Upgrading From Vista to Windows 7
It's easy to do a clean install or to do an upgrade install from Vista to Windows 7, but it's important to know what the difference is, what the procedure is, and what to do if things go wrong.
A clean install is certainly the easiest. It clears everything off your computer and installs the new operating system without any of the old stuff to clog it up.
An upgrade install installs Windows 7 on top of your existing Vista system, and whilst this keeps all your settings such as favourites, etc, it also means that you may also keep some of the things you don't want. Rubbish that accumulates over the years, much of it that you don't even realise you have, but which slows your computer down just the same.
Whichever upgrade you decide on, you should always back up all your files and settings so that if something goes wrong all is not lost. On a clean install, you can simply add your files back onto your drive after completion.
Windows 7 has been designed to be almost idiot proof. That is to say, you should be able to put in the disk, start your computer up, decide what type of upgrade you want, and leave it to do its work.
We say, "Almost idiot proof", because nothing these days is 100% certain. A scratch on the disk, a dirty optical drive, clicking a wrong button by mistake. Most things that can go wrong will go wrong. It may only happen to one person in a thousand, but what if you are that person? Are you absolutely certain that you have a good back-up copy of your personal files, because if something does go wrong, that's not the time to find out your backup didn't take properly.
If you are a pretty confident user, then upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 should provide no problems whatsoever, and any minor problems that are caused you should be able to sort out.
However, if you are not that confident, it may be money well spent if you ask a computer repairer to undertake this task for you. It should be quick and easy, so it should also be reasonably cheap, so ask for a quote up front for the whole update. That way, even if things do go wrong, it's not going to cost you any more than you've budgeted for.