Hey computer geeks, yes I mean you Krandall. Memory question.

[Mad Dog]

Yes on 1, Windows 2000, XP and Vista licenses qualify for the upgrade version of Win 7.

Yes you will lose everything, you will need to reformat the hard drive and it will be wiped clean.  I would suggest backing up all of your personal files and any downloaded programs or content do an external hard drive, flash drive, or DVDs/CDs before you attempt the clean install.  You will still need to reinstall all programs but your files can be moved off the backup and onto the computer after the upgrade.

[russ-russ]

Thanks for the info MD.  That is discouraging to me, I have a fair amount of stuff that isn't replaceable on my desktop (XP machine).

[Mad Dog]

If you back up your files then you will be fine.  It's not difficult to do, even for a novice.

[russ-russ]

OK, thanks.  Perhaps I'll go that way after all.

[Mad Dog]

Sorry, was going to include this earlier but must have deleted or forgotten when I edited.

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/data/backup/about.aspx

[Ranger]

Buy a new hard drive and install the new OS onto that and transfer everything off the old drive

[russ-russ]

OK, one last question MD.  If I'm doing a clean install, do I need the full version of 7?  Or is the upgrade version just cheaper because I already own a licensed Microsoft OS?

Thanks again.

[Ranger]

Full version is always better that way you're not dealing with leftover remnants of the old OS

[Mad Dog]

Clean install is always better, yes.  But you can do a clean install with the upgrade version of the software.  You just need to have a windows operating system installed on the computer to replace.

And actually as it is right now, you can load windows 7 on a blank hard drive using the upgrade version.  But they will change this so you need to have windows xp or vista installed already before you can install an upgrade version, even as a clean install.

So Russ if you buy windows 7 upgrade software and your backup your files on your computer, then put the dvd in the drive you will be able to choose "clean install" and overwrite your hard drive with windows 7.

[russ-russ]

Gotcha.  Thanks for taking the time to explain this to me MD.  I'm pretty good with the hardware side since it's basically mechanical, but the software part eludes me sometimes.