Can my PC run Windows 7? Use the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor!

Over at LearnItFirst, where we are currently developing find some great Windows 7 training courses, we’re all excited about the upcoming release of Windows 7. One common question people have is, “Can my existing PC hardware run Windows 7?” Thankfully we don’t have to guess – Microsoft has provided the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, a tool that analyzes your current hardware and spits out an easy to read report that gives you the information you need.

• Step 1: Download and install the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from here

• Step 2: “Connect all of your devices” to ensure that drivers, minimum system requirements and the like are calculated correctly
• The key components here are things like printers, scanners and in particular external/portable hard drives
• Devices like iPhones, Blackberrys and the like can safely be left unplugged

• Step 3: Launch the tool and click the “Start Check” button

• Step 4: Wait… On my quad-core machine, it took about 3 minutes to complete. Your mileage will vary.

Viewing the Report

If you look at my report above, you can see that I am actually not eligible for an upgrade – and that’s right: I’m running Windows Server 2008. I did sort of chuckle at this one:

The report is fairly straight forward: you are either eligible (and you get a green checkmark) or you are not eligible and you get a yellow warning sign.

Where things get a bit weird…

Okay – so here’s the deal: If you are currently running Windows Vista, there is a better-than-average chance that the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor will come back with a nice, green checkmark saying, “Yes – you can upgrade!” If, however, you are running Windows XP, Microsoft doesn’t seem to want you to upgrade. Here’s what they say on the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor home page:

if you're running Windows XP… we recommend that you experience Windows 7 on a new PC… And while we don't recommend it, should you choose to upgrade your current PC from Windows XP or another operating system to Windows 7, we recommend that you get help with this process from your local computer service provider. You'll need to back up your current files and settings, perform a custom (clean) installation, and then reinstall your files, settings, and programs

Well, to be fair, there are far more strict system requirements for Windows 7 than there were for Windows XP and so, unless you’ve purchased your PC within the past 1-2 years, you probably will require a new PC to run Windows 7 and actually enjoy it.