Upgrade from Windows Vista (x64) to Windows 7 (x64)

Is it possible to upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium (x64) to Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) without losing the current programs, their settings and the data in the hard disk? If possible, how much time does it take to finish the full upgrade? Is it necessary to backup the system against probable errors?

Solution 1:

It's possible to do it, but it might take a long time (anything up to 14-15 hours). I upgraded from Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional in about 2.5 hours, even though I had quite a lot of apps.

This question shows you the upgrade paths available from Vista to 7.

Solution 2:

Yes you can, and I would do a backup first just to be safe. The time depends on a lot of things, including processor and HDD speed, amount of data on the HDD, etc. But I'd estimate 1-1.5 hours.