Mark Best

Many of you did not upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, but are planning to upgrade to Windows 7. How dare you leave the Microsoft upgrade path? As a punishment, you can’t upgrade directly from XP to 7; you have to do what’s called a clean install, which means you have to jump through some hoops to keep your old data and programs.

Not to worry, we’ll show you a couple ways to deal with the pain of installing Windows 7 on your XP machine. And afterward, Microsoft will forgive you your trespasses. Maybe.

Before you start, do these three things.

1. Run the Windows 7 upgrade adviser. It will let you know if your computer can handle any version of Windows 7.

2. Check the Windows 7 compatibility center. This is different than the upgrade adviser. It will tell you if you need to update your drivers or apps to make them work in 7.

3. Make a copy of your hard drive, just in case things go horribly wrong. I recommend using Macrium Reflect; it’s a free download available from Download.com.

OK, now you’re ready to upgrade.

…

Originally posted at CNET TV

CNET Download.com’s Seth Rosenblatt joins the Real Deal to answer all your questions about Windows 7 so you can be prepared for October 22.

Listen now:

Download today’s podcast

Subscribe with iTunes (audio)
Subscribe with iTunes (video)
Subscribe with RSS (audio)
Subscribe with RSS (video)




…

Originally posted at The Real Deal Podcast

Joining Sony, HP, and its own subsidiary Gateway, Acer has announced a new Windows 7-based all-in-one this morning, complete with a multitouch display. The Acer Aspire Z5610 will go for $899 when it goes on sale “this holiday season” (according to the press release), making it one of the most …

Originally posted at Windows 7 Insider

HP Touchsmart 600

(Credit:
HP.com)

HP just announced the third upgrade to of its line of TouchSmart PCs, and the first model we’ve laid hands on, the TouchSmart 600 (full review here), was good enough to earn an Editor’s Choice award. The new TouchSmart 300 and TouchSmart 600 feature 20-inch and 23-inch screens, respectively, and both offer the same multitouch screen with either a 16:9 1080P HD or HD-ready display.

To coincide with this announcement, HP is also rolling out exclusive applications for the TouchSmart PCs that take advantage of its multitouch enabled screen and Windows 7, including, but not limited to:

• Hulu Desktop: browse and watch your favorite TV shows
• Netflix: Instantly watch movies or browse and add films to your online queue
• Pandora Internet Radio: Discover new music based on your personalized taste
• TouchSmart Live TV: Watch and record your favorite television shows
• TouchSmart Canvas: organize your photos on a virtual canvas and use your fingers to make edits
• TouchSmart RecipeBox: Enjoy a hands-free cooking experience with recipes that respond to voice commands

Of those apps, the Recipe Box is the most impressive. Smart software lets you scrap and catalog recipes from a variety of popular recipe Web sites (Epicurious, Food Network, and Martha Stewart among them), and via voice recognition and text-to-speech you can navigate the recipes hands-free. It’s the best kitchen-oriented PC solution we’ve seen.

The new 300 and 600 models also include a new swivel stand, a built-in wall mount support, in addition to a new tiltable web cam for group conferences and video chats. Both models are available in a variety of retail configurations with customizable configurations available at HP.com.

More photos after the jump.

…

Originally posted at Windows 7 Insider

Update: So it’s clear, neither this post nor the video constitute the official CNET review. Click here for the full write-up with specs, charts, pricing and detailed analysis.

It’s been almost exactly a year since we last reviewed a Psystar desktop. During that 12 month gap, Apple’s suit against Psystar …

Credit PC Perspective for digging out the news that Nvidia has put its NForce chipset development on hiatus. Nvidia will continue to supply the market with current-generation NForce chipsets as necessary, but due to Nvidia’s licensing battle with Intel, Nvidia has halted development of new NForce chipsets for both …

Dell is closing its desktop PC manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The cost-cutting move will ax 905 jobs, with 600 workers set to be laid off in November and the rest in January, Dell said Wednesday.

“This is a difficult decision, especially for our North Carolina colleagues, but a …

Originally posted at News – Business Tech

In September, Intel showed off Light Peak as if it were the latest hot idea out of the labs. But the fiber-optic communication technology could well be coming to a computer near you next year, rather than in some distant sci-fi future.

A Taiwanese optical networking company, Foci Fiber Optic Communication, is well along the path of selling Light Peak cables and other fiber-optic components.

“We plan to have our pilot run ready by the end of November 2009, and ready to be in mass production in the beginning of year 2010,” said Janpu Hou, the company’s vice president of business development.

Foci is not some no-name manufacturer of commodity gear, either. The company supplied the optical networking components used in the Light Peak demonstrations at the Intel Developer Forum in September.

…

Originally posted at Deep Tech

Coming in right after Gateway, Sony announced its own multitouch-capable all-in-one this evening, by way of the Vaio L Series. Starting at $1,300, the 24-inch Vaio L is a continuation of the Vaio LV series that impressed us earlier this year. Sony will offer plenty of options for this …

Originally posted at Windows 7 Insider

You can’t buy them yet, but Gateway seems to be the first major PC vendor with a new Windows 7-equipped PC announcement. Surely every other major (and minor) player will follow, but the Gateway One ZX6800 and ZX4800 series are the first systems built specifically Windows 7′s touch …

Originally posted at Windows 7 Insider