How to check if the system is ready for Windows 7

[EricTheRed]

How to find if your system is ready for a migration to Windows 7? Its simple. Before attempting to install the Windows 7 RC, check the compatibility of your system by using the "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor" available from Microsoft!

"Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor" is a small utility that does an in-depth analysis of your computer, connected peripherals and software installed to detect any discrepancy, inconsistency or discomfort which could cast a shadow to migrate your system to Windows 7.

The software runs on Windows XP (SP2 or SP3), Windows Vista and even Windows 7 (Beta and RC).

1. Download and install Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor tool.
2. Run it.
3. On the Home screen, click Start check.
4. At the end of the analysis, the software displays a report. That is divided into three sections:
   
   • System Requirement: Checks whether the systems minimum requirements is achieved
   • Devices: Checks that Windows 7 has many drivers needed to run your internal and external devices.
   • Programs: Displays the installed applications that requires either an upgrade or a manipulation to work with Windows 7.
5. The Save Report button allows you to save a full and detailed report as HTML (in .MHT file format), which contains not only all the faults but also the details of the tests.
6. The analysis classifies information according to 3 types:
   
   • Green/"No Issues": No problems detected.
   • Yellow/"Minor Issues": The problem is minor and can be fixed by a Windows Update or an update already available.
   • Red/"Major Issues": The problem is blocking. You must either contact the software or driver manufacturer to get an update for Windows 7.

[Rajesh4mLA]

Note:This report is not frozen. It will evolve over time with improvements and updates that the manufacturers and publishers needs to publish here the final output of the system.

In addition it must be noted that compatibility with the existing system is excellent. And even when Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor produces a warning, "yellow" or "red", there are often solutions:

• Windows 7 is compatible with the drivers for Vista and even Windows XP. So even if a device has no drivers for Windows 7, it is quite possible that it works under 32-bit edition of Windows 7 with Windows XP drivers.
• Some software appear on the alert because Windows 7 is not known to migrate from an update to XP/Vista. We must therefore uninstall, do the migration and then just reinstall.
• The software incompatibilities (old programs Windows 98, Windows 2000 or Windows XP) can often be resolved with the new "XP mode" of Windows 7.