Before You Upgrade To Vista

1. Before beginning, back up
The most critical step you should take before upgrading your PC to any new OS is to backup your important data. Use Vista's Windows Easy Transfer utility or simply drag and drop your files to an external disk. It's the cheap and easy way.

2. Choose, but choose wisely
Seeking Media Center functionality when upgrading to Vista- Then remember that only the Vista Home Premium and Ulti­mate versions carry the feature. Home Basic. Business, and Enterprise editions of Vista do not.

3. Check your hardware
Before upgrading to Windows Vista know that your computer must have a DVD drive installed. Windows Vista does rite common CD after all.

4. Add more memory
Although you may have gotten by on 512MB of RAM in your Windows XP machine. 1GB is the realistic minimum for Windows Vista. Ideally, consider run­ning Windows Vista with 2GB of memory installed for more efficient performance.

5. Find the latest drivers
After upgrading your PC to Windows Vista, be sure to run Windows Update, which can provide critical security updates to protect your system. It will also apply updated drivers for your installed hardware. But visit the manufacturer's Web sites, too. which often post new drivers before Microsoft verifies them.

6. Solve problems with new BIOS
Upgrading to a newer CPU? Check and run the latest BIOS for your motherboard first. This may help you avoid any compatibility bottlenecks.

7. Graphics cards: Mad with power
When upgrading your video hardware for higher performance, always check the power requirements. Multiple-GPU configurations like Crossfire and SLI (as well as graphic boards that have multiple CPUs) require a significant amount of power. It's almost a certainty that you'll need to upgrade your power supply too.

8. Antivirus apps trump installers
When upgrading lo Windows Vista, be sure to disable any antivirus software running on the machine. Forgetting to do so can cause the antivirus software to conflict with the installation and can result in sys­tem pauses or a complete system hang.

9. Convert IDE to SATA
You've decided to upgrade your mother­board but find that it doesn't have enough IDE ports to support your old drives—a common problem, actually. Fret not. IDE-to-SATA adapters are readily available.

10. Brace for trouble
Prepare yourself.. much of your software may not operate under Vista without upgrading. Run the Application Compati­bility Toolkit (ACT) found in the download center on Microsoft's Website. It'll point you lo any upgrades you may need.

11. Speed USB transfers
Is that flashy new external USB hard drive taking longer than expected to migrate your data? Ditch that ancient USB LI tech­nology on your XP machine by upgrading to a USB 2.0 card. They're available today for under $20.

12. Check your hardware
Before upgrading your aging Windows XP PC to run Windows Vista, be sure to down­load and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. It can help you determine which version of Vista best suits your needs, or if your Windows Vista PC is ready for a more powerful version of Vista Note that the Upgrade Advisor works only with XP and Vista systems.
Courtesy : PCWorld

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