Are you ready for Windows 7? Here's a checklist of five things
you need to do before installing the shiny new Windows 7 disc on
your PC.
Here are my tips on upgrading.
1. Check your desktop PC spec. Vista-ready machines should be
fine, but if you are running Windows XP, you may have compatibility
issues. Before you do anything, though, backup your system drive
(normally c:) onto a USB hard disk drive. If thiogs go badly wrong,
you can restore your old operating system from this backup.
2. Windows 7 will support a lot of stuff out of the box, when it
is first installed, but after installation, you may find some
things stop working.
3. If things are not quite right make sure you have the latest
ATI or Nvidia graphcs card drivers from their respective web
sites. Similarily, Creative Labs and most PC card manufacturers
will have download sites. You should search for Windows 7
drivers.
4. Now check your PC peripherals. The keyboard, mouse and
monitor should work fine, but again it is worth checking if the
manufacturer has updated river software for Windows 7. You will
also need to ensure that you have the latest device drivers for you
printer and scanner and whatever else plugs into your PC..
5. Finally, older applications and PC games may be unable to run
on Windows 7. Unlike with Vista, it is possible to run older
software. Check out XP Mode, which uses a Virtual PC-to run XP on
top of Windows 7.