Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

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Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

Post by Stany Buyle »

Windows 7 ultimate 64bit, simply a marvel in Microsoft OS development history…

I was upgrading yesterday evening from Windows Vista premium 64bit to Windows 7 ultimate 64bit, and I after a whole night trying out the only thing I can say is “wow”…

First of all my actual -two years old-, computer configuration looks like this: Intel Core Duo type E6750 and 2.66Ghz processor on a MSI Platinium P35 motherboard with 4Gb of RAM. OS and programs on a separate HD. Documents and pictures on two other separate HD’s. Cache for Nikon NX dedicated to another separate drive.
This upgrade in mainly done as a trial and preparation for my future configuration: 2010, January 2nd I’ll upgrade to a configuration with a Intel® Core™ i7 920 "Bloomfield" processor on a Socket 1366 Intel motherboard. OS will be installed on a 250/170 64Gb SSD.

My main applications are: Photo editing mainly with Capture NX2 and PS. Often multiple NEF files are opened and have to be PProcessed, sometimes even multiple +60Mb TIFF files are opened for final touch or cropping. Furthermore my PC has to be a stabil basis for Outlook and other MS software.

Versions: My initial OS was an OEM Vista premium 64bit. The upgrade was done with a OEM Win7 ultimate64. OEM because I build my PC system myself since Win2000 and occasionally I assemble some configurations for a couple of friends and clients. OEM software has some restrictions like no MS phone assistance, so I advice to buy a full version of you are not a computer hobbyist as I am.
Why I prefer Ultimate version over premium: Although there are some other reasons and many differences in features I’m even not aware of, the main reasons for myself to prefer ultimate over premium is the difference in backup procedure and RAM support.

Upgrading preparation:
Before doing anything else, make a full backup of all your data and personal settings and store this in multiple copies. With multiple copies I mean one backup on an external HD which you switch off while finally doing the upgrade and one backup on DVD’s in case your external HD would give up while doing the reinstall. Personally I even copy everything to two external harddrives of which I store one copy in another place than the building I work.
For backup and transfer of your personal files, settings and program settings, MS made a very nice subprogram called Widows Easy Transfer, which you can download here:
For WinXP to Win7 32bit: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en
For WinXP64bit to Win7 64bit: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en
For Vista32bit to Win7 32bit: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en
For Vista64bit to Win7 64bit: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

Microsoft also published a step-by-step manual “Widows7 upgrade and migration” here.

After that, run the MS “Windows 7 upgrade advisor” to see if your PC is ready for Windows 7. It scans your hardware, devices, and installed programs for known compatibility issues, gives you guidance on how to resolve potential issues found, and recommends what to do before you upgrade. You can download the Windows 7 upgrade advisor here.

The upgrade experience itself:

It starts with “copying files”, after that it says something like “Upgrade compatibility check”;
After the compatibility checkup I had to uninstall 2 programs before the upgrade wanted to start: Kaspersky internet security(KIS) and Canon Utilities EOS Utility. While doing the upgrade it is indicated very clear what you have to do to proceed with the upgrade.
From that moment on, the whole upgrade went flawless and took approx 3 hours, during which the computer was restarting several times.

The experience after the upgrade:

1. With automatic updates enabled immediately after the first swithing off my PC was downloading 8 updates which were completed in the next start.

2. !!! Whereas the total use on my C drive was 42Gb with Vista 64bit it went down to 38Gb after the whole upgrade to Win7 ulimate 64 was completed.

3. The interface is marvellous, different than with Vista I left aero effect enabled.

4. The overall speed increase of this windows version is enormous and visible in all applications.

5. This OS exhibits stability like Windows2000 did.

6. Nikon Capture NX asked for the license key while starting up the first time.

7. Nikon NX2 works now really very fast, even with multiple files open. This might be the result of better compatibility and the fresh OS install in the mean time.
Image

8. Nikon ViewNX 1.5 works flawless as it did on my Vista 64 config, it looks faster.

9. Viewing pictures and RAW files in Windows explorer looks gorgeous. The RAW codecs enabled by Ardfry and FastPictureViewer WIC RAW Codec Pack work flawless.
Image

10. All passwords, posting/visiting history and personal preferences on different fora have been taken over perfect in this upgrade.

11. Fuji HU V3 program “flies” now. This is really amazing. While it did need some time even to see the result after the slightest move of any slider, -with the enlarging slider-, now everything works really instantly. This is great news for Fuji S2-S3-S5 users.
Image


Windows7 64bit is a real marvel in MS’ OS development. Congratulations and thanks to Microsoft and all people who tested the early versions of this great OS.

