Hi, as these are concept questions I hope minimal soft/hardware info. is enough, I have:

an Asus laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium and MS Office 2010 the starter version.

Because I've only just got my machine back online and mostly working correctly; I'm very keen to overwrite what I have with a) non buggy and b) full versions of the OS and Office suite respectively.

So my questions are:

- how irrevocable is a change from Win 7 Home Premium to Win 7 Ultimate and from the Office starter to the full version? Clearly I have to back up to the hilt, but how destructive is such a change where the source is not from a retailer? If I don't like or can't use the new version, can I roll back the upgrade? (I presume I should upgrade the OS first.)

- I had huge problems getting the network adapter back up running and thus enabling my laptop to fix itself (a 2 week fight!), so I'd like other solutions to leading a crash free life (I monitor my machine closely and use virus checkers etc., but on the other hand I do download frequently and so am exposed to that sort of risk). Would partitioning my drives and using just one for all internet activity be either possible or advisable?

Sorry this is rather long winded, but here's hoping some guru will be willing to advise. A new laptop is definitely not on my budget!

Cheers

Skye

Hi Skye and welcome.

I don't think rolling back Windows would be that easy. I would not try it. That said, I don't know why you would. The versions do not behave differently. But do you really need Ultimate? Most users don't. See Compare Windows - Microsoft Windows

As for Office, I have not heard of any problems upgrading Office.

When you say you download frequently, if you are referring to illegal downloads via torrents and P2P sites that support illegal filesharing, you put yourself and your computer at risk regardless the version of Office or W7 you use. Bitlocker is nice if your computer might be stolen - such as a notebook used for frequent traveling.

Many thanks Digerati, the upgrade is in hopes of getting the following to work: Windows update, drives' backup, and a host of other issues I can't recall right now.
Any thoughts on the partitioning if you have time?

If these things don't work, especially Windows Updates, I would be looking at fixing them. Note that Windows Update not working could indicate malware. And downloading via the aforementioned methods would give me reason to suspect that.

Partitioning is fine if it helps you stay organized. It does not offer any performance increase. And much depends on how big the drive is.

Thanks again, will do a rethink and work again on fixing those issues without taking what I think you indicate are more radical steps.

without taking what I think you indicate are more radical steps.

Not sure what you mean by that. I am just saying upgrading is not normally considered a fix action.

Well, making an unsuccessful and irrevocable upgrade would be a radical disaster for me. I was indeed hoping that a new version of the software would not have the old problems. Am troubleshooting now and appreciate your help.

Laptops are very particular as to O/S source media and driver support. I have seen many try to use an install disk for a seemingly similar vendor model and have no end of problems. The problem often ends up being incorrect (sometime fairly obscure) drivers for very specific hardware components. Often it is best to contact your vendor for a model specific version of W7, if available. And, a basic version is all that most should ever require.

MS Office 2010 starter version: The last time I updated to the full version I did not have to install anything since everything was already preloaded in starter. All that was required is a valid licence key (I bought the key only version - a fairly cheap option) to activate the full version.

BACKUPS: I have always mostly had a need to ensure that my systems could be recoverable. That has generally been possible using a tool known as 'Acronis' for 'image backups'. W7 now provides that some functionality - search for 'backup' and select 'create a system image' to an external device.

I have had to recover such images to a new hard drive (my preference) on several occasions (and was very glad that was even a possibility). That is how you can ensure that what worked several days ago can be recovered exactly as it existed at that time before any current issues. I found it was always best to do several practice runs to get comfortable with the process (ESPECIALLY RECOVERY). Also, it is very prudent and helpful to have multiple 'images' should such an image ever prove to be unsatisfactory or unusable (it has happened).

Heck! I've navigated away from this page and lost my post to you. Suffice to say thanks and will follow up your leads.