To upgrade Windows XP to Windows 7 it’s a little bit hard than to upgrade Windows Vista to Windows 7, and to make this upgradation you’ll need to select the Custom option during Windows 7 installation. To make this upgrade of software, you need an external hard disk to move your files off of your PC before you install Windows 7(for more detail read step 2), and the original installation discs or setup files for the programs that you want to use with Windows 7, because you’ll need to reinstall your programs by hand after installing Windows 7.

Before to install the Windows 7, you should be sure what of the versions of Windows 7 you will install: 32-bit or 64-bit. On the Windows 7 CD exists the both versions of Windows 7(32-bit and 64-bit).

To be sure what version of Windows you are running on your computer, follow these steps:

A: Right click on My Computer;

B: Then click Properties;

C: If you don’t see x64 Edition under System, that mean you running a 32-bit version of Windows XP, else if you see x64 Edition under System that mean you running a 64-bit version of Windows XP;

Next I will present the steps that you should follow to have a clean installation of Windows 7 over Windows XP.

Step 1: Download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

To be sure that your computer is compatible with Windows 7, to see that your hardware, devices, or programs are compatibles with Windows 7 requirements, you should download and run Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. To make this, follow these steps:

1. Click here to download Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor;

2. Double-click the installation file saved to your PC;

3. If you agree the license terms, click Install;

4. Click Close;

5. Double-click the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor shortcut on your PC’s desktop;

6. If appear a security warning, click Yes;

7: Click Start check – the program will scanning your computer hardware, devices, and installed software;

8: Read the report carefully, and make note of any issues that the Upgrade Advisor finds and what the recommended steps are to fix these issues;

Info: Microsoft recommendation is to running twice the program before to start the upgradation.

Step 2: Moving files and settings, and gathering your program discs

Before to start your upgradation system to Windows 7, you can use a free tool from Windows, that help you to move your files and settings to another location before you install Windows 7.

Windows Easy Transfer creates a single file containing your files and settings, and the size of the file depending on the amount of data you have, and this is the reason that the Microsoft recommended to use an external hard disk.

Windows Easy Transfer doesn’t move your programs, only your files and settings, and after you upgrade your system to Windows 7 (you’ll need to reinstall your programs by hand), the program also can’t transfer files from a 64-bit version of Windows to a 32-bit version of Windows, and the program moves your music and video files, but doesn’t migrate the licenses for content protected by digital rights management.

How you can use Windows Easy Transfer

1. Download the file from here (choose the right version for your Windows – 32-bit or 64-bit);

2. At this step you should be sure that your external hard-disk or other storage device is connected to your computer;

3. Go to Start -> All Programs -> and then and then click Windows Easy Transfer for Windows 7;

4. Click Next;

5: Select An external hard disk or USB flash drive;

6. Click This is my old computer, and then wait while Windows Easy Transfer scans the computer;

7. Clear the check boxes next to any user accounts that you don’t want to transfer data from, and then click Next;

8. Enter and retype a password, and then write it down and keep it in a safe place; or leave the boxes blank, and then click Save;

9. Browse to the external hard disk or other storage device where you want to save your Easy Transfer file, and then click Save.(Don’t save the file in My Computer, you should save the file on your external hard-disk or other storage device );

10. Windows Easy Transfer will begin saving your files and settings. Do not use your computer during this time;

11. When you see the message These files and settings have been saved for your transfer, click Next;

12. Click Next, and then click Close;

13. Ensure that the file is saved to your external hard disk or storage device, and then disconnect the device from your computer;

Step 3: Installing Windows 7

When you choose the Custom option during installation, you install a new copy of Windows on your PC.

If you have an antivirus software installed on your computer, turn it off  before the installation, and also remember after you finish the installation to turn it on. Select either the 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7 installation disc, depending on whether you want to install the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 7.

How you can make your custom installation

1. If you have a CD with Windows 7, insert the disc into your computer. Setup should start automatically, if the setup not starting automatically, go to My Computer, open the disk and then click on setup.exe file, else if you purchased and downloaded Windows 7 online, open the installation file;

2. On the Install Windows page, click Install now;

3. On the Get important updates for installation page, Microsoft recommended to get the latest updates to help ensure a successful installation, and to help protect your computer against security threats. Your computer will need to be connected to the Internet during Windows 7 installation to get these updates;

4. On the Please read the license terms page, if you accept the license terms, click I accept the license terms, and then click Next;

5. On the Which type of installation do you want? page, click Custom;

6. Choose the partition containing Windows XP (this is often the computer’s C: drive), and then click Next. (Do not select your external USB hard drive.);

7. In the Windows.old dialog box, click OK;

8. Continue to follow the instructions to finish installing Windows 7, including naming your computer and setting up an initial user account. You can use the same names that you used in Windows XP, or choose new ones;

Step 4: Moving your files and settings back to your computer

After the installation is finished, you can run Windows Easy Transfer again, to move your files and settings back to your computer.

1. Make sure your external hard disk or other storage device that contains your Windows Easy Transfer migration file is connected to your computer;

2. Go to Start -> Computer -> and under Hard Disk Drives, double-click your storage device;

3. Browse to the location where you saved the Easy Transfer file, called Windows Easy Transfer – Items from old computer or if you gave the file a different name when you originally created it, and double click the file;

4. If you entered a password when creating the Easy Transfer file, type the password, and then click Next;

5. On the Choose what to transfer to this computer page, you can decide how the user accounts from Windows XP are transferred to Windows 7.

• To accept the current account mapping, click Transfer.
• To change how the Windows XP accounts are mapped in Windows 7, click Advanced Options.

6. On the Your transfer is complete page, click See what was transferred to view a list of the user accounts and files that were moved from Windows XP to Windows 7. Click See a list of programs you might want to install on your new computer to view what was previously installed on Windows XP;

7. Click Close. If you are prompted to restart your computer, click Restart now;

Install Windows 7 over XP via Microsoft support