These are my initial impressions and findings. I’m going to sleep a couple of hours now…

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kindest regards,

Stany
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One of the Windows7 features I find simply fantastic

Post by Stany Buyle »

Are the live taskbar previews/possibilities...

From thewindows7 site @ microsoft com:
"With Windows Vista, if you hover over a program on the taskbar you can see thumbnail images of files you have open with that program. But you can't interact with the files. With Windows 7, you can point to a taskbar icon to see actual images of all of your open files or programs. Then, move your mouse over the image to preview the window full-screen. Click on the full screen image, and you can start working with it immediately. You can even close windows from the thumbnail previews—a big time saver."
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Re: Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

Post by pam.meier »

Stany, get a Mac ;)
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Re: Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

Post by Stany Buyle »

pam.meier wrote:Stany, get a Mac ;)
No way, too happy with PC and the PC third party program offerings and compatibility ...and, for somebody who likes NX2 so much as I do, and taking all the complaints from Mac users about the NX in-compatibility into consideration, it would be a very wrong move...
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Found an interesting article...

Post by Stany Buyle »

kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
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32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions

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kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
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Important Update: CaptureNX is crashing now...

Post by Stany Buyle »

I was doing more tests with Nikon CaptureNX2 yesterday evening. All of a sudden while opening 20 NEF files @ once and while using the erase tool captureNX2 crashed.
After that it was crashing several more times, also while having only 4-5 NEFs open.

Image

First thought is that the copying of the program while installing the new OS didn't work well. Already NX2 was the only program where I had to re-enter my licence key after the upgrade from Vist 64bit to Win7 64bit, which was a little suspicious already while comparing to 20+ other programs who kept all registry keys...

I am going to uninstall and re-install CaptureNX2 tomorrow and I'll let you know what happens.
kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
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Re: Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

Post by BrianSmith »

Stany, I'm currently running winXP SP3 32bit.
My machine is 64bit compatible and I am considering an upgrade to Win7 Ultimate 64 bit.
Bearing in mind that I have something like 220 applications installed on my machine I'd be interested in your opinion of whether it's worth the trouble to make the upgrade. On the whole I'm happy with my machine. The only reason why I'm tempted is to be able to use more memory for NX2, CS4 and some Topaz plugins that run out of memory in CS4.
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Re: Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

Post by Stany Buyle »

BrianSmith wrote:Stany, I'm currently running winXP SP3 32bit.
My machine is 64bit compatible and I am considering an upgrade to Win7 Ultimate 64 bit.
Bearing in mind that I have something like 220 applications installed on my machine I'd be interested in your opinion of whether it's worth the trouble to make the upgrade. On the whole I'm happy with my machine. The only reason why I'm tempted is to be able to use more memory for NX2, CS4 and some Topaz plugins that run out of memory in CS4.
Hi Brian,
Simple upgrading from 32bit to 64 bit is not possible. The only option is a clean install.
After some trouble I have with NX2 what I never had with NX2 under the Vista64 I would advice to anybody to do a clean install rather than an upgrade.

Update on 2010.08.04: At the time I wrote this topic -2009, november 12 -, the 64-bit compatible version of NX2 did not exist yet. I believe the non 64bit-compatibility of the NX2.1.1 version was the reason of the crashes. The 2.2.4 version was released on 2009, dec16th.

Further more 64bit enables to work with more than 4GB RAM which means you can run faster with more simultaneous programs. Using a 64-bit OS with more than 4GB RAM can make more ‘real’ memory available for all the programs running at once.
kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
http://www.fotografie.cafe
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Re: Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

Post by BrianSmith »

StanyB wrote:
BrianSmith wrote:Stany, I'm currently running winXP SP3 32bit.
My machine is 64bit compatible and I am considering an upgrade to Win7 Ultimate 64 bit.
Bearing in mind that I have something like 220 applications installed on my machine I'd be interested in your opinion of whether it's worth the trouble to make the upgrade. On the whole I'm happy with my machine. The only reason why I'm tempted is to be able to use more memory for NX2, CS4 and some Topaz plugins that run out of memory in CS4.
Hi Brian,
Simple upgrading from 32bit to 64 bit is not possible. The only option is a clean install.
After some trouble I have with NX2 what I never had with NX2 under the Vista64 I would advice to anybody to do a clean install rather than an upgrade.
Further more 64bit enables to work with more than 4GB RAM which means you can run faster with more simultaneous programs. Using a 64-bit OS with more than 4GB RAM can make more ‘real’ memory available for all the programs running at once.
Thanks Stany, maybe I wasn't clear. I know I'll have to make a clean install. I mentioned that I have something like 220 applications installed so reinstalling that lot as well is quite daunting. I just wanted your opinion of whether it is worth the several days of hassle putting it all back to gain the advantages of 64 bit.

