Win 7 vs Win 7 with SP1

[Geek-9pm]

Why did Windows 8 remove the family pack upgrade?  

That is because Windows 7 had the family pack upgrade and a lot of people didn't like it when they took away the Windows 8 upgrade Family Pack.

[artbuc]

Family Pack allowed 5 personal installs...so yer good to go...

Not so fast! I freaking forgot to ask him what the Prod Key is! I did a test drive with ProduKey on my PC and it worked so hopefully it will work on SIL's. I did shoot him another email to see if he still has the key. I did not realize that the number listed in System Properties is just the Product ID.

PS. Pretty sure it was 3, not 5. Looks like you can still buy on Amazon for a small fortune.

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Premium-Upgrade-Version/dp/B002MV2MG0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407893204&sr=8-1&keywords=windows+7+family+pack

[artbuc]

EUREKA!! I have the Product Key in hand. Will probably install new HD this weekend. The Win 7 disk is from 2009. Does anyone have any idea how long it will take for Windows to update? I have a pretty fast Verizon FIOS internet connection but 5 years worth of updates? Like we discussed earlier, I could try to install my Win 7 disk but it has SP1 and I am not sure SIL's rig can handle SP1.

[artbuc]

Ok....did a clean install of 32 bit Win7 with SP1 & Anytime Upgrade onto a new 160GB IDE HD. Product Key was right and MS validated install. Successfully installed updates and pasted back documents and files. Everything seems to be working ok EXCEPT the install has some differences which do not seem right. Eg, I no longer have the option of specifying how long before PC goes to sleep. The display is different too. Eg, when I have IE open and open Internet Options, the dialog box is so big I can not see the bottom Apply button so I can not make changes.

Why am I seeing these differences? Driver (or lack thereof) issue? I hope someone can help me. Thanks.

PS I did copy the System32 driver folders onto an external HD except I do not know how to make them available to the new install.

[artbuc]

My wife says I talk to myself, lol, so here I go again! Looks like both problems were solved by getting the right graphics driver installed. The Device Manager said the Display Adaptor driver was up to date but I made it search in the driver folders I had copied/pasted onto my external HD. Windows found and installed. After restart, the sleep option was there and I could properly size icons and dialog boxes. I found the solution simply by googling. Turns out these are very common problems.

Now, what should I do with the copied/pasted driver folders? Think I will rename them and copy them in the System32 folder. That way the previously installed drivers will be available if I need them. I think I have to rename them because apparently you can not overwrite or merge system files, right?

[patio]

No need to rename them....you don't wanna put anything in the System32 folder BTW...

[artbuc]

No need to rename them....you don't wanna put anything in the System32 folder BTW...

Just put them in a Documents Library folder for potential future use?

[patio]

That should be fine...you could burn them to CD as well...