Questions To Be Consider When Going for Windows 7 upgrade

Whether you’re keen to upgrade to Windows 7 or you just wish to know what to expect if and when you do, there are lots of things to keep in mind.

Can I upgrade directly from XP?
Many users who are still running Windows XP want to know whether they can upgrade to Windows 7 without losing all their data and settings. The answer is, well, sort of. Microsoft doesn’t provide a direct upgrade path from Windows XP to Windows 7. An in-place upgrade is available only if you’re running Vista SP1 or later. If you have Windows XP, even if your hardware is compatible, you’ll have to perform a clean installation of Windows 7. However, you can use the Microsoft Deployment Tool, which includes the User State Migration Tool, to transfer your user settings for the desktop and applications to the new Windows 7 installation.

Can I do a Vista in-place upgrade?
If you have Windows Vista, remember that you must install SP1 or SP2 before you can perform an in-place upgrade to Windows 7. If you try to upgrade a Vista computer that doesn’t have a service pack installed, you will get a message informing you that to upgrade to Windows 7, the computer needs to be running Vista with Service Pack 1.

Will there be driver compatibility issues?
A big problem in Windows Vista was driver incompatibility. Too many users upgraded their Windows from XP to Vista only to find that a favorite peripheral, such as a printer or scanner, would no longer work. Vista also introduced a new display driver model, WDDM, which required video card vendors to write completely different display and video miniport drivers. And security enhancements in Vista affected how the OS handles drivers. Even though Vista was in development for few years, many hardware vendors did not have Vista drivers ready for all of their products when the OS was released.

Now that Vista has been out for more than two years, most hardware vendors have updated their drivers to work with it. Because Windows 7 uses the same driver models as Vista, the vast majority of hardware devices that work with Vista will work with Windows 7. For Vista drivers that won’t install on Windows 7, you can usually solve the problem by installing in Compatibility Mode. To do this, right-click the driver’s setup file, select Properties, click the Compatibility tab, enable compatibility mode, and select the appropriate operating system from the drop-down box.

Which Windows 7 version shall I choose?
Windows 7 is also comes both Home Basic and Home Premium editions. There is also a Starter edition, which comes with low-powered netbooks.

What if I have applications that won’t run on Windows 7, even in Compatibility Mode?
There may be some XP programs that you can’t get to run on Windows 7, even using Compatibility Mode. However, you may still be able to enjoy all the benefits of Windows 7 without giving up your favorite applications, thanks to a new compatibility tool called XP Mode. XPM is a host-based virtualization solution that will reportedly be made available at no cost to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.

Windows 7 Guide- Changes To Security in Windows 7

Microsoft launched Windows 7 with few enhancements such as HomeGroup, Aero, etc. However, there are several of new and enhanced security features as well. Here’s a rundown of key changes you must know about.

Everyone’s talking about the interface changes, the new taskbar, omission of the sidebar, a new look for Windows Explorer. Under the hood, there are few more changes, including latest and enhanced security features. Let’s look at some security features that have been changed or added in Windows 7.
Action Center- In Vista, security configurations can be access from the Security Center in Control Panel. In Windows 7, you won’t find a Security Center. That’s because it’s been replaced by a new Action Center. The Action Center offers security configurations as well as options for other administrative tasks, such as Backup, Troubleshooting And Diagnostics, and Windows Update.

Windows 7 UAC- User Account Control (UAC) was introduced with Vista, made to provide better protection from malware. It makes all user accounts run as standard users, even administrator accounts. If you need to perform something that requires administrative rights, it asks for permission. And asks. And asks. This in-your-face aspect of UAC has caused numerous complaints and has led some users to turn it off completely, thus exposing themselves to threats.
In Windows 7, UAC is still there, but now you can set up how vocal it will be. There are four settings you configure from the UAC settings in the Action Center. You can set UAC to:
• Always notify you when you install software or make any changes to Windows settings (as Vista does now).

• Notify you when programs make changes but not if you make changes to Windows settings (default Setting).

• Notify you only when programs make changes but turn off Secure Desktop, which dims the desktop while the UAC prompt is displayed. ( Preferred setting.)

• Never notify you. ( Not recommended.)
BitLocker- Windows 7 comes through and allows you to encrypt removable storage drives. And it’s easy to do. Just open the BitLocker applet in Control Panel, choose the drive you want to encrypt, and click Turn On BitLocker.

Windows Filtering Platform- Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) is a set of APIs introduced in Vista. In Windows 7, developers can use it to iinclude some parts of the Windows Firewall into their own programs. This will allow a third-party program to turn off certain parts of the Windows Firewall selectively if need be.

DNSSec- Windows 7 supports for DNSSec (Domain Name System Security), which is a group of extensions to the DNS platform that improved security. With DNSSec, a DNS zone can take advantage of digital signature technology so that you can validate the authenticity of data that’s received.