I have been dying to try out Windows 7 since the beta was released. So yesterday after tying it out for a while on VMWare .. I decided to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 on my Dell XPS M1330.

My Lappy Specs:
Dell XPS M1330
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
4GB RAM
320GB HDD
nVidia 128MB 8400M GS

After backing up my files and settings, I booted with the Windows 7 DVD. It first asked me whether I wanted to upgrade the existing operating system. I choosed to install a fresh copy rather than upgrading (Because I read somewhere upgrade takes too much time).

The installation process was very simple and within 20 mins I had Windows 7 up and running.

Driver Installation

To avoid problems run all your driver installations under compatibility mode. I choose Windows Vista environment while installing the drivers.

Problems

I was unable to install most of the .msi based installer. After a little googling I found the solution here.

Fix for install/upgrade crashes

Note: Only delete the key if you are facing the same issue. Also remember you have to restart after deleting the registry key.

There have been reports of some Windows 7 beta testers experiencing installation errors with Windows Update and third party applications like Java and Flash (crashes of Explorer and MSI-based installers).

This may be an issue related to the Customer Experience Improvement Program client (CEIP also known as SQM). If you are experiencing this try the fix outlined below. Any machine that’s currently not affected by this problem does not need this fix, nor will future installations or upgrades.

What happened? Microsoft deployed a configuration change which exposed this problem. The following instructions will remove those changes (registry keys) to prevent further CEIP related crashes.

1.Select and copy the following to your clipboard:

reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions /va /f

2.Click on “Start”, then “All Programs”, then “Accessories”

3.Right click on “Command Prompt”, then click on “Run as administrator”

4.In the UAC prompt, verify that the program’s name is “Windows Command Processor” and then click “Yes”

5.Right click on the “Administrator: Command Prompt” window’s black area, then select “Paste”

6.Press “Enter”, you should see “The operation completed successfully”.

7.If you see “ERROR: Access is denied”, please make sure you followed Step 3.

8.Close the “Administrator: Command Prompt window”

Programs That I have Installed

Currently I have installed

Visual Studio 2008
Photoshop CS4
Fireworks CS4
e-TextEditor
FireFox
WAMP Server
VisualSVN Server
TortoiseSVN

Everything works fine.

Try Windows 7 Now

For those who are affraid of trying out the beta, there is nothing to worry about the Windows 7 beta works just fine.
But to be on a safer side I recommend you guys to use Windows 7 on VMWare or dual boot Windows 7 with your existing operating.

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