Windows 7???

vasudeva · 10th February 2010, 10:41

As some one who was very happy with Windows XP Pro (initially `pre-loaded' with whatever it implies in India, but later retail, original CD), I finally installed windows 7 many times over the last week. I have just some queries regarding this:
Background on computer specs: core i 7 920, MSI X58M MB, 3 GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Ram, 3 tb hdd.

Questions:
1. I think unlike xp, windows 7 does not require separate installation of Motherboard CD (in my case MSI). Basically no separate realtek network, audio, or Nvidia graphic card. Is this true. In that case, can I format and remove XP, and clean install Win 7. The other alternative is first installing xp, mother board drivers, not activating xp. Then when this is complete, load win 7, which will then put xp files in a folder called windows. old. I have gone thru windows.old route because I am not sure whether windows 7 automatically installs motherboard drivers (network, etc). In fact, in my 3-4 installations over the past week, I installed win 7 on a clean (no prior OS) hdd. Subsequently, when I installed my MB drivers, the dvd-ram went missing!!! from my computer.

2. Second, given my present DVD of win 7, has anyone seen this problem of desktop icons and start bar not loading on startup. This happens 20-25% of time, and is a minor irritant in the sense that I have to reboot, wait for 1 min, and hope for desktop icons ready for me to go. No desktop icons/taskbar means OS cannot be used. Is this a problem with my graphic card (Nvidia ge force 7300 256mb) or my dvd iso image (whatever it implies). Do honest people encounter this problem. I get this problem some 20-25% of the time.

3. Bottomline: having seen and used Win 7, not willing at all to consider going back to xp for the time being, and perhaps not at all.

vasoo · 10th February 2010, 10:51

I hope you have a retail version of Windows 7. Yes you can do a clean install of Windows 7 or you can choose to create a separate partition and install it along with XP. I had a computer with Vista and XP in two partitions and now I have replaced Vista with Win 7. I stil use XP for some applications which are still not officially compatible with Win 7. But surely I will merge that partition to Win 7 in near future.

My computer is having a 64 bit version of Win7 with 4 GB RAM and AMD 920 processor. It doesn't have any issues with desktop icons/taskbar not loading on start up. In fact the whole start up is extremely fast and my PC is ready to use in about 30 seconds from switch on.

sukiwa · 10th February 2010, 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by vasudeva

2. Second, given my present DVD of win 7, has anyone seen this problem of desktop icons and start bar not loading on startup. This happens 20-25% of time, and is a minor irritant in the sense that I have to reboot, wait for 1 min, and hope for desktop icons ready for me to go. No desktop icons/taskbar means OS cannot be used. Is this a problem with my graphic card (Nvidia ge force 7300 256mb) or my dvd iso image (whatever it implies). Do honest people encounter this problem. I get this problem some 20-25% of the time.

Most likely OS shell is not getting loaded. Please open 'task manager' by using 'Ctrl-Shift-Esc' button combination.
File - New Task (Run), type 'explorer.exe' and click 'OK'.
Check if this shows up desktop icons & loads taskbar.

vasudeva · 10th February 2010, 11:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by vasoo

I hope you have a retail version of Windows 7.
My computer is having a 64 bit version of Win7 with 4 GB RAM and AMD 920 processor. It doesn't have any issues with desktop icons/taskbar not loading on start up. In fact the whole start up is extremely fast and my PC is ready to use in about 30 seconds from switch on.

I expect to bump up the RAM from 3 GB to 4GB DDR3 today. Reg. retail version, soon if this problem happens (minor irritant but big enough to make me run to the retail, purchased version). Win 7 Home Prem. should be good enough??? with all the graphics. It is cheaper (at 5.5K) compared to 10K for Pro/Ultimate.

Clean install in the sense no pre-existing OS (in my case original XP)???

Finally, the biggest scare for me-will 64 bit version pose any major problems with my hardware specs. I do not want to activate 64-bit win 7, find problems, uninstall, reinstall 32-bit, and lose 1 activation. As I know with win xp, 3-4 activations soon enough cause a phone call to Microsoft which takes 10-15 mins. Will Win 7 64 bit automatically install drivers for 64-bit.

Sukiwa: I have tried this solution (in fact on the net, there is a exe file, which you download, and install, and it does to the registry what you have suggested). Is it a problem with graphics card or just my dvd. The reason for buying an original dvd would be to cure this problem. I do not want to replace my dvd with an original dvd and still get the same problem.

vasudeva · 10th February 2010, 11:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Most likely OS shell is not getting loaded. Please open 'task manager' by using 'Ctrl-Shift-Esc' button combination.
File - New Task (Run), type 'explorer.exe' and click 'OK'.
Check if this shows up desktop icons & loads taskbar.

Sorry to post again. When desktop icons do not load, the only way out is to shut down and restart. Cannot use the mouse or keyboard. No mouse pointers. Ctrl+alt+del gives a blank screen.

Perhaps I will try ctrl-shift-esc combination today. I plan to workaround to solve this problem. Otherwise will risk money on a retail dvd in the hope of getting rid of this problem.

prince_pervez · 10th February 2010, 11:26

Guys there is thread already for this.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...-7-anyone.html

Correct me if I am wrong

sanjayc · 10th February 2010, 11:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by vasudeva

1. I think unlike xp, windows 7 does not require separate installation of Motherboard CD (in my case MSI). Basically no separate realtek network, audio, or Nvidia graphic card. Is this true. In that case, can I format and remove XP, and clean install Win 7. The other alternative is first installing xp, mother board drivers, not activating xp. Then when this is complete, load win 7, which will then put xp files in a folder called windows. old. I have gone thru windows.old route because I am not sure whether windows 7 automatically installs motherboard drivers (network, etc). In fact, in my 3-4 installations over the past week, I installed win 7 on a clean (no prior OS) hdd. Subsequently, when I installed my MB drivers, the dvd-ram went missing!!! from my computer.