Currently I am finding that I use Photoshop CS3 all the time because in CS4 I have constant memory related problems and can't use the Topaz plugins reliably in it. Otherwise 32bit XP is doing everything I want just fine.
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Re: Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

Post by Stany Buyle »

Thanks Stany, maybe I wasn't clear. I know I'll have to make a clean install. I mentioned that I have something like 220 applications installed so reinstalling that lot as well is quite daunting. I just wanted your opinion of whether it is worth the several days of hassle putting it all back to gain the advantages of 64 bit.Currently I am finding that I use Photoshop CS3 all the time because in CS4 I have constant memory related problems and can't use the Topaz plugins reliably in it. Otherwise 32bit XP is doing everything I want just fine.
Memory problems are a very good reason to move to 64bit because of the ability to use more RAM. The work that a clean install brings is very big, but I think it's worth it.
kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
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Troubles with CaptureNX very probably solved...

Post by Stany Buyle »

See my related topic about this misery...
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Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
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A great feature for solving problems: Virtual PC-XP mode...

Post by Stany Buyle »

This is really the feature I find genious from Microsoft.
After having read the necessary info on the microsoft site and after some video tutorials I downloaded the software as indicated, installed it and it runs flawless.

Image

First thing I installed of course was Fuji HU V3 software(which doesn't work on Win7...). Here are NO compatibility problems and the software runs quite fast and smoothly.

Underneath some screenshots while installing HU V3

Image

...and the update

Image


Finally my XPmode desktop looks like this...

Image

Virtual PC/ XP mode solved all software compatibility problems I had in Vista64 and Win7-64
You can download it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtua ... -2007.aspx

From the Virtual PC 2007 pageon the MS website:
It runs on Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) (Enterprise, Business, Ultimate), and Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3).
Complete hardware and software requirements to run Virtual PC on Win7 can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtua ... fault.aspx

Update on 2010.08.04:
Under while I encountered quite a bit of quirks in this Virtual XP mode:
- It's very slow in the startup
- It takes over 3.5 Gb of space
- In the virtual PC map explorer you don't see the drives and maps as you called them in the main OS on your PC
- You have to install a separate internet security program license or your PC is an easy target for hackers trough your virtual XP mode
- ...
So after a while I did not use virtual PC anymore...
kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
http://www.fotografie.cafe
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Re: Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

Post by Geoff_Roughton »

Stany has it been worth it? the upgrade to 7 from vista64 that is. What advantages are there over vista 64 bit?
PS thanks for the email its appreciated.
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Re: Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

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Geoff_Roughton wrote:Stany has it been worth it? the upgrade to 7 from vista64 that is. What advantages are there over vista 64 bit?
In my initial upgrade (full-auto with copying of program and personal folders) which took only two hours, HU V3 was working amazingly well. In the clean install I did afterwards because of my toubles with Capture, HU V3 didn't want to install anymore @ all...
Finally, the installation of Virtual PC with XP mode is THE reason it makes the upgrade from Vista 64 Premium(which can not run Virtual PC) to Win7 64 worth it. This feature is really incredible if you have some "old" software you want too use...
Furthermore The Ultimate version also has a more complete backup procedure than the premium version has, and more advantages than that for sure...
kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
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Very good article about RAM requirement for 64-bit...

Post by Stany Buyle »

...on Tom's hardware website.
TMHO very plausible explanation with logical declarations...
My conclusion is that upgrading from win 32bit to win64bit only makes really sense if you upgrade @ least to 8Gb of RAM, which I will do tomorrow...
This article also explains my impression of being underwhelmed by the overall speed gain of my 64bit system against a 32bit system on an older PC configuration.
kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
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Re: Upgrading from Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit...

Post by Stany Buyle »

After nearly a month now, Win7 pleases me very much.
The initial NX2 troubles are completely solved and for the rest it works marvellous.
kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
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Compatibility mystery...

Post by Stany Buyle »

What I find very strange is that some software like Fuji HU V3 runs flawless under Vista 64bit and does not run under Win7 64bit... (it runs perfect under the Win7' Virtual PC-XP- mode though)
More strange is that while doing initially the full automatic upgrade from Vista 64bit to Win7 64bit Fuji HU-V3 was working faster/better than anytime before on my 32bit config but after some other problems and a Win7 clean install, Fuji HU V3 couldn't even be installed anymore.
Same situation with Capture NX2: never had a problem with Capture NX2 under Vista 64bit(neither under 32bit), but I had plenty of problems while installing Capture NX2 under Win7 64bit, which are now, curiously-, all solved... Only reason I can imagine for that all of a sudden "compatibility" are the Windows automatic updates that came between nov 7th and now...
kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
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