Will "upgrading" erase all my files and programs? Do I have to backup everything then install W7, then move everything back on and reinstall everything? UGH.
Depends on your upgrade, but 99% of the time everything wil be erased. Be warned, jumping from XP to WIN7 many be a bad idea due to driver issues, make sure your drivers can run with WIN7 & make sure you download your new driver software before upgrading.
If it's a clean install, which it will be from XP, then you do. If it were an upgrade from Vista via a W7 upgrade CD, then no, because it would keep all of your drivers and settings when upgrading to the new OS.
Well it wouldn't be from a CD persay. And it might possibly not be totally legal. PERSAY. So if I upgraded from XP to Vista, then Vista to W7, it wouldn't erase all my files? Are there any disadvantages to doing that?
you lose everything if you go from xp to win 7 ahahahah thats a real good update and you guys all said windows was far superior to mac
Easiest way to do it: -Backup everything -Wipe the disk -Fresh install of W7 1-You're sure you won't lose anything 2-As of now, my success rate using the upgrade function in windows is 50/50 3-Fresh install = better performance
UGH but I'd have to update everything! Is it possible for, say, the OS to for some reason show up as an illegal copy, for whatever crazy reason, and my systm would get the equivalent of 'bricked' ?
And the wallpaper will become black and you'll get a notice in the taskbar... That's pretty much the WORST situation that can happen. ATM, all windows 7 release I know of on the net are safe to use (even for windows update)