Windows Vista Upgrade Guide

This guide is meant for those users who are going to be upgrading to Windows Vista. If you are planning to do a clean install of Vista, in other words, erasing and formatting your hard disk then installing a fresh copy of Vista, please read the Windows Vista Clean Installation Guide found at Savemybutt.com.

Check to see if your computer can run Vista

NOTE:

Before you go out and buy Vista, do this first step and make sure your computer can run Vista. No need to spend your hard earned money for nothing.

If your computer is more than one year old, then I would recommend that you stay with the operating system you are currently using until you are ready to buy a new computer. When you buy a new computer it will come with Vista pre-installed and will be designed to run Vista properly.

If your computer is not one year old yet you can check to see if it is ready to run Vista by going to the Vista Upgrade Advisor page at Microsoft’s website.

You will have to have a valid copy of your current operating system installed. Download the Vista Upgrade Advisor software, install, and run it.

The program will inform you if your computer is ready to run Vista. If it is not, the program will tell you what part of your computer is not ready and what you should do to make it ready.

The four biggest items that are needed to run Vista are a fast processor, a lot of RAM, a high end video card, and lots of hard disk space.

You should have a processor with a speed of at least 2 gigahertz, 2 GB of RAM, a video card that has at least 256 MB of it’s own RAM, and at least 20 GB of free space on your hard disk.

If I had to upgrade the video card, I would choose one of the brand name gaming video cards that have fast processors and RAM on board. This will significantly speed up Vista.

Now, if your computer is ready to run Vista, go out and buy the version that best suits your needs or upgrade path.

Getting the right version

There are five versions of Vista available. Only four of them are listed for the consumer/small business user below. The one missing is the Enterprise version, which is meant for large companies.

Personal Note: In all cases, I would not recommend the Vista Home Basic version. It has all the new security features in it but is missing many of the new cool, fun, or useful features of the Home Premium version and above. At minimum, I would suggest Vista Home Premium.

 

Depending on what version of Windows XP you are using will determine if you can upgrade to Vista, known as an in-place install, or you will have to backup all your applications and data and do a clean installation. This means you will also have to reinstall all of your applications.

If you are using Windows XP 64 Bit Edition, all versions of Windows 95 & 98, or Windows 2000, you will not be able to upgrade to Vista. You will have to purchase the full version.

Below is a grid with the available upgrade paths based on your current operating system installation. The Vista products that you can upgrade to have green dots under them.

As an example, if you are using Windows XP Professional, you cannot upgrade to Vista Home Basic or Vista Home Premium. This is a step backward as far as the operating system is concerned and you would have to do a clean install of Vista. You can only upgrade XP Professional to Vista Business or Vista Ultimate.

·          Above photo is from the Microsoft Vista website.

To help you decide which version of Vista you should choose, look at the feature grid on the page below.

Above photo is from the Microsoft Vista website.

Backup your files

This is not an option. You MUST backup your hard disk!

I suggest using Acronis True Image and an external hard drive. This will make an image of your current operating system, all of the applications you have installed, and all of your data just as it appears now onto the external drive. If you should need to restore that image and start over it can be done in minutes compared to hours without the danger of loosing anything.

Vista has been tested in beta form more than any other operating system to date by users like you who chose to test it and report back to Microsoft any problems.

That said, there is no way of knowing if everything in YOUR particular computer is compatible and will work properly.

You can just backup your documents, photos, and other personal data to CD, DVD, or external drive, but I recommend a complete image. It is the best way to cover your butt.

An added bonus is that you will now have a way to regularly backup your system from now on. Not a bad idea.

Purge your system

Now remove any programs that you have not used in the last year or so. You will also want to use Disk Cleanup to remove any temporary files and other garbage files.

A more efficient way to do this is to download Ccleaner from the downloads section of Savemybutt.com. Install it and run it and click on the Run Cleaner button. This will do a more thorough job of cleaning up you computer.

If you click on the Tools button on the left, the built in replacement for Add/Remove Programs will allow you to both print a list of you’re installed programs and remove then faster then Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.

Also consider archiving and downloaded program installation files to a CD and remove them from you drive.

