Windows 7 Performance Check: Upgrade Install vs. Clean Install
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September 16th, 2009 written by Sandro Villinger in Windows Insights
Microsoft’s shiny, new operating system, Windows 7, is just around the corner (October 22), and there’s been a lot of buzz around Vista’s successor. For those ready for “7,” here are a number of ways to get this new Windows version:
- The easiest (but most costly) route is to buy a new desktop or laptop after October 22, 2009. The operating system comes preinstalled, making everything nice and dandy.
- You can buy the retail version of Windows 7 on October 22 in your local store, or you can go ahead, buy a PC with Windows Vista now and then get a free Windows 7 disc sent to you by the computer manufacturer. Either way, you’ll end up with two additional choices once you receive a copy of the new operating system:
Clean Install: Save your files, wipe your hard disk (make sure to back up all your important data beforehand), and install Windows 7 on an empty drive. Then reinstall your programs, and set up everything the way you want it.
Upgrade Install: Insert the Windows 7 disc, and let it automatically update your running Vista system and keep all of your files and settings. Important: If you’re using Windows XP, you are out of luck; Microsoft does not allow an upgrade from XP to 7.
Choosing the installation path of Windows 7
Which type of installation do you want (Upgrade vs. Clean Install)?
We have the right answer for you!
The Upgrade Install from Vista to Windows 7 sounds like a trouble-free solution because it might save you hours of configuring and reinstalling programs. But, talk to any expert, and you’ll get one simple answer—Clean Install is the best and “cleanest” option. It prevents any old garbage from ruining your new Windows 7 installation. So, are Microsoft gurus stigmatized from earlier Windows versions, where an upgraded operating system was much slower and more prone to errors?
Advantages of an image-based setup
With Windows Vista and 7, Microsoft introduced a new way of installing the operating system. Instead of copying dozens of files like a typical installer, it simply decompresses a preinstalled copy of Windows onto your hard disk. Then, it adjusts itself based on your user settings and hardware. In theory, this should make the Windows 7 upgrade process a clean one. After this clean, preinstalled copy of Windows 7 has been laid out on your disk, it reinstalls your programs, imports your settings and copies your data. It also performs an automatic defragmentation of the hard disk. This takes hours, and with the following benchmarks and observations, we hope to find out if it’s a process worth enduring.
Finding the typical Vista machine
For conducting our tests, we found a Windows Vista machine that has been running for roughly two years. It was used as a typical family and basic work computer on a day-to-day basis.
Our Test Bed: Acer Ferrari Notebook (Dec. 2006), AMD Turion 64 X2, 2 GByte of RAM, ATI Radeon Xpress 1150, Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
The owner never really cared about optimizing or maintaining the computer, which is what we believe to be standard of a typical, home machine. It had all of the basic programs you need: Office 2007, WinDVD 9, iTunes, Adobe Reader and Flash. We also found about 20 games installed, from tiny puzzles to Sims 3. Windows Vista SP2 was installed, including all of the necessary updates.
The performance of this test machine was horrible—it has been bogged down by nearly one hundred installed programs, an overcrowded registry and dozens of processes running in the background. Over the past few months, an additional 75 programs were installed and then uninstalled, leaving dozens of ghost folders under the “Program Files” directory and orphaned keys in the registry. It will be interesting to see just how much Windows 7 cleans up before it installs.
Our benchmarks explained
Without optimizing the system, we ran the following set of benchmarks:
Boot-up time: The time it takes the machine once the power switch has been pressed to finally loading the last automatically running program on the list.
Shutdown time: The time it takes from clicking the “Shut Down” button to actual power down.
Start Outlook 2007: The time it takes for Outlook 2007 to load and display the first e-mail.
Compressing a 1.09 GByte file into a ZIP file: The way the operating system handles tasks that really push the CPU. We used WinRAR in this instance.
