Upgrades to Windows 7 from windows Vista are only supported by Vista Service Pack1 and Service Pack 2 editions. All the Windows Vista device drivers are compatible with Windows 7. Following type of upgrades are supported from Windows Vista to Windows 7:
Windows Vista Home Basic (SP1, SP2) 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) can be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64).
Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, SP2) 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) can be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium and Ultimate 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64).
Windows Vista Business (SP1, SP2) 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) can be upgraded to Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64).
Windows Vista Enterprise (SP1, SP2) 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) can be upgraded to Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64).
Windows Vista Ultimate (SP1, SP2) 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64).
Following types of upgrades are not possible from windows Vista to Windows 7:
Cross-architecture in place upgrades (for example, x86 to x64) are not supported from Vista to windows 7.
Cross-language in place upgrades (for example, en-us to de-de) are not supported.
Cross-media type in-place upgrades (for example, from Staged to Unstaged or from Unstaged to Staged) are also not supported.
Follow these steps to upgrade Windows 7 from Windows Vista:
Insert the Windows 7 DVD. The DVD does not have an auto run option on the Windows Vista. Open the DVD drive in My Computer and double click setup.exe. (If you are performing an upgrade, the Windows installation process will not delete the old version. It will rename the Windows Root folder.) You can also use other media for installation like a USB drive or the downloaded Windows 7 setup. Click setup.exe file from the media that you are using for installation, to start the installation process.
Click Install now on the Install Windows screen begin the installation. You can also check the compatibility of your computer with Windows 7 operating system, by clicking Check Compatibility Online.
By selecting Go online to get the latest updates for installation, you can get the latest updates to help ensure a successful installation, and to help protect your computer against security threats. Your computer will need to be connected to the Internet during Windows 7 installation to get these updates.
On the Please read the license terms page, click I accept the license terms, and then click Next.
On the Which type of installation do you want page, click Upgrade. This will present you with compatibility report. This is used to help you determine what may not work properly after the upgrade.
Setup starts installing Windows 7 on your computer by copying the program files to your system. It will prompt you for a Windows login password, and password hint.
Type the activation key and Set the date and time.
Select the appropriate network settings and create a group depending on the type of Network you have chosen.
Upgrading Windows XP to Windows 7:
Windows 7 does not provide direct in-place upgrade for Windows 7 from Windows XP that will retain user’s applications programs, settings, customizations, personalization and data during the upgrade process. If you try to upgrade to Windows 7 from a system which is using Windows XP, you will be shown this error report which informs you that direct upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 is not available.
You can perform an upgrade to Windows 7 from windows XP, by using Windows Easy Transfer wizard, that allows you to save Selected User Accounts, Files and folders, Windows settings, Program data files and settings from Windows XP computer and later on restore them on upgraded windows 7.
Follow these steps to upgrade XP to Windows 7:
On your Windows XP computer insert Windows 7 DVD.
Navigate to Support folder and open migwiz (migration wizard) folder and run migwiz.exe. It opens Windows easy Transfer window which initiates the process of File transfer.
It asks you for the media you wish to use to transfer your settings. Select the appropriate media from the options presented by the wizard.
It ask whether this is the New computer (in which you wish to copy the settings) or the old computer (from you wish to copy the settings) select old computer. The wizard will now start scanning system for your files.
Once scanning is complete it shows the list of user profiles and you can select the files and settings in each profile which needs to be transferred to Windows 7.
It asks you to provide a password for the data file. Provide a password for data security. Then press Save. Once the data is saved, Easy transfer tells you the location where the files are stored.
Close the Easy Transfer and open the Windows 7 Setup by browsing to the root folder of the DVD, and then double clicking setup.exe.
Click Install now on the Install Windows screen begin the installation.
By selecting Go online to get the latest updates for installation, you can get the latest updates to help ensure a successful installation, and to help protect your computer against security threats. Your computer will need to be connected to the Internet during Windows 7 installation to get these updates. If you don’t want to check for updates during Setup, click Do not get the latest updates.
On the Please read the license terms page, click I accept the license terms, and then click Next.
On the Which type of installation do you want page, click Custom (advanced) to perform an upgrade to your existing Windows.
In the next step, select the partition where you want to install Windows 7. If you chose to install Windows 7 on a partition where your current Windows XP is installed, it will overwrite and if you have chosen to install on another drive, you can dual boot with XP.
Setup copies the program files to your system. Toward the end of the installation process, your system restarts several times, and then Setup updates the registry settings.
Windows prompts you to perform some post-installation tasks, like selecting the user name and the computer name.
Set the system password for your user account and enter a hint for the password.
Type the activation key. Set the date and time.
Select the appropriate network settings and create a group depending on the type of Network you have chosen.
Once your Windows 7 installation is complete, you can transfer the files that you copied from Windows XP. Boot your new Windows 7. Insert the USB or the external hard disk where you saved the transferred files.
Click Start, then click All Programs and then click Accessories.
Click System Tools, and then click Windows Easy Transfer. Once Easy transfer opens up, click the next button and select An external hard disk or USB flash drive from the options.
Select This is my New computer.
It asks you to browse the file which you created while copying data from old computer.
Click Transfer to transfer all files and settings. Once you select the file and click open, Easy Transfer will again scan for the user profiles available in the saved data. You can chose which files need to be migrated for which all users you have saved. You can customize the migration using the customize button below each profile.
When the transfer is complete click Close. Now all your files and settings which you saved from your XP installation will be available in Windows 7.