Uninstall your anti-virus program

Whatever anti-virus program you are using, update the definitions and run a full scan of your computer.

You should also update any spyware removal tools you have installed and run a complete scan with those also.

Now disconnect your computer from your broadband Internet connection. Broadband connections include DSL, Cable, Wireless, and Satellite services. If you are using a dialup connection such, i.e. AOL or Earthlink, disconnect or hang up your phone line.

Remove your antivirus program and any other security programs, including third party firewalls.

Many of them may not be compatible with Vista and will require you do download a newer version. And, they may cause problems during the upgrade.

Defrag your hard drives

Even though you should defrag your hard disk from time to time, there are those who don’t. Guess what? You need to do one now.

You have just purged a lot of programs, temp files, data, and archives from your computer. Sort of a spring-cleaning. This has left a lot of storage holes on your hard disk. Defragging will put the files and folders on your hard drive back in order.

Ready? Set? GO!!!!!

Now that your computer is all cleaned up the time has come to upgrade Vista. Reconnect to the Internet and put the Vista DVD into the DVD drive.

NOTE:

Don’t boot your computer from the DVD. If you do, Vista will want to do a clean install and erase, format, and install a clean copy of itself on your hard disk. You want to run the Vista install from within Windows XP.

When you insert the disk in the drive, like any other software, it will start by displaying a welcome screen.

There will be two options on this screen, "Install Now" and "Check Compatibility Online”.

Since you already checked for compatibility in the first step, and you have prepared your computer for the upgrade, it is time to click on “Install Now”.

The first thing you will be asked is if you want to go online to download the latest updates for installation. This is a good idea. The setup program can update itself with the absolute latest drivers for your hardware and any last minute updates to Vista.

Next, Vista will ask for your license key. Type it in. Notice that you only have to type the letters and numbers. Vista will put the dashes in for you.

When asked you can read the End User License Agreement. You must agree with it to continue.

Don’t worry about custom settings. They are primarily for a full installation not an upgrade.

Depending on your computer’s hardware and software installed, you might see a compatibility report. Vista will warn you if it finds any anything wrong such as incompatibilities with your hardware's device drivers or any installed software. I suggest that you finish the installation and update any incompatibilities after Vista is running.

The installation will display five steps that it takes to complete the installation with a progress indicator showing you what has been done. The five steps are:

Copying files to the hard disk
Gathering the files and information Vista needs
Expanding the files it copied
Installation of the cool features and updates
And, completing the installation

Plan on 30 to 60 minutes to do the upgrade once you put the DVD in the drive.

The preparation time can be considerable depending on your method of backup and how much clean up work you have to do before you start the installation.

After the installation is complete and your computer reboots you will have to answer a few questions. Like, do you want to do automatic updates? I suggest you do by choosing Recommended Settings. If you just want the critical updated then you could choose that instead. Ask me later means you will be personally responsible for your computer’s security and have to do updates manually.

Following that you will be asked for the time zone you live in and date. Just check to make sure the XP settings made through the installation.

The last thing you will have to tell Vista is where your computer is so it can setup security and file sharing settings. Tell it if you are at home, at work, or in a public place like a coffee shop.

It’ reboot time. This is the last time during the main installation process. I promise.

During the first real boot up of Vista it will display information on the compatibility of programs that are set to load on startup that it is having trouble with. You can choose to try and run the program anyway or to stop it. You are going to have to look for driver or software updates for the drivers and programs that are incompatible.

Now take inventory. Instead of “My Computer”, in Vista it is call just “Computer”. Take a look and see if your files made it through the upgrade.

If you had any driver or software issues during the installation, go to the web site of the manufacturers of your hardware and software to see if they have Vista updates available.

Vista includes a LOT of drivers. But, as always, the manufacturer’s latest drivers will always be better.

Make sure they are for Vista. Windows XP and Windows 2000 drivers may not work.

If Vista drivers are available, download and install them. Rebooting after each install to make sure they work.

Guess what? You’re done!!!

Sit down and play with your new operating system. Take the time to visit the new Microsoft help site, http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/default.mspx. There is a ton of great help and support there along with tips and tricks.