Open IE 8.0: The time it takes to start Internet Explorer 8(IE 8). We specified eight home pages in IE 8; however, we did not measure how long it took to actually display the Websites, as that depends entirely on the Internet connection.
3D Mark 2006: A performance measurement with standard settings. Since our test machine only has an ATI Radeon Xpress 1150, we used this older DirectX 9 benchmark.
PC Mark Vantage: A series of benchmark tools designed to test the productivity of the CPU, and read/write speeds of the memory and hard disks. It also tests the machine by automatically performing tasks such as playing multiple video files, editing photos or filling up WordPad with dozens of pages of text. We used the “default run” here, as well.
All of the benchmarks mentioned above were performed on three configurations: the original Windows Vista Home Premium, the upgrade of Windows 7, and the Clean Install of Windows 7. To make sure that nothing interfered with our tests, we conducted each test three times and used the average result. We also made sure that each configuration (Upgrade Install vs. Clean Install) had been used for exactly four weeks before the test drive, and that no Windows feature interfered (See this article for more information on how we conduct our benchmarks.) The TuneUp Blog team wanted to conduct a long-term test to bring you the most accurate results.
Boot-up and shutdown
The original boot-up time of Vista Home Premium was incredibly slow. It took more than two minutes until all of the startup programs were up and running. Even after that, the hard disk kept spinning for another five minutes.
Windows 7 starting up
Things got a bit better when upgrading to Windows 7. The upgrade shaved off a couple of seconds, leaving the hard disk spinning wildly for only 30 more seconds. Although some might consider this an improvement, it’s still too long for this machine that used to boot up Windows XP in less than 45 seconds.
Application performance
No matter what we did, Outlook 2007 needed three more seconds until the first e-mail was displayed—at least using the Upgrade Install. Internet Explorer 8 showed a nice boost in performance—it took only six seconds until the browser showed up and began loading the eight tabs we set as our start page.
Processor, graphics and memory performance
Compressing the video file was only a tad faster with the Upgrade Install of Windows 7— both handled this job, that really pushes the CPU, equally well. This was a big surprise, and yes, we tested it several times on each operating system: The Clean Install of Windows 7 was able to compress the video file in only three minutes.
Playing an HD video file
On Vista, we regularly experienced hiccups during HD video playback; sometimes this was accompanied by audio lags. In Windows 7, thanks to improved HD codecs, all of that disappeared. The HD files all played smoothly, even while opening dozens of applications at the same time.
Synthetic benchmarks (in points)
3DMark 2006 showed only minimal improvements on the Upgrade Install, whereas the PCMark Vantage benchmark showed a huge increase in performance with the Music and Communication Suite tests. This could be due to a newer audio driver that came with 7. However, the biggest improvements came with the Clean Install of Windows 7. The Music Suite test, for example, went from 2121 to 3177 points. From a Gaming Suite perspective, not much changed. 3DMark 2006 did not make a significant jump, because it mostly relies on the graphic card.
Overall performance from the user perspective
This section shows what the benchmark cannot test—the actual responsiveness and overall performance “feel.” For example, how fast can Windows 7 draw windows and menus, or how well does it respond under heavy load?
- Original Vista Home Premium: After a long boot-up time, Vista’s performance was a bit sluggish. It took too long for the user interface to display menus or folder contents. The start menu and programs also needed a long time to start.
- Upgrade Install: After the upgrade, the overall performance and responsiveness improved noticeably. Windows 7 is said to be the fastest-responding Windows version yet; however, thanks to all of the junk carried over from the previous Vista installation, it did not perform as well as the Clean Install. Only while working with lots of applications simultaneously, Windows 7 was able to maintain its performance, whereas Vista was practically unusable.
- Clean Install: Never has this nearly three year old laptop seen so much performance. It boots up extraordinarily fast. All of the windows and menus popped up instantly, while programs needed half the start time. The owners of the laptop felt the increase in system responsiveness.
