FAQ for upgrading to Windows 7 from XP
If you have an XP system that you think has enough horsepower to run Windows 7 and want to know what is involved in an upgrade, Gregg Keizer has an upgrade FAQ at Computerworld.
First, however, run the Microsoft software Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Download the advisor here. It will assess your system and tell you if it is able to run Windows 7.
Also, note that the minimum system requirements according to Microsoft are:
- 1GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1GB RAM (32-bit) or 2GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher
These are the bare requirements. As Keizer says:
Take those with a grain of salt. Vista runs slowly on a PC with just 1GB of memory; Windows 7 may do better, but you’re still likely to be disappointed.
Also note that a clean install is necessary:
Whatever the reasons, you’ll have to do what’s called a “clean” install of Windows 7, which means you’ll need to restore backed up data, recreate settings throughout Windows and reinstall all applications. (“Clean install” isn’t a choice on the Windows 7 install-type selection screen; you’ll pick “Custom” from the two-option list.)
More details can be found in the FAQ.
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