Photos: How to upgrade your old PC to run Windows Vista and Windows 7
PC upgrade: Inside your PC
Now that you have backed-up, you can unplug the PC from the wall socket and open the case. Identify where all the main components are: hard disc, DVD/CD drive, graphics card, sound card etc.
Cliff Saran provides a step-by-step guide to updating an ancient Pentium 4 3.2 GHz XP-based machine with 2 GBytes of memory to an AMD Phenom Quad Core PC with 4 Gbytes of memory running Windows Vista.
The hardware is built around a Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5 motherboard.
NB: PC components can easily be damaged by static electricity - I recommend you use an anti-static wristband.