Time to set up Windows 7
We not only performed benchmarks but also compared the time it took to have Windows 7 fully working. The upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 took a little more than three hours, compared to the Clean Install which was finished after about 25 minutes. Since an upgrade needs to collect all of your data, settings and programs and then—after the actual installation—put everything where it belongs, it really needed that time.
After the clean installation, we were required to install the drivers and all of the programs again, run Windows Update and set up the machine as it was. This took us around three to four hours, and keep in mind that we’re quite used to the process. Following the upgrade installation, we were more successful than expected in terms of time, seeing as we only needed a couple of minutes until everything was the way we left it under Vista. Only Windows Live Messenger needed to be reinstalled—which it did all by itself after the first logon.
But were all settings, personal data, files, or even the desktop icon order saved? The next chart shows you exactly if and what settings and files the Windows 7 Upgrade Install was able to salvage:
We were very impressed with the Windows 7 upgrade procedure. Nearly all of our settings, files, and programs were exactly where we left them. Most programs worked fine, with a few exceptions here and there. Windows 7 even remembered the exact positions of our desktop shortcuts and gadgets.
Right before the Upgrade: We say goodbye to the old, sluggish Vista system
After the Upgrade: Almost everything is where it was, running a tad faster than before
There is no doubt that the Upgrade Install proved to be the most hassle-free solution. Just popping in the Windows 7 disc and letting it do all of the work is very convenient. A conclusion is hard to draw at this point. In some cases, an upgraded Windows 7 will perform faster, while in others, it takes longer than Vista to complete the given tasks. In terms of performance, it is more of a mixed bag. If you can handle this but definitely need to save time and nerves, go with the upgrade installation. You don’t need to copy files, remember settings or reinstall programs. On our test bed, everything worked perfectly, and there were no random errors. Keep in mind: There are literally thousands of programs and configurations out there. There is also a strong chance that, after the upgrade, you will find yourself hunting bugs and errors—and that might cost you more time than a Clean Install.
Reminder: We took a two-year-old Vista PC that had seen its share of crashes, installs, uninstalls, viruses and more. If you just bought your Vista PC, chances are it is not full of garbage. If you’re using a fresh and well maintained installation of Windows Vista, you will be fine to upgrade. The impact on performance will be absolutely minimal.
Our Clean Install: After 3–4 hours, all of the programs were set up again. Performance went up approximately 30 percent compared to Vista! We think this process is worth the time
If you have the time and don’t mind working on your computer for a couple of hours, then we strongly suggest the Clean Install method. By wiping your hard disk and starting fresh, you will leave all of the unnecessary applications from Windows Vista behind. Windows 7 takes only about half the time to boot up and performed 10–30 percent (!) faster than Vista or the 7 upgrade. But, keeping your clean system clean is the key.
What are your thoughts? Did you get better (or worse) results while upgrading? What is your preferred choice?
49 Responses to “Windows 7 Performance Check: Upgrade Install vs. Clean Install”
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September 16, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Decisive for the decision “Upgrade or Clean Install?” may be the performance during upgrading to Windows 7. This is mentioned on Chris Hernandez’s Blog (http://blogs.technet.com/chris_hernandez/archive/2009/09/11/windows-7-upgrade-performance.aspx) because it may take a little time.
September 16, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Hi MR, good point – I saw Chris Hernandez post a couple of days ago. But I personally would steer clear from an upgrade: Yes, it might be easier and faster, but the performance will suffer as long as you don’t have a very fresh Vista installation.
September 17, 2009 at 2:04 am
so if you choose to do a “custom install” and neglect to format the partition, does this not count as a “clean install”? will you still see the performace increase or not?
September 17, 2009 at 9:54 am
It would that count as a clean install as well, as Windows moves the older files (system files, program files) into the Windows.old-Folder. One thing that comes to my mind is disk fragmentation: I am not sure if the Windows 7 setup defrags the disk before (or right after) the installation – I need to figure that out asap. My advice, if you don’t want to format your drive or forgot it: Install Windows 7, rescue your data from the Windows.old folder, delete it and then defrag the disk.
