Win7 Vs. Vista?

 

  Okay this post is for you IT types.  My wife's desktop, an Asus, purchased at BestBuy maybe 3yrs ago,($499) is running windows Vista. (Not very well at the moment) Lately, within the last 4 months I guess, when she starts the PC, she ends up having to reboot it 3-4 times before it actually starts. Tried defrag, didn't do any good,  I can't recall the exact errors displayed (Sorry for vagueness) but a vista boot disc was called for.  Don't belive its a virus
  A call to Best buys "Geek Squad" and we though the issue would be fixed.  Not so.  He brought a vista boot and did something that enabled her PC to not reboot as many times, but problem returned/remained.  Geek squad guy troubleshot the symptoms and said the HD is fine.  Ultimately his visit did not resolve the issue, we got our $$ back from that fiasco.
   She ordered Win7 to replace Vista, and was on the phone with Microsoft for 4+ hours trying to get the win7 to install.  Didn't work!  Today I printed a return label for the Win 7 software.
  I remember installing an XP upgrade to a desktop I had then,(back in the day) as being very painless and rather easy, (Plug & play) Apparently it ain't that easy to do now.  3 years ago we used a local guy for PC related issues, but since have lost his contact information, fortunately, her sister still uses the guy (We turned her onto to him back then and she still uses him) but sister hasn't sent us his information yet.
   So, at the moment, with all that's been attempted, Vista is still on the PC, and still takes forever to actually start. 
   I guess my question would be;  Shouldn't slapping the win7 (Home premium I think) DVD into the drive start to install  Win 7 over any existing operating system software?  Cuz it sure didn't.
  Next question, what does it take to install a newer version of windows in a very basic desktop PC? ( She doesn't want Windows
  Until this gets resolved, my laptop is getting double duty with her playing WOW on it, and me playing my game BF3. I tell her just trash can the pile and get another PC! but she doesn't want to spend $$ and definitely doesn't want windows 8!

you can install Windows 7 as you did before on top of existing old version of Windows.

multiply reboots may be a virus, but if you upgrade to Win 7 use MS Essential, it's free and very good

  It didn't work. I though it should, but wife is fed up trying at this point.  Don't think it was a virus, I would hope Geek Squad guy would have scanned, but we don't know.  We have MS essentials.
 

 

Ram problem? Loosing registry 1/2 way threw boot process. Had same issue and ram was replaces. now works as well as it ever did... It is Vista, and was a free computer. Can't complain... It does what it is asked. Windows 8 what a joke! Broken out of the box... Try again MIcrosoft

You can try installing Ubuntu, it's a version of Linux. It's free and I much rather use Ubuntu over windows... However, I'm not sure how you will be able to run wow. From my quick research it seems a bit more complicated. You will need to download this application called wine to run windows program.

When did this start happening? Did you try computer restore to before this started happening?

I've been running Win8 with zero problems & boots up in seconds. It is different than XP for sure but totally functional. Was real nice going from a P4 to an I7. What I've been told about systems rebooting like that is they could be overtaxed so if you've added hardware, like a video card or more drives, without installing a larger power supply then that could be it. Or as Ron suggested not enough ram & hard drive too full? I also had added more ram to my old P4 to get more life out of it when it was acting up. I wish I knew more about computers! Good luck.

Ram problem? Loosing registry 1/2 way threw boot process. Had same issue and ram was replaces. now works as well as it ever did... It is Vista, and was a free computer. Can't complain... It does what it is asked. Windows 8 what a joke! Broken out of the box... Try again MIcrosoft

I bought a new Windows 8 machine and rarely use it. Many of my XP programs won't run on it, for lack of drivers. So I am primarily using Windows 7 machine and Mac laptop.

System Restore may work IF it was enabled from the beginning. Or reinstalling the OS. Hard to tell without more description of the problem.

Not an expert, but sounds like it could be hardware issues.   

I am guessing you don't have the vista disc that came with the pc?   Before checking hardware, I always try to completely format my hard drive and do a fresh install, instead of system repair/restore.  Those restore things screw things up more than anything I've ever seen.

I have not tried installing windows 7 over vista so I can't say what's going on there.  But I do know that if you try to downgrade vista to XP, it won't let you unless you have the vista disc.

That is a major upgrade.  Make sure your system meets the minimum requirements to run win7 (hardware wise)

My suggestion as I do this everyday at work is never upgrade on top of a existing o/s as it carries over things in which it causes to hang.  Always do a fresh install, unless you only bought the upgrade CD. 

PM me if you would like any additional info.

Win 7 is an excellent OS, Home Premium is fine. Chaeki is absolutely correct. If your Win 7 version is an *upgrade* to Vista that can be an issue. I can't imagine spending 4 hours and failing to install Win7.

If you have the full version, format the hard drive, then install 7. It's been quite awhile, but I think you have options as to how deep you format ... if so, pick the most thorough level (this will take some time).

Since the tech didn't solve the problem, I'm not sure I'd believe the "drive is ok" diagnoses. It may well  be, but if time is more of an issue than the cost of a new hard drive, you might  consider just slipping in a new one and starting from there -- birds and stones you know  .

Ben

That is a major upgrade.  Make sure your system meets the minimum requirements to run win7 (hardware wise)

My suggestion as I do this everyday at work is never upgrade on top of a existing o/s as it carries over things in which it causes to hang.  Always do a fresh install, unless you only bought the upgrade CD. 

PM me if you would like any additional info.

Chaeki is spot on.  Never install any program on top of another, let alone an operating system.  Clean install is what is needed.  Your system may even have a full copy of the O/S already on it, and ready to be re-installed.  If the problem truly is software, a clean install would be all that is needed to fix it, normally.  If you want to upgrade to the newer O/S, drop in a new hardrive and install the O/S from scratch.  If it doesn't crash anymore, copy all your data over to the new drive.  And yeah, I would be happy to help you out Troy

what are the specs on the computer?   I can't imagine it being a limitation of the hardware (I've run P4 machines on windows 7).  As others have suggested, try a clean install with either the factory restore disc or Windows 7 disc.  If that doesn't work then there is some sort of hardware issue.

If you were willing to shell out $$ for a geek squad visit and Windows 7, you are halfway to a new ( and much faster/better) PC.  I've been picking up 3rd gen i5 Laptops for ~$300-400.

 

 Thanks all!  Win7 is in transit back to Microsoft now, desktop is sitting uselessly at her desk for now. No she didn't get a recovery disc or vista boot disc when she got the PC.
My laptop is fulfilling her PC requirements for the time being.

Is there a hidden recovery partition on the drive? You would only see it using the admin tool and looking that the drives

Check this link, I'm not in front of my pc now but I think this will work on do,vista or win 7

http://www.ehow.com/how_5022760_check-partitions-hard-drive.html