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Upgrading to Win 7

post #1 of 14
10/25/09 at 9:25am
Thread Starter 
Hey guys,

It's been a long time I haven't posted here!

I have a couple of questions about my Acer 5672 (old machine I know...) and Windows 7 and I hope this is the right section to ask.

I want to update the laptop from XP to 7. I ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and it tells me it can work on my comp (except for Aero but I had a feeling it wouldn't).

The only thing is I can't find the drivers for Win 7 on Acer's website: the 5672 only has drivers for XP/Vista.

So my questions are:

1/ can I use Vista's drivers for my comp's built-in hardware? or just use the default ones provided by Win 7?

2/ there seems to be an issue with ATI drivers. The 5672 has a Mobility Radeon X1400 and, again, the Wiin 7 drivers aren't available on Acer's website. I did find a utility called "Mobility Modder" and I wonder if this could work?

I'd be glad to have some help from someone who successfully upgraded their machine.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 14
10/25/09 at 9:39am
1. You can either use the Vista drivers or leave it to W7 to pick up the updates after the installation/device scanning.

2. For ATI driver, I would recommend first using the stock driver that comes with W7 and see how it works with your system, before digging for another one.

cheers ...
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post #3 of 14
10/25/09 at 12:07pm
Good advise there, qhn.
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post #4 of 14
10/28/09 at 6:20pm
Thread Starter 
Okay, thanks. I'm just worried wi-fi won't work and that would be a big no-no.
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post #5 of 14
10/28/09 at 6:47pm
I have yet seen a W7 installation (upgrade or clean install) that has issue with wireless connections. If anything at all, this works right of the bag.

cheers ...
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post #6 of 14
10/28/09 at 9:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghis View Post
Okay, thanks. I'm just worried wi-fi won't work and that would be a big no-no.
I would strongly recommend running the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor before buying Windows 7 and upgrading. In my case, I need to download the wireless driver before installing and put it on a thumb drive in advance, then install it manually after Windows 7 installation in order to make it work.

Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn
I have yet seen a W7 installation (upgrade or clean install) that has issue with wireless connections. If anything at all, this works right of the bag.
I'm guessing that you haven't upgraded an old enough system. My wireless card (Intel 2915) most definitely did not work "right out of the bag" but I was able to install the driver and get wireless working fine using the recommendations from the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, as I mentioned above.
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post #7 of 14
10/29/09 at 9:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Djembe View Post
....
I'm guessing that you haven't upgraded an old enough system. My wireless card (Intel 2915) most definitely did not work "right out of the bag" but I was able to install the driver and get wireless working fine using the recommendations from the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, as I mentioned above.
Don't know how old a system I should go back, but it works right of the bag with my HP-ZE4400 and eMachines M6805 ... lucky me?

cheers ...
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post #8 of 14
10/29/09 at 3:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Djembe View Post
I would strongly recommend running the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor before buying Windows 7 and upgrading. In my case, I need to download the wireless driver before installing and put it on a thumb drive in advance, then install it manually after Windows 7 installation in order to make it work.
Oh I did run the W7 Upgrade Advisor (as I mentioned in my first post). It said my system can be updated but it's not very accurate in general. That's why I'm a bit worried.

And the problem is I can't find Win7 drivers on Acer's website for my laptop. They only offer Vista drivers...

Although I would not format my current HDD but buy a new one (a 160 GB drive is fairly cheap, about 40 euros here).
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post #9 of 14
10/29/09 at 4:21pm
As mentioned, most if not all Vista drivers will support W7 with no issue. A new drive for the new OS is sensible, that is what I am doing. Hard drives are cheap to use it as a good system backup.

cheers ...
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post #10 of 14
10/29/09 at 8:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn View Post
Don't know how old a system I should go back, but it works right of the bag with my HP-ZE4400 and eMachines M6805 ... lucky me?

cheers ...
maybe it just doesn't like Intel cards?
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post #11 of 14
11/4/09 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
My wireless card is an Intel wm3945abg.
Anyway, I just ordered a 160 GB SATA drive for the laptop. Will try and install Windows 7 this weekend. In the worst case, I'll still have a brand new 2.5" SATA drive (it might be useful).
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post #12 of 14
11/4/09 at 7:08pm
^^That is a very good idea!

cheers ...
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post #13 of 14
11/11/09 at 1:40am
I also have found that the Vista Drivers were a good backup forthe Win 7 install.
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post #14 of 14
11/14/09 at 3:05am
I found that loads of my hardware didn't work on a fresh install (ethernet for one). Fortunately I have a custom database on my external hdd with all the drivers I need for both XP and Vista...so I just plugged in the Vista drivers no problem then let Win Update give me the later versions (I don't keep the latest Vista drivers on hand since I use XP mostly).
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