September 17, 2009 at 4:07 pm
The Quick Launch toolbar can be easily re-created on Windows 7.
Follow the instructions here:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/add-the-quick-launch-bar-to-the-taskbar-in-windows-7/
By also making the changes listed here:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/3784/change-the-windows-7-taskbar-to-work-like-vista/
you can give Windows 7 a fairly good approximation of the Vista desktop appearance.
December 8, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Hello…
I’ve got a 2 years old Vaio laptop running Windows Vista. Unfortunately Sony does not support my model for a Windows 7 upgrade. I made a clean install and found out that I was unable to get all the drivers and applications originally came with my laptop. Since, I’ve formatted my hard drive several times, if I recovered it to Windows Vista and upgraded to 7, do you think it would affect the system performance too much as opposed to clean install? Am only asking it since it’ll be as though I upgrade from a new system, because of the format.
Thank you,
H.
December 9, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Hi Harryup,
as we wrote in the article, we figured out that if you have a freshly installed Vista-system (which you have since you did a recovery) there won’t be any noticeable performance problems. You won’t notice much differences between the upgrade in your case! Enjoy Win7!
Best,
Sandro
December 9, 2009 at 3:02 pm
thank you kindly for your reply,
I’ve had so many problems with Vista, and I just wanted to make sure that I leave them behind for good
all the best,
Haris
January 20, 2010 at 9:53 am
Hi folks, appreciate your kind advice..other than the application performance, how do I check if my new notebook’s Win 7 OS is an Upgrade or Clean Installation?
January 20, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Hi Jarron,
if you just bought your notebook, then Windows 7 is a clean installation. I have never heard of a case, where the manufacturer ugrades a Vista machine to Windows 7 in-house!
Best, Sandro
January 21, 2010 at 9:24 pm
I have what may be a dumb question. We have a relatively new desktop, purchased in June 2009. Has Vista, of course. We would like to change to Windows 7. Ideally I would like to do a clean install. Can I perform a clean installation with the upgrade version, or do I need the full version? Someone here at work told me I could, but I’m not sure if he’s right. There’s a difference of $50 or more between the 2, so ideally I would like the upgrade version if possible. Thanks for any feedback. Please feel free to make fun of me if this is a stupid question.
January 22, 2010 at 11:51 am
Hi Erik, there are no dumb questions
Actually this question is one of the most asked questions before Windows 7 went on sale. It IS in fact possible, to perform a clean install with a upgrade media, but it requires a bit of work. Check out Paul Thurrots excellent guide (and backgrounds) on the topic: http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp This will show you, how its done!
Best, Sandro
January 22, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Thank you for your quick reply. I looked at the site you mentioned. I will buy the upgrade version to do the clean install. Thank you!
January 22, 2010 at 5:45 pm
You’re welcome! If you have any questions, let me know!! Best, Sandro
January 24, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Dear members, I have a upgrade vs clean install question.
I bought my new Gateway desktop last week of Dec 09. Got the Windows 7 discs two days back.
On the PC, I have installed Sony PMB but nothing else. I also came with little junk like AOL and Netzero.
Should I upgrade or Clean install? some people noted activation issues with clean install ?
Should we take into account that the comparison here between new install and upgrade is a little skewed. because the new install numbers do not include installs that we wold anyway make. Like office, video editing, printer software etc.
January 24, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Dear Siva, thanks for your comment. If your PC is bought in Dec 2009, then I assume it’s already running Windows 7, right? If it’s running Vista, I can safely recommend an upgrade to Windows 7. A clean install isn’t necessary here. From what you wrote, only a couple of programs are installed. A handful programs don’t slow down the PC noticeably (this also answers your question about our benchmark) – however, I recommend uninstalling the junk programs you mentioned before and then perform the upgrade. Keep it as clean as possible!
