WILL WINDOWS VISTA RUN ON YOUR CURRENT PC?

Vista can be a great addition to an old PC; however, if your system's hardware isn't up to it, performance suffers, and you end up with a system that actually runs slower than it did under Windows XP. In addition, some features of Windows Vista don't work at all if your hardware doesn't support them. For example, the Aero interface is disabled on a PC with a display adapter that's not capable of supporting it.

Microsoft has provided two sets of guidelines for hardware:

  • Windows Vista Capable PC: The absolute minimum requirements
  • Windows Vista Premium Ready: The recommended minimum requirements for best performance with the Premium, Business, or Ultimate versions

The following table summarizes the requirements. If any portion of your current system doesn't meet the requirements, consider upgrading that component or buying a new PC. All the components listed here except the CPU (central processing unit) are fairly easy to upgrade. However, if you find yourself needing to upgrade more than one or two components, a new PC might be more cost-effective.

Component Minimum (Windows Vista Capable) Recommended (Windows Vista Premium Ready)
CPU (processor) At least 800 MHz At least 1 GHz
RAM (random access memory) 512 MB 1 GB
GPU (display adapter) DirectX 9 capable, at least 800 x 600 resolution DirectX 9 capable, at least 800 x 600 resolution
Supports WDDM (Windows Driver Display Model)
Display adapter memory 64 MB 128 MB
Hard disk 20 GB 40 GB
Hard disk free space 15 GB 15 GB
Optical drive CD-ROM drive DVD-ROM drive

Table 1-1: Your machine needs to meet these requirements to run Vista.

If you don't want to wade through the details of all those specifications, go to Microsoft's Web site and search for the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. Microsoft provides this free service, which examines your PC's hardware and software and lets you know whether an upgrade is feasible.

The next section helps you decide which version of Windows Vista is right for you.