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Q: With support for Win XP stopping in April, 2014, it is time to upgrade, and I prefer going to Win7 home premium, but what do I buy? Upgrade? Refurbish? Full? Retail? And what are the differences?

– Pete C.
Fort Walton Beach, Florida

A: This is obviously a hot topic these days, since there are so many people out there in exactly your situation who have been perfectly happy with Windows XP, and now are feeling pressured to upgrade because Microsoft has pulled the plug on support.  You’ve brought it up in a slightly different way than I’ve covered up until now, so let’s discuss this one more time, and then hopefully put this issue to bed.

Let’s cover each of the choices you mentioned.  First, software is digital, and there’s nothing about 1’s and 0’s that can be “refurbished” so there is no such path available.  “Upgrade” means to perform an in-place update from one qualifying version of Windows to another.  An upgrade version generally costs less than the so-called “full” version, which doesn’t require anything to be on the computer to be installed.  Both XP and Vista qualify for a direct upgrade to Windows 7.  The end result of upgrading is the same as if you were to perform the installation of a full version.  That is, the same until somewhere down the road when you need to perform a re-installation.  It is possible that you would be required to install your original version first, and then perform the upgrade again, rather than simply performing a straight-up install.  Why?  Because that would be the kind of license you own, and it might not come with the ability to be installed on its own.  As far as what you called “retail”, the only sense I can make out of that would be an original equipment manufacturer, or OEM version.  These are special versions that are licensed to hardware vendors and which are supposed to be sold only with that manufacturer’s hardware.  You can purchase OEM versions at reduced cost on the aftermarket, but you run the risk of it not working on your hardware platform, since it may have been designed for a specific vendor, and possibly for a specific computer model.  Also, Microsoft does not provide any direct support for OEM versions. They will refer you to the licensee for support, and since you don’t own their hardware, they probably won’t talk to you either.

In addition to knowing which of the above paths you’re going to take, you also have to know a few other things, such as whether your old computer even has the capability of running a newer version of Windows, and whether you need the 32-bit or the 64-bit version.  There is very little that I can add to what Microsoft has already published on their website, but I can point you in the direction the information they have provided.  The first place you want to start is the Windows Upgrade Advisor, which will scan your PC and identify whether you are capable and ready to upgrade.  You can find it at tinyurl.com/7dczmeg. You probably also could benefit from reading the FAQ on 32-bit vs. 64-bit, which is at tinyurl.com/q5gwg2j.  There’s even a tutorial that you can go through at tinyurl.com/mgm34n6 which will help you to understand the process and be prepared for any bumps you might encounter along the way.  Good luck!

Hopefully everyone has heard the warnings about the zero-day security flaw in Internet Explorer.  If you haven’t, head on over to my website and read this week’s I.G.T.M Web-Only Content read below for a short primer.

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Bonus Web-only Content:

It was my intention to fill this space with basic information about the IE bug that unexpectedly showed up this week.  However, the flaw has already been fixed, so that seems rather moot at this point.  What’s far more interesting to me now is that Microsoft caved and provided a “one-time only” fix to people who are still using Windows XP — the venerable old operating system for which Microsoft discontinued support for only a couple of weeks ago.  I guess this is an occasion for a genuine, rather than sarcastic “Thanks, Bill!” It’s nice to see that even Microsoft can be moved by the needs of the masses in the face of potential security breaches.  Then again, since Microsoft’s software actually caused the problem, one has to wonder what logic they used to rationalize not fixing it?  Anyway, here’s one pretty good article about this situation.  There’s plenty more information available via Google (or Bing, if Microsoft is still supporting it).