Reader David writes: Looking for help on upgrading my XP computer to Windows 7 this week and bought a new hard drive for my computer. I heard most installed programs are removed during the upgrade to Windows 7 anyway, so how would you suggest I change over to a new HDD since I will be losing most of the installed apps from the upgrade?

First off, let's make one thing clear: Anyone upgrading from XP to Windows 7 isn't just going to lose "most installed programs," but rather everything. There's no way to upgrade directly from XP to Windows 7, at least not using a Windows 7 media disc. Your only option is to perform a "clean install," which essentially wipes all the data off your existing drive and forces you to start fresh. "Clean," as they say. (The only way you can upgrade and keep your applications and data is in certain Vista-to-Windows 7 situations, and even then only if you're moving between comparable versions and the same xx-bit edition.)

The bottom line is that if you're noodling over the installation of a new hard drive, well, the time to do it is before you install Windows, when you'll save yourself the greatest amount of hassle and headache. You're going to have to reinstall all your apps anyway no matter what, but at least this way you could use the old hard drive as a ready-made backup for copying all your old files over to the new computer.

Now, if that's unappealing (and I don't blame you for feeling that way) there are a few workarounds available if you're dead-set on keeping your applications during a Windows XP to Windows 7 migration. Your best bet is probably PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant, which lets you keep your applications no matter what version of Windows you're upgrading from, XP or Vista, 32-bit or 64-bit. For $14.95 (until October 22), it's a solid deal, even though you only get to use it once. Also note this software is only suitable for same-machine upgrades. If you're moving from one machine to a different computer, a different version of PC Mover is a better fit.