Upgrading (Virtualized) Windows XP to Windows 7

R

/rant/

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 18, 2008
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I am currently thinking about thing suggested in the title of this post: Upgrading Windows XP to Windows 7 (if possible x64). The (virtual) machine is used for gaming only (older titles such as R6: Vegas or Anno 1404). My main motivation to do this is the updated driver model - and possibly a small performance boost that comes with that. The thing is that I don't wanna reinstall everything from ground up (no point in calling it an upgrade then, is there?).

From what I understand, there is no official DIRECT path from Windows XP to Windows 7. However, I read that it would be possible if I upgrade to Windows Vista first. Licenses are not an issue, I am a CS student and get everything for free.

Has anybody ever done multiple in-place upgrades, and how usable was the result after that?
 
If you're looking for a performance boost, don't do a multi-upgrade. Just do a clean install. And you absolutely cannot upgrade between x86 and x64, period.
 
You're saying upgrades screw up performance. Why is that? I figured the upgrade would just move the old files to the "Windows.old" folder - meaning I could easily just get rid of them using the clean-up function.

Anyhow, since Windows x86 variants are pretty much dead for me nowadays (I haven't used them since 2007 except in these VMs for old stuff) and I cannot upgrade to x64, I guess I'm gonna jump ship and do a clean setup of Windows 7 x64. It just takes so much time... :(
 
It's not possible to upgrade from x32 to x64. It is possible to upgrade from XP to Vista and then to 7, but why bother? This is a VM and if it's working then you're better off leaving it. Just create a new Windows 7 VM.
 
/rant/ said:
You're saying upgrades screw up performance. Why is that? I figured the upgrade would just move the old files to the "Windows.old" folder - meaning I could easily just get rid of them using the clean-up function.

Anyhow, since Windows x86 variants are pretty much dead for me nowadays (I haven't used them since 2007 except in these VMs for old stuff) and I cannot upgrade to x64, I guess I'm gonna jump ship and do a clean setup of Windows 7 x64. It just takes so much time... :(
Click to expand...
Clean installs are fresh and performant. Upgrades leave cruft, be it old drivers, old registry settings, stuff apps had sitting around that isn't used anymore, etc., etc., etc.
 
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