Windows 7 explained Upgrading to Windows 7 from Vista or XP
Since 22 October 2009 most new PCs have sold with Windows 7. But what do you do if you want to upgrade your existing PC to Windows 7 from Windows Vista or from Windows XP?
Upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7
Microsoft says that if your computer is currently running Windows Vista, it should be capable of running Windows 7. Owning a license for Vista means that you’re eligible to buy and install a Windows 7 upgrade edition rather than paying the full price for the software.
Some PC manufacturers have been running a voucher scheme offering free or cut-price upgrades to Windows 7. If you bought a new computer after June 2009, check whether you received a voucher or leaflet entitling you to a free or discounted upgrade.
If you're upgrading, it's important that you choose the right upgrade version. If you use Windows Vista Home Premium, for example, you can perform an upgrade installation to Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Ultimate, but not to Windows 7 Professional.
In theory, this should leave all your personal files, programs, pictures, music and preferences intact and simply replace the operating system itself. We heartily recommend backing up absolutely everything first, however. You may even wish to consider making a disk image backup of your entire hard drive before you start. That way you can always revert everything – including your programs and even the original Vista operating system – should the upgrade process fail. Disk image backup programs include Paragon Drive Backup, Acronis True Image, and Norton Ghost.
Where no upgrade installation is possible, it will be necessary to perform a ‘custom’ or ‘clean’ install instead, effectively deleting everything on your hard disk before installing the new operating system. In these cases, it is even more vital to ensure all your personal files – photos, videos, documents, emails and so on – are backed up to an external hard drive or blank discs before you start, so that you can restore them to the PC once Windows 7 has been installed.
A utility built into Vista called Easy Transfer will help you copy your files across, but it won’t copy your programs.
Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7
For those using XP, Microsoft’s official advice is 'we recommend that you experience Windows 7 on a new PC'. However, if your XP system matches or betters Microsoft’s minimum system requirements, you may still be able to install Windows. Minimum requirements for Windows 7 are:
- 1GHz or faster 32-bit or 64-bit processor
- 1GB RAM (for 32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
- 16GB free hard disk space (32-bit) or 20GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics card
Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor
As well as checking your specifications, you can download and run Microsoft’s Windows Upgrade Advisor, which will assess the suitability of your computer and the compatibility of the software, hardware and peripherals that you use.
1. Download the Advisor
Open a web browser > type www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx into the address box and then press Enter on your keyboard. Click on the link labelled Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.
On the next screen click Download > Save and save the file to your desktop.
The application is about 6.5MB – it was available only as a Beta pre-release version at the time of writing.
2. Install the Advisor
Locate the file you’ve downloaded – it should be called Windows7UpgradeAdvisor.msi – and double-click it > then click Run to start the Wizard.
On the next screen, click Next > put a check next to ‘accept the licence terms’ > click Next > click Install > click Continue on the User Account Control warning if you’re using Vista.
Click Close to finish.
3. Running the Advisor
You should now find a new shortcut on your desktop – double-click this to start the Advisor, clicking Continue on the User Account Control warning if you’re using Vista.
Make sure all your peripherals (printers, scanners, and so on) are plugged in and switched on > then click the ‘Start check’ button to run the Advisor. Wait a few moments while it gathers information.
Scroll through the results to see if there are any compatibility issues listed – green ticks are good, yellow exclamation marks denote something that may require attention, red crosses indicate a possible incompatibility.
The Advisor will suggest an action to take in each case.
For step-by-step instructions on using your Windows 7 computer, see the Which? book Computing Made Easy for the Over 50s: Windows 7 Edition.