HP and Windows 7 from Microsoft

[scarlettbama]

My question is this, and be gentle to a non-geek, yet 'puter-living southern blond: 

I have a HP m8277 desktop w/ 2408 24" monitor.  Love it.  Comes w/ Vista and I do like Vista.  I tend to be upgrade-happy, BUT, I usually wait until the first wave of bugs have been been worked out .

BUT, *if* I want the option to upgrade to Windows 7, I want the expert advise from HP and friends on these 3 questions:

a)  should I upgrade to Win7?

b)  why upgrade to Win7?  (what's sooooo improved?  Vista WAS a major improvement)

c)  disadvantage to upgrading to Win7?

Not posing these q's to Windows people.  They say everything is easy and do-able, and in my experience, that just is not true.

Appreciate the help.  Remember to speak in boring-to-you, but 3rd grade chatter.

Thanks one and all.

Scarlettbama in Alabama

if you a college football fan ....  Roll Tide Roll !!!!!!!!!!!

[Edmee]

I'm a 67 granny trying to keep up and went from Dell to HP for the 1st time in May this year and have had nothing but problems ever since.  At first I blamed the Pavilion Slimline, but the wonderful tech support who, themselves had to struggle with 'fixes' for my computer repeatedly, impressed me and I got the idea it was "vista".   What a poor product that Microsoft does not stand by.  A gave HP a chance for awhile. Now I see the upgrade deal that of course I missed and I have had it with HP.  Now I will have to PAY to get my new HP to work by upgrading to Windows 7.  If it works consistently then.  I do not have time to call support everyday that I find a problem.  I am on the phone for 30-45 min each time as it is.  Yet my time, my frustrations, my increasing blood pressure overtime I use my new HP means nothing, but pay for an upgrade and hope for the best. I never had this problem with Dell nor with Compact.  Maybe vista gave you boys a bad name, but you  need to learn better negotiation with Microsoft and not have your customers stuck with a bad product that they have to pay to correct.  Sorry for the negativity, but this purchase has been one nightmare after another.,  Go check my records, webmaster!

[nattieboy123]

OK there seems to be a pattern here of people complaining and not much responce. I've been running windows 7 for a few months now. I have a pavilion p6185, quad core, 1TB HD, 4gig RAM, the list goes on. I also have a HP 2009 widescreen LCD monitor. I should be having no problems right?

While connected to the internet my screen often goes blank for a few seconds then comes back on. It's like the power cable is loose but it's not. It's not just the power supply, it's a falut. It only happens if i'm online, not when i'm working offline. Also on occasion my system compleatly crashes. The screen goes fuzzy as if there is loads of interfearance then goes to sleep, i have to close my system and restart.

Any ideas H.P? Should I change my OS to XP because H.P is not compatable with Windows 7?

[Tech_Rain]

since you have been using the windows seven before its official release, then you are using the release candidate, right? remember that release candidates does not have the full potential. Also, since it only happens when you are online, then answer my question, are you using internet explorer version 8?

[neil2047]

Hello! I ve been reading posts regarding hp windows 7 etc with interest and I thought id share my experiences, I have two pavillions one a a6632uk model (not entitled to windows 7 upgrade) and a pavillion slim s3821uk ( entitled to discs hp upgrade) I was non too impressed with hp customer service with my a6632uk model which eventually i ended up after the 12 month guarantee was up fixing myself! no surprises there, I was pleased to learn my other hp product was able to get an upgrade once id paid 21 pounds for processing my order!( i await those hp discs as of yet!) so Ive been and bought both vista premium and also windows 7 premium , having had so much trouble with hp software/hardware ie graphics card dvd drive on my a6632uk I was really fed up that all id ever done with such an expensive pc was burn ONE cd! as it was always broken, I fixed it by correcting hps dodgy pc advisor software which crashed regulary removing diagnostic software which told me my new 1tb second hardrive was faulty yet passed it with flying colours when i used the latter to test it , my a6632uk model now works! however I would have much rather paid a smaller fee to obtain or even the option of a full fee to get full hp bone fide dvd upgrades for my pc, I can see no info about protecting my vista premium recovery partition which may or may not get wiped should i use the full retail Microsoft premi install dvd on my pc, i have made recovery dvds (for the original config plus all the hp bloatware) if it goes horribly wrong, ive downloaded hopefully all the required win 7 drivers etc,but as i cant obtain genuine hp windows 7 hp dvd discs im stuck with good old microsoft! and a prayer to the almighty should i upgrade or not? with a normal non hp pc id throw in the dvd/cd install disc let it install and update via ms updates and various sites that provide drivers for the various components but with hp pavillions im not quite as confident mainly due to the way the actual pcs are configured,and have backups on the actual c drive I cant simply wipe gung ho as I did with older pcs, but can I get sense out of hp , i havent gone down that road as the good lady said at 50 i dont want my blood pressure getting up any more! can anyone provide simple instructions to install windows 7 using full retail microsoft discs , adding any further drivers etc after install whilst safely keeping the recovery and hotkeys working as normal, I really think its wrong that when you buy a hp pc its filled with trial software! there is no option to select what is put back on a pc when performing a restore its all or nothing , so then you have to remove all the stuff you do not want! then when you build add your own software there is no option to save your nicely set up pc , no if it goes pear shaped its a rebuild every time , oh ive battled with ghost , acronis , paragon backup software but they dont seem to like hp they often refuse to backup properly, anyway i digress and apologize Im jus a 50year old disillusione hp pc owner much like many others who have fallen by the hp customer services wayside not sorry my posts negative about hp but ive learnt if you need help ask another user!

[Mister_Do]

Hi all,

Now that Windows 7 has officially released, you should see much more info available on HP.com and HP Customer Care regarding drivers, how to upgrade, and other FAQs.

Here are a few helpful links for HP Desktop PCs:

Frequently Asked Questions about the Windows® 7 Upgrade Option Program from HP

Upgrading to Windows 7 - install steps

[nattieboy123]

Tech_Rain, no I'm using regular Firefox. It crashes completely when i'm off line as well but it doesn't crash often. Maybe once a day! The monitor goes blank while I'm online. I understand it's an RC but that's the whole idea of them isn't it? A test run for both PC makers and software makers. I am thinking about buying but I don't want to pay for the same problems.

[jimbocp]

I have recently purchased a new HP computer, which was advertised heavily as being eligable for a free windows 7 upgrade and ultimately did play a part in my decision to buy a HP, and yes this is the case.......but......what they dont advertise heavily (apart from some minor comment in the small print) is that when you follow the links to order the upgrade kit (a mere 2 cds from what i can gather) you will be directed to an outside site, which will charge.......£21.99 for shipping. This is an absolute rip-off, who in good conscience can adervtise a free product and then charge this ridiculous amount of money for posting 2 cds!!!??? Apparently there is no way round this, other than not getting the upgrade, but i just thought i'd bring this to everyones attention.

[photogman]

when you order the windows 7 upgrade from microsoft throught the third party fullment, does the windows 7 disc you receive have all the hp bloatware and extra crap on it that came installed when i bought my hp?  Or will it be a completely clean version like one you would buy if you walked in a big box store like staples or best buy?

[JNO]

My attempt to install Windows 7 on my HP a1340n results in BSOD stop:0x0000005c. Anyone have ideas on this?