I hope I could be of help,
Thanks,
Sandro
February 16, 2010 at 3:29 am
I currently run Vista on my computer, but it is the Japanese version. Is it possible to do a Windows 7 upgrade with the American version?
If I did do the upgrade, I would follow the clean install method by Paul Thurrots you mentioned.
I would love to finally be able to have my computer in English!
February 16, 2010 at 7:55 am
Hi Micah, while we haven’t yet tested this specific scenario, there is no reason why it shouldn’t work with the “Clean install with Upgrade Media” method described by Paul Thurrot. The Windows 7 installer performs a compliance check upon install and will see, that your Vista is activated – regardless of the language. But before you do any of it: Create an image and back up your files
Just in case anything goes wrong.
Another question: If you’re upgrading to Windows 7 Ultimate, you could easily switch languages with the language packs. Unfortunately, that does not work with Home Premium or Professional. See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/ee461121.aspx#Windows7editionsmultilingualsupportsummary.
March 17, 2010 at 9:10 am
Comment deleted by admin (doubling comment from other source).
See original comment at A Step-by-Step Guide: How to Upgrade from Windows Vista to 7
May 4, 2010 at 4:27 am
I did the upgrade a few weeks ago and dont notice any increase in speed. Am I able to load the CD again and do a clean install?
May 4, 2010 at 4:48 am
Hello Araki,
As long as your PC functions without glitches you don’t need to reinstall.
Best, Jeet.
May 4, 2010 at 10:27 am
First of all, Jeet is correct – never touch a running system, right?
But if you’re tech savvy and want absolute perfect performance, I’d recommend trying the following:
1. Create an image of your entire hard disk (using Windows 7s own disk imaging tool).
2. Also back up your important files.
3. Perform a clean install with your Windows 7 DVD! And YES, that’s even possible if you only have the upgrade DVD. See Paul Thurrotts guide over at http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp.
I bet you will see a performance bump. But seriously, if your PC is running in perfect condition, no bugs and you feel that performance is good – then there is no need!
Best, Sandro
TuneUp Blog
July 6, 2010 at 4:55 pm
I have an HP 8120n computer that is a few years old now. It is running Vista and I bought the Windows 7 Premium upgrade. My computer has 2 hard drives in it. The first drive has Vista and some other programs installed and includes the Vista partition. The second hard drive contains mostly programs and is used for storage. Both drives are 320 Gb. If I do a Windows 7 clean install, will only the first hard drive (the one with Vista) be formatted to install Windows 7? I plan to back up all my files anyway, but I’m curious to know if the 2nd hard drive will also be formatted as well. Thanks…
July 6, 2010 at 4:58 pm
During installation, you can easily choose which partition to format. You only need to format ONE partition to install Windows 7! Not the entire hard disk or other disks!
Good luck and enjoy Windows 7!
November 18, 2010 at 2:57 am
I have also found that it makes a big difference to reinstall a OS in a new computer too. In fact I bought a Toshiba netbook and had a OEM copy of Windows 7 premium home. i could have done a upgrade but had already uninstalled a lot of un wanted programs and trials besides the Toshiba NOT value added software. So I figured it was a bit messed up. i clean install of Windows 7 Premium certaily made the Netbook run faster and boot faster. Programs launch faster too. No scientific proof minds you. But I think at times computer companies create software that is not really needed or is redundent to Windows own version helper.
November 18, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Absolutely. Recently my sisters laptop broke (hard disk failure), so she took it to the store. They send the laptop back to the OEM (Acer) who immediatelly put in a new disk (good!) and reinstalled over 30 unnecessary crapware, that I had to get rid off one by one: trial ware, “special” notebook software etc. Only 4-5 were actually useful.
But it’s a small price to pay since OEMs can keep the prices of their laptops low by closing deals with software companies. It’s still not an ideal situation, I agree.
