The Everyday IT Blog

I’ve been using Windows 7 since it was in beta stage and I have to say.. I’m impressed.  While Windows isn’t my OS of choice (I prefer Fedora Linux by far) it is a necessity from an administration perspective.. my company operates a Windows-based network and we will likely always have some tie to that.  It is what it is.  While Vista has gotten much better since the release of service pack 2 it was never on the “must upgrade” list for our user machines – it was relegated to a forgotten machine that sits on a desk in a deep, dark corner of the office.. the desk that plays double-duty as a storage shelf for the office Christmas decorations.  We use it every once in a while to do release testing for our client software, but that’s it.

Windows 7 is proving to be different.  Users like it.. I like it.. it seems to work well in our office environment – so I’ll let it creep in with new desktop machines and laptops as we replace them without spending the time to downgrade to XP.  Certain users will get the opportunity to upgrade to take advantage of the better-than-average hardware they are already running, so I figured I’d better put myself through the upgrade process.  Just so you know.. most IT folks will generally advise against doing in-place upgrades.  There’s just too much that can (and often does) go wrong.  An in-place upgrade is rarely a clean one – you can end up masking compatibility and software issues that will haunt you down the road.  So, with all that in mind, I went ahead anyway.

Oh.. you XP users – Microsoft did you a favor whether it seems like it or not.  You can’t directly upgrade from XP to Windows 7.  That’s probably a good thing.  Vista users.. read on.  If you read nothing else.. read the statement below:

My advice to you.. re-read my previous post about backups and take that advice.. you might need it like I did.

I put the Windows 7 dvd in my drive and let’er rip.  Things started normally enough.. then the compatibility check that runs before install kicked out a problem.   My wireless software (by a large company with a catchy little tune for their brand) wasn’t compatible with the install for some reason.  The suggestion was to remove that software and start over.. so I did.  Without the wireless software I wasn’t connected to the Internet, and I didn’t bother to grab a cable and plug in to get connected.. and that was likely the reason for my upgrade failure.

Windows 7’s installer gives you the option to connect to the Internet to get installation and hardware updates before install.  It shouldn’t be an option.. it should be required.  Once I told the installer to soldier on without updates it appeared to be doing just that.  The system copied the files it needed to copy in order to restart and perform the upgrade, and came through that restart just fine.  After getting about halfway through the upgrade the installer encountered a fatal problem with a device driver and tried to automatically roll back the install.. but it failed.  The box rebooted and tried to repeat the very same upgrade process with the very same failure.  The OS was toast.  No boot for me.

It was a good thing I ran a backup with Acronis before I started.  I was able to restore the system to its pre-upgrade state inside of 30 minutes and get all of my data back.  If I had needed to revert to the factory image I would have likely lost an entire day reinstalling software and reapplying the tweaks necessary to make Vista perform acceptably well.

I have since performed the upgrade to Windows 7 without issue while cabled up to my network.  The installer resolved whatever driver incompatibility it had previously encountered and did what it was supposed to do.  I’ll file this little nugget of information away in my brain for the next upgrade request.. I’m sure there will be one.

Want Windows 7?  Click the image below to get your copy.

For my readers in Georgia you know that our years-long drought that sent lake levels to record lows was permanently erased with our recent rainfall.. in a near-biblical manner, I might add.  I hope and pray that none of you were adversely affected by the flooding, and if you were I hope you are well on your way to normalcy.

You have seen the pictures of homes in Georgia inundated by floodwaters that the owners never saw coming.. floodwaters swallowing basements, first and in some cases the second floor of some homes.  Think about that for a second.. and think about this – where are you sitting right now?  Your spare room in the basement?  Your home office on the main floor of your home?  I’ll bet you are.

Floods are just one sort of natural disaster that those of us in the IT industry have to be concerned about.  The level of paranoia I have to plan for in day-to-day operations of a business would blow your mind.  Since my company’s main line of business is providing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) I have to be prepared for nearly anything that could possibly happen or we’re not doing business at all.  Not Good.

The cornerstone of my company’s disaster recovery plan is our backup strategy.  We certify to our customers that we keep multiple copies of our data backed up in multiple locations and we also certify that those backups are secure.   Keeping our customer data protected is one thing.. but for you, the home user – is data backup as important for you?  I can’t answer that for you, so think to yourself about the data that might be on your computer right now.. photos, emails, financial data, documents.. can you reproduce those if your hard drive dies?  Many people can’t.. myself included.  The sad thing for those that have experienced this sort of data loss is that it is completely preventable, and the cost is far lower than you think.  You’ll need two things:

• I recommend and use disk imaging software.  This sort of software takes a complete snapshot of your computer’s filesystem and can be easily restored just as it was when that “snapshot” was taken, even to different computer hardware.
• Creating a backup to the same system that it came from is no backup strategy at all.. you’ll lose the backup with the rest of the system if something bad happens.  You need an external hard drive or a internet-based backup storage system to get your data away from your system.

On the software side I use and highly recommend Acronis True Image.  I have backed up AND successfully recovered many systems with this software.  It is simple and efficient to use, and at a list price of $50 it is really inexpensive.  The newest version of this software also allows you to store your backup online with the manufacturer.. so you can restore your data anywhere in the world that is necessary.

If online backup just isn’t for you I recommend an external usb hard drive.  I currently use a Seagate FreeAgent Go external drive.  It is really small and is usb-powered.. you can easily move the drive to your safe deposit box at your bank, to a relative’s house, or anywhere else you deem safe.  At around $80 this purchase is also very much worth it.

If you would like to share your strategy or discuss this topic in greater depth I invite you to leave a comment below.  I look forward to reading your responses!