THSCC Forums

Yes, it's true, I might buy Windows.

From everything I've read, Win 7 Media Center seems to be a very compelling option for a HTPC. I want simple, and it sounds like it might fit the bill. I'll also get hardware compatibility with about everything...

What version would I need to buy, and what do you have to do to qualify for the "upgrade" price. Can I "Upgrade" Sally's old work computer that has XP on it, only install the upgrade onto a different machine? I think she may still have the original Dell disks with the computer.

Might just be easiest to buy a cheap PC with win 7 already installed? I'll be starting from scratch here.

Scott

What are the specs of your current system you want to upgrade and what OS are you currently running?

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2003 Subaru WRX Sportwagon = daily driver/boost and booster seats
2000 BMW 540iT = wife's kid hauler
2012 Toyota Highlander = the boring reliable vehicle

Windows 7 = Mac OS7

Scott, if you need any original OS installation disks from Dell, I've got you covered. If I were in your shoes, I'd grab a second cheap drive from Tiger Direct and do a clean install on it which keeps Sally up and running as is on the existing drive. IIRC, the upgrade installation only works from Vista. And Windows upgrade installations are known to be not great.

If you know of anybody that qualifies for the $30 student version, I'll be happy to reward with a six pack of their choice.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

too many questions...

I would be upgrading a new machine, just using an old celeron laptop (about 7 years old) as the source of XP to upgrade over. Sounds like I would be buying new anyway, since the upgrade is for Vista.

Do all the Win7 versions come with the media center stuff?

Scott

do you know where i can get this student version you speak of? i wasnt planning on upgrading but if i can do it for 30 bucks what the hell.

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#77 nasa spec 3
e36 M3

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

If you have a .edu address, you can use Win741.com to get either Home Premium or Professional for $30. The offer is valid until the beginning of Janurary of 2010.

Windows Media Center is included with Windows 7 (if it isn't Starter). It's a decent enough program, but if you're not on best terms with the MPAA, it might not work out for you. AFAIK, WMC doesn't allow the playback of file formats such as Matroska (which is rather unfortunate). However, if you have MPEG-4 or h.264 content in .mp4 or .avi containers, it should work just fine.

If you have any specific questions about Win7, I can probably answer them for you seeing how my main desktop, netbook, and HTPC have all been on Windows 7 for a while now.

edit: buy the upgrade media. You can do a clean install with the upgrade media.

thanks for the link Wes. i've got a few friends so i'm sure i can get you a student copy if you want.

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#77 nasa spec 3
e36 M3

If you've got a 7 YO Celeron laptop, then I'd just get a new one. They are cheap enough.

The upgrade version can be used with Vista and XP, but you will have to do a clean install (which you want to do anyway) if you are upgrading from XP.

Media Center is included with the Home Premium, Professional, and Enterprise/Ultimate versions.

I've been using Windows 7 full-time since the beta and I think it's the best version since the 3.11 Wolverine release.

For a while I had to keep a Windows XP virtual machine around to do some things, but the latest release seems to have fixed most of their issues, with the exception of ftp uploads via a file browser window, but supposedly this has been fixed in the retail version.

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"Every ship is a minesweeper, once."

Some interesting posts today on this thread with regards to Windows 7, TWC, cable cards, DRM and tuner options.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre ... 3&page=409


Frank