November 26, 2010 at 12:14 am
I have a 1 year old HP vista computer, and I was hoping to do a clean install to upgrade from 32 bit Vista to 64 bit 7 (processor is 64, operating system is 32… Don’t know why but that’s how it is). I don’t have many problems with vista (everything still runs smoothly enough, I don’t see crashes and that sort of thing, mostly because I take decent care of it), but I would like the performance boost of windows 7. Only problem is, I have several programs installed that would be very expensive to repurchase (such as a Adobe CS5) and I’d like not to loose a couple HP programs like lightscribe. The trouble of a clean install doesn’t bother me, I can find the time, but I don’t want to lose or repurchase these programs. Is there any solution, or is an upgrade my only choice?
Also, if I’m stuck with an Upgrade, can I upgrade my 32 bit to 64 bit.
November 26, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Dezi, you wouldn’t need to repurchase your software if you’ve got the box+product key at hand. The HP software would be available at HPs Support website for your computer (http://www.hp.com/cposupport/eschome.html, try searching for it).
If all fails, there’s one program I could really recommend (tried it for various articles – worked perfectly) and that’s PCMOver: http://www.laplink.com/pcmover/. It’ll cost a bit, but it automatically moves all your programs, settings and user accounts from Vista to your Windows 7!
Hope I could help, Best Sandro
December 11, 2010 at 3:55 am
hi there,
(Don’t know whether it’s good question to ask)BUT
I read almost every thing you have wrote, i got an idea that clean installation would be best”(Which I want as well)”(since i have many programs on my pc)(but i keep my pc clean). However I do have one more question, I currently have HP Pavilion dv4 which came with pr-installed Vista home professorial. it also has some programes like hp system check, hp media smart, hp total care advisor, net zero, some programs i even don’t know what it does, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY it has ‘recovery’ (probably created by hp themself) which is why i am lacking behind from win7.
please kindly tell me what would you suggest me to do, clean install(will be there any problem in future with hp? since hp software will be gone) OR upgrade(will be my pc slugging and slow?)
Cheers,
Sam
December 12, 2010 at 6:59 am
Hey Sam – actually I’d still recommend a clean install since your HP software won’t be gone for long: I’d check the DVD that came with your computer OR go online at http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html?pageDisplay=drivers and check for the software.
If you’ve got a “recovery” partition, then maybe your software is on there. Before installing Windows 7 (and wiping your disk), I’d copy this software over on an external hard disk or burn it to DVD.
At any rate….MOST of the preinstaled software is not really necessary. I’d just pick and reinstall only those tools that you actually actively use
Hope I could help,
Best, Sandro
March 3, 2011 at 4:23 am
i want to install win 7 to my hp pavilion dv2 with pre intalled vista home…i dont have cd dvd drive and i will just use virtual clone drive(dvd rom) ..is it safe to install using that?and insall it in different partition of my disk,,,and later i will format the vista partition…how this will affect the pc performance ?
March 3, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Hey Mark, that sounds like a good plan, but maybe you should try out a different way without fiddling with virtual drives and multiple partitions: You should install Windows 7 from a USB thumb drive – that’s probably the easiest solution!
Works perfectly with your ISO. Here’s the tool made by Microsoft: http://download.cnet.com/Windows-7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool/3000-18513_4-10972600.html.
If you want to do it manually or if the tool above doesn’t work, try this: http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/
Hope I could be of help!
Sandro
August 14, 2011 at 10:45 pm
This a dumb question, but where did you get the orange pagoda wallpaper that’s in the article?
Thanks.
August 16, 2011 at 3:45 pm
Hi Mel, not a dumb question at all – that wallpaper is one of my all time favorites. Grab it here: http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/details/1988/tarantula_tree.html.
Best, Sandro
December 10, 2011 at 5:45 pm
a way to make a windows 7 run lightninig fast is on http:/eraofit.com
http://eraofit.com/2011/09/28/a-way-to-make-windows-7-run-lightning-fast/