Windows Vista requirements - Is your computer ready for Vista?

Posted on March 31, 2007 at 11:35 pm

If you’re looking into upgrading your Windows XP machine to Windows Vista and you’ve heard that Vista does not go well with some older hardware, etc…then you’re right and before you upgrade, you should definitely check out whether or not your computer is ready because certain hardware, software, or drivers can crash your install and leave you with a dead computer!

So you can use Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor 1.0 to check out whether your computer can reach the bar to handle Vista! First, download the tool from the link above and install it. I had some trouble on my computer and had to uninstall and then reinstall it for some strange reason.

Once it’s installed, launch it and you’ll get the Vista “clear” vision splash screen, click Next.

The program will then scan your computer and it’ll take about 5 to 10 minutes, so while that is happening, Microsoft provided a nice little chart to help you figure out which version of Vista is for you. You can also click on each version and get a little bit more of a description. For example, Vista Home Basic doesn’t have the Aero interface, so you don’t get all those fancy looking Windows and glass effects, etc.

After it’s done with the scanning, you’ll get a report with the system issues that need to be resolved before you upgrade. For me, I had some System Requirements (not enough hard drive space), Devices (could not get any data on some devices), and Programs (which, funny enough, were all Microsoft apps!).

Clicking on one of the items at the bottom of the list brings you to another page that gives you more extensive details on exactly what is causing the problem and what is OK.

Pretty simple and easy way to check out your system before the big upgrade! Make sure you back up your computer before you perform the upgrade! Good luck.

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» Filed Under Windows Vista