Discovering How Well Your PC Will Run Windows Vista

If your current PC is less than two years old and already runs Windows XP, your PC should be able to run Vista with only a few upgrades. The problem is finding out exactly which ones.

To make things easier, Microsoft offers the Vista Upgrade Advisor, a freebie program offered for download on Microsoft’s Windows Vista Web site.

The program probes your PC, examines its parts and programs, and lists exactly what items will and won’t work under Vista.

This chapter explains how to find and run Vista’s Upgrade Advisor, understand its advice, and buy the right parts for your PC from the best vendors.

Understanding Vista’s Hardware Requirements

Although Microsoft released Vista in early 2007, Microsoft didn’t design Vista to run perfectly on the current crop of PCs. Instead, Microsoft’s engineers envisioned the PCs we’ll all be running a year or two down the road and designed Vista around those powerhouses. Indeed, some Vista features support parts that weren’t even available when Vista’s boxes first hit the store shelves.

To help you see what Vista expects out of a PC, Table 6-1 lists the bare minimum of oomph your PC needs to run Vista, as well as what it needs to run Vista well.

Table 1-1 Vista’s System Requirements

Microsoft’s Recommended Requirements

• Processor running at 800MHz or faster
• 512MB memory (RAM)
• DirectX 9 compatible with 32 MB of video memory
• At least 20GB hard drive with 15GB free
• DVD drive

What You Really Need

• Processor running at 1 GHz or faster
• 1GB memory
• DirectX 9 compatible with 128MB video memory (Video RAM) video memory and DirectX 9 compatible
• At least 40GB hard drive with 15GB free
• DVD burner

Vista comes in several versions, each with its own slightly different requirements.