Jumping into new waters
To boldly go where few have gone before; to take a computer that is functioning well and try something new. Tonight, my little netbook is getting a “make over”, and things are going fairly well. Not perfectly; somewhat akin to trying out a new haircut (and I don’t do that any more).
I’ve decided to migrate the small computer from XP to W7. Came across that name while reading someone’s blog, and given the odd way that Microsoft names their permutations on an OS, it makes as much sense as anything else. I had to jury rig things, just to get started, since the netbook doesn’t have an optical drive. Copying the contents of the W7 DVD to a USB drive took little effort, and then I used common sense, by simply starting “setup”. Within minutes, the corporate website made things clear – you cannot upgrade directly from XP to W7, but you can install and then fix the gaping holes.
From start to desktop, I needed 45 minutes. My wifi connection was recognized immediately, and with the correct key in place, I had no problem connecting to our home network (to install Firefox, a priority). Although I’d been warned that McAfee antivirus might have issues, I forged ahead with a standard install, which required a forced restart once the update function got lost on the way to market. I returned to go and downloaded a signature update file which allowed version 8.7 to be ready for the barbarians.
Product Activation happened about 40 minutes after my first restart. Usually the product key is typed in before installation, but W7 has a different way of doing the dirty. The machine is now ready for software installs, without major headache. I’m impressed. This is a dual-boot machine, so Linux is current MIA, but I’ve been down that road before. Sometime tomorrow, I’ll reinstall Mint Gloria and all will be right in my world.
