturers. In other words, most things will likely get installed from the Windows 7 DVD, but probably not all.
The brand/model number of the XP computer would be nice.
"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.
The older PC may not be able to run Windows 7. Have you checked the Windows 7 system requirements and have you checked the manufacturer web site to see if that there are drivers for Windows 7?
Link
Do you have a Windows 7 license (retail) to use? You can't just use one from another system taken from the COA (OEM)
If the PC will run Windows 7 and you have a valid license to input, you will likely need some drivers from the manufacturer or from the individual device driver manufacturers. In other words, most things will likely get installed from the Windows 7 DVD, but probably not all.
The brand/model number of the XP computer would be nice.
"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.
rclarke250
Technical User
You would only need to install the driver and utility disk if it had windows 7 versions, as the windows xp versions will not work in windows 7. As Goombawaho has stated you need to go to the manufactures website, put in your model number and see if they made windows 7 versions of drivers and utilities. Also, as IRstuff has said, if the drive is replaced, it is blank, and since all applications,drivers,utilities, and the operating system reside on said disk, if it is removed and a new disk installed, so would all of the applications,drivers, and data, after the OS was installed. And as stated, the XP code will not work in windows 7, and you would need to secure a valid license to install windows 7, if it will work with the machine. Most issues, I have seen are wireless drivers, and video drivers are the two most common problem areas.
- Status
