Windows 7 - have you tried it?

**PirateJafa** · 14th August 2009, 23:54

Originally Posted by Leyton

I still can not test Windows 7 yet

It does not support my GfTi4200 and I cant get drivers for it!!! My system is too old

8xAGP Graphics card donations anyone ?

I might have a couple of VooDoo2 cards lying around...

Although I think Squiggles stole my last AGP card - you could give him a kick and try to purloin it.

**Insanity_rules** · 15th August 2009, 00:08

Originally Posted by PirateJafa

I might have a couple of VooDoo2 cards lying around...

Although I think Squiggles stole my last AGP card - you could give him a kick and try to purloin it.

This thread is great. Theres been nostalgia, advice and geek slaps a plenty, Mac heads jumpin up and down.

God the good Ol Voodoo GPU, now that was the freakin business in the day.

**Gremlin** · 23rd October 2009, 00:17

May as well give this another bump, due to the launch today.

Spent 1.5 hours on Wednesday night installing Windows 7 on my 2007 Toshiba M600 work lappy. I've used the eval on and off, but really more a play than actual work.

The basic install went by pretty easy, it found the partition I had prepped for it (drive split into 3, XP OS, Win7 OS, data) and the dual boot went fine, with 7 actually inserting a "Windows Boot Manager" page just after post recognising it was a dual boot situation.

One oddity (which I swear wasn't the case with XP/2003 etc dual boots) is that when I boot the original OS, XP, the drive is drive C, win7 is drive D and data is drive E (ie, what I set up). When I boot into 7, its OS becomes C and XP becomes D... I swear I haven't seen this before??

Otherwise, the OS itself tootled off and fetched a lot of the hardware drivers I needed, and using it for more than a day now (with no switching to XP) I am surprised to say I am actually enjoying it, and finding it has some useful functions over XP. Quickly viewing open windows without flicking to them is handy, and makes checking on a copy or download clickless. Still missing some hot key functionality from XP, had some games getting VPN to work, but overall, a very pleasant experience.

I'm hardly an early adopter, having specc'd only one Vista laptop for a client and staying with XP since the Vista launch... but errr... well... well done Microsoft

**James Deuce** · 23rd October 2009, 06:32

I've been playing with creating xml file Security templates for 2K8 and Windows 7 and that simple expedient of using a preconfigured xml template for hardening has made my flipping year, I can tell you.

Been doing test deploys in vSphere as well. Windows 7 runs noticeably better in the virtual client space than XP. That was a surprise. Vista was a show pony and could eat your PC resource at just the wrong moment, and at no time would any sane person have suggested using Vista as a Virtual client. Windows 7 seems to have gotten a grip of itself.

**Cajun** · 23rd October 2009, 06:50

Originally Posted by Gremlin

One oddity (which I swear wasn't the case with XP/2003 etc dual boots) is that when I boot the original OS, XP, the drive is drive C, win7 is drive D and data is drive E (ie, what I set up). When I boot into 7, its OS becomes C and XP becomes D... I swear I haven't seen this before??

Have this same thing dual booting server 2008 and xp on home machine

**pyrocam** · 23rd October 2009, 06:52

yeah I have that, it did strike me as a little odd at first, but I prefer it this way.

**Gareth123** · 23rd October 2009, 14:19

Call me crazy but I've been using vista for almost a year and haven't had any problems. It came with the laptop I bought. I quite like it. Still going to buy windows 7 though.

**Drunken Monkey** · 23rd October 2009, 14:57

Haven't done anything more than everyday stuff with W7 so far, been busy with a lot of Hyper-V/Hyper-VR2 and Server 2008/Server 2008R2 virtualisation at the moment.
Personally, I don't see what all the hoo-haa around 7 is about. There's much more interesting things going on in the server space.

**Reckless** · 23rd October 2009, 15:02

OK quick query?? When I bought my new 3D CAD machine, not top of the line but OK for trying to not spend a ridiculous amount.
Core i7 920 2.67GHz o/c to 3.6GHz
Asus P6T DDR3 1333MHz
Patriot Viper 6gig DDR3-2000
2 x GTX275 896mb PCI-e
1 x EVGA 9500GT PCI
Coolermaster HAF 22 Case
NZXT temp & fan controller

I got the free Win 7 upgrade. It takes me a full day to reset my Cad machine up, I don't want to lose that time but want a problem free fast machine. Applies to my laptop as well!

Can I just do an upgrade over Vista or is it best to reformat & do a clean install when going to Win 7.

TIA

**James Deuce** · 23rd October 2009, 15:09

Always do a clean install mate.

You'll get a much better result.

**Reckless** · 23rd October 2009, 15:27

Originally Posted by James Deuce

Always do a clean install mate.

You'll get a much better result.

Bugger I thought thats what you'd say! Another day down the toilet? Last time it was 6:00pm start 3:30 am finish. OH well it was me that couldn't wait for the new machine till after the release of W7.

Now need a post to tell me all the little switches to activate in Win7 to make it fast as it will go! LOL!!

Hey thanks!! Advice is much appreciated!

**ManDownUnder** · 23rd October 2009, 15:32

Originally Posted by Ixion

The only thing that can be said for it is that it is less hoggish than Vista.

... you say that like it's a challenge.

**ManDownUnder** · 23rd October 2009, 15:33

Originally Posted by James Deuce

Always do a clean install mate.

You'll get a much better result.

Followed by a full backup.

**bogan** · 23rd October 2009, 15:40

I got the student licens of win7 bout 6 weeks ago, its a pretty sweet os, loads of nifty features, only problem ive had is with a 32bit version of solidworks, runs alright, but everynow and then it keeps generated error messages when its not running. Also solidcam 32 bit wouldnt install, ill have to upgrade to 64 bit versions of both at some point.

Used it quite a bit for gaming (its got a gtx260m in it) goes pretty hard, and havent had any compatability issues with games.