Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 2:50 pm

As a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), I have always needed to upgrade my IT knowledge to follow the IT trend. I have already trained Windows XP and Windows Vista courses and now it is time to move forward to the latest Microsoft Windows products, Windows 7.

1. I have already been a Windows Vista user for more than 2 years and now I have upgraded to use Windows 7. Even though there are a lot of similarities between Windows Vista and Windows 7, but there are new features available and enhancement that makes it better to use Windows 7.

2. To start exploring into Windows 7, the first thing we need to look at, are our machines able to install and run Windows 7? Basically, for those machines already running Windows Vista, it should have no issue to run on Windows 7. However, to those older machines that are running on Windows XP and earlier version of Windows Operating Systems, it is recommended to run some testing to check if the machines can be installing and run on Windows 7. One important aspect that you need to look at is the peripherals’ drivers. Are the drivers Windows 7’s compatible? If your computer is still attached to old outdated printer, scanner or fax, those existing drivers might work fine in XP, but will it able to operate with Windows 7?

3. There is no need to waste time referring to system requirement on those peripheral manufacturers’ websites. The easiest solution is to run a simple software tool that can be download from Microsoft’s website since Windows 7 is a Microsoft product. This software tool is known as Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and it is designed to analyze the system and scans to look for weaknesses and problems with incompatibility with your hardware, devices and installed programs as well as give warning about any potential issues and recommend what to do before you decide to purchase Windows 7.

4. Therefore, before you start thinking about buying a Windows 7 license package, I advise you to run this Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor first to ensure your machine can run and compatible to Windows 7. You can get this free Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor at this link here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1b544e90-7659-4bd9-9e51-2497c146af15&displaylang=en

5. After you have downloaded this small software, follow the instructions to install it into your computer. After installation, it should be available inside the Windows Menu when you click on the Start button in Windows Vista, or in Start->Program Files if you are using Windows XP or earlier Windows version.

6. One recommendation is that before you start to run Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, it is advisable to plug in all of the peripherals that you use on a regular basis in the computer that you are assessing. This is to allow the software tool to look at and assess all of the accessories that you have in that computer besides assessing the computer’s internal components so as to check whether they will work or not. The peripherals that I am referring here are printers, scanners, external hard disks, digital cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players and so on.

7. Once you hooked up everything, run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor software and then click on the “Start Check” button. It may takes a few minutes depending on how old your computer is and how many accessories you have attached to it. Just let it run until it finish.

8. After the analysis completed, it will show you the screen that tell you all about your PC’s ability to run Windows 7. It will tell you if you can upgrade directly or not from your current Windows operating system installation. Else, it may tell you with an alert advising that you must backup all your programs, data and documents and perform a custom installation or a clean installation to install Windows 7 from scratch.

9. Apart from telling you whether you can upgrade or perform a clean installation, Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor will also warn you that some of the features that you are currently running may not be available once you have installed or upgraded to Windows 7. One of them is the Windows Mail email application in Windows Vista or the Outlook Express in Windows XP. These applications are no longer included in this new operating system. However, if you still need to use email application and of course most of us need to use it, you can download the new “Windows Live Mail” from Microsoft website. This Windows Live Mail is a new powerful offline mail application with the Calendar feature and built-in Anti-Phishing tools. I will write more about this Windows Live Mail in the future post.

10. Lastly, at the bottom of the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor evaluations, there will be a summary of technical requirements to tell you if you have enough hard disk space, memory RAM, appropriate processor that can run Windows 7 and also let you know if your computer can run Aero effects such as the transparent windows. If also advise you on what software for your hardware may need updating and what application programs are not fully compatible to run in Windows 7.

There you go. Don’t just simply buy a Windows 7 and install into your computer. Check it out first if your computer can really upgrade or run Windows 7. Use this Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.

I will write more about Windows 7 in my blog here for your learning knowledge. Please feel free to give any comment here or email me at victor@victorwan.com

Thank you for reading.

In case that you want to purchase a Windows 7 software now, you can click below the version that you want and select upgrade or full version and in boxes or directly download from Microsoft Store (recommended with high speed connections).

Windows 7 Home Premium