Any latest OS will include most of the drivers for hardware, at least which was avlbl during the beta phase, and that is why you do not require separate driver cds for motherboard etc. However, note that some of these built-in drivers in the OS are generic in nature, which will not provide full functionality supported by the hardware..for that you need to update the hadrware mfgr supplied drivers.

It is always better to do a clean install, particularly when you are upgrading from XP - Win7 since Vista is missed in between, and it will lead to compatibilty issues based on your hardware/software configuration.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vasudeva

2. Second, given my present DVD of win 7, has anyone seen this problem of desktop icons and start bar not loading on startup. This happens 20-25% of time, and is a minor irritant in the sense that I have to reboot, wait for 1 min, and hope for desktop icons ready for me to go. No desktop icons/taskbar means OS cannot be used. Is this a problem with my graphic card (Nvidia ge force 7300 256mb) or my dvd iso image (whatever it implies). Do honest people encounter this problem. I get this problem some 20-25% of the time.

This might have to do with some hardware not getting recognized or taking long time to recognize, as well as, bad sectors on HDD. Check device manager to identify hardware related issues, do a scandisk/chkdsk for hdd bad sectors. Sometime, it may also be related to Antivirus software..windows will take quite some time to update is security information center post gathering data from installed antivirus/firewall etc.
Turn off indexing/search services or check its settings..Check your lan/wireless settings/hardware..might be taking some time to get a ip address.

Quote:

I expect to bump up the RAM from 3 GB to 4GB DDR3 today.

I don't think 32-bit version will recognize 4 GB ram..only 3 GB is usable IIRC.

[quote]Finally, the biggest scare for me-will 64 bit version pose any major problems with my hardware specs. I do not want to activate 64-bit win 7, find problems, uninstall, reinstall 32-bit, and lose 1 activation. As I know with win xp, 3-4 activations soon enough cause a phone call to Microsoft which takes 10-15 mins. Will Win 7 64 bit automatically install drivers for 64-bit.[quote]
64-bit app/driver support currently is limited..will advise trying VPC or separate partition for 64-bit version and play around to see if meet your requirements.

Samurai · 10th February 2010, 11:37

Please use the existing thread.

10th February 2010, 10:41	#1
vasudeva Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 2,221 Thanked: 212 Times	Windows 7??? As some one who was very happy with Windows XP Pro (initially `pre-loaded' with whatever it implies in India, but later retail, original CD), I finally installed windows 7 many times over the last week. I have just some queries regarding this: Background on computer specs: core i 7 920, MSI X58M MB, 3 GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Ram, 3 tb hdd. Questions: 1. I think unlike xp, windows 7 does not require separate installation of Motherboard CD (in my case MSI). Basically no separate realtek network, audio, or Nvidia graphic card. Is this true. In that case, can I format and remove XP, and clean install Win 7. The other alternative is first installing xp, mother board drivers, not activating xp. Then when this is complete, load win 7, which will then put xp files in a folder called windows. old. I have gone thru windows.old route because I am not sure whether windows 7 automatically installs motherboard drivers (network, etc). In fact, in my 3-4 installations over the past week, I installed win 7 on a clean (no prior OS) hdd. Subsequently, when I installed my MB drivers, the dvd-ram went missing!!! from my computer. 2. Second, given my present DVD of win 7, has anyone seen this problem of desktop icons and start bar not loading on startup. This happens 20-25% of time, and is a minor irritant in the sense that I have to reboot, wait for 1 min, and hope for desktop icons ready for me to go. No desktop icons/taskbar means OS cannot be used. Is this a problem with my graphic card (Nvidia ge force 7300 256mb) or my dvd iso image (whatever it implies). Do honest people encounter this problem. I get this problem some 20-25% of the time. 3. Bottomline: having seen and used Win 7, not willing at all to consider going back to xp for the time being, and perhaps not at all. Last edited by vasudeva : 10th February 2010 at 10:46.
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10th February 2010, 10:51	#2
vasoo Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Memphis TN Posts: 1,039 Thanked: 246 Times View My Garage	I hope you have a retail version of Windows 7. Yes you can do a clean install of Windows 7 or you can choose to create a separate partition and install it along with XP. I had a computer with Vista and XP in two partitions and now I have replaced Vista with Win 7. I stil use XP for some applications which are still not officially compatible with Win 7. But surely I will merge that partition to Win 7 in near future. My computer is having a 64 bit version of Win7 with 4 GB RAM and AMD 920 processor. It doesn't have any issues with desktop icons/taskbar not loading on start up. In fact the whole start up is extremely fast and my PC is ready to use in about 30 seconds from switch on.
	() Thanks

10th February 2010, 11:26	#6
prince_pervez Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Redwood shores, CA, USA Posts: 4,210 Thanked: 51 Times View My Garage	Guys there is thread already for this. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...-7-anyone.html Correct me if I am wrong
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10th February 2010, 11:37	#8
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,828 Thanked: 45,555 Times View My Garage	Please use the existing thread.
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