How to Upgrade to Microsoft Windows Vista

Assess Whether You Should Upgrade Now or Later

Goal: Find a compelling business reason to make the move to Vista—or don't do it.

Before you take the plunge, decide whether the benefits of Windows Vista (improved security options, easier compliance and IT management) outweigh potential drawbacks (such as incompatible applications or high deployment costs). Greg Howard, the IT director for Raleigh, NC-based consulting firm CII Associates, urges caution for his small- and mid-sized clients. "You could bring your entire company to its knees if you have one mission-critical application that doesn't work with Windows Vista," he says.

Installing Vista on older machines may require significant—and potentially expensive—upgrades in memory, processors, and hard drives. Michael Silver, an analyst with the Gartner Group, recommends a "managed diversity" approach, in which businesses bring in new machines with Vista preinstalled, but leave existing machines alone. He notes that most organizations will need to allocate 12 to 18 months for deployment. "Some of this includes just waiting," he says, "because not all software vendors will support Vista-ready applications right out of the box." Other delays may stem from testing applications, talking to vendors, making migration plans, troubleshooting cranky machines, and coordinating the timing of software updates.

Many companies are taking a wait-and-see attitude. A COO at a boutique investment management firm in San Francisco (who can't be identified per company policy) says, "Some recent articles made us feel that the changes were primarily cosmetic, and we couldn't find a true business reason to make the upgrade. We view these things as kind of risky anyway, so we figured, if it ain't broke, why fix it?"

If you decide to wait, don't forget that the clock is ticking—Microsoft will lapse its extended support of Windows 2000 in 2010 and of Windows XP in 2013, and some application providers will likely withdraw support before then.

Decide Which Edition Is Right for You

Goal: Get the most bang for your buck.

Windows Vista comes in four basic flavors: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business (as well as an Enterprise option), and Ultimate. As you might infer from the names, the Home editions are targeted at home or individual users; the Premium level includes multimedia and entertainment features. Business is designed to provide a variety of corporate benefits, including easier IT management, domain-based administration, and user account control. The Ultimate edition incorporates all features across the board. Microsoft's Web site provides a comprehensive breakdown of features and benefits. There's also a handy comparison chart at helpwithwindows.com.

"Windows Vista Business is the one most small businesses will want to look at first," says Pete McKiernan, a product manager for Microsoft Windows Vista. Enterprise will be appropriate for volume licensing. "Ultimate is for the enthusiast that wants all the home features, such as the media center and gaming, along with all the Enterprise features for advanced networking and so on."

One of the biggest draws of the Enterprise and Ultimate editions is BitLocker, a full-drive encryption tool that can provide peace of mind for mobile professionals, says Ed Bott, co-author of "Windows Vista Inside Out." Group policy control improvements allow customized settings and easier compliance with industry rules and regulations, notes McKiernan, while user account control provides added flexibility and usability for individuals without compromising security."

Do Your Due Diligence

Goal: Avoid problems before you start.

If you're ready for an upgrade, don't even think about skipping one essential step: running Microsoft's Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor on each machine. Odds are there'll be some problem with your system, and the Upgrade Advisor will spot it before you hit a roadblock. For companies with more than 250 machines, McKiernan recommends downloading the Business Deployment Desktop, which offers tools, documentation, and best practices designed to help companies on the IT and business side manage the deployment. The Application Compatibility Toolkit can evaluate applications across a network of computers to determine which ones may have conflicts with Vista.

Another essential tip: Make sure your machine has a DVD drive. "It looks like a CD, it quacks like a CD, but if all you have is a CD drive, you're out of luck," says John Mahoney, a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and IT consultant in Boston. "To install Windows Vista, you need a DVD drive."

Upgrade or Clean Install?

Goal: Establish the best and safest path to Vista.

A clean install means you start by either wiping or sectoring an existing hard drive. An upgrade involves swapping out just the operating system. Think of it this way: An upgrade is like a home renovation, but a clean install is like building a new house. "I pretty much always recommend doing a clean install," Howard says. "If you have spyware or malware, it won't go away with an upgrade."

But Windows Vista is, in McKiernan's words, not your father's OS. The upgrade process is different from all previous Microsoft operating systems in that it doesn't immediately write new install files into the directory that houses the old install files. In other words, Bott says, upgrading could cause chaos if something goes wrong during install. Instead, a clean install is performed in a separate folder, and once it's successful, your existing programs, data files, and settings are migrated automatically. A clean install takes as little as 20 minutes, while an upgrade may take several hours.