Seven Tips for Surviving Your Windows 7 Upgrade
Windows 7 is still about a month away for most users, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't start prepping now. ZDNet's Ed Bott offers seven suggestions as part of his Windows 7 upgrade survival guide. Here's an excerpt:
3. Check for compatibility problems before you start. The Windows Upgrade Advisor runs at the beginning of the setup process and will identify any programs or devices that have compatibility issues. Resolve those issues before upgrading. (A standalone version of the Upgrade Advisor is available from Microsoft if you want to check a system before starting an upgrade.)Although he never comes out and says so, Bott is referring to in-place upgrades from Vista. As many of us are painfully aware, Windows 7 doesn't support in-place upgrades from XP. Of course, there are always options, as you may recall from our recent post on upgrading XP systems to Windows 7.
4. Take advantage of this opportunity to ditch old software. Open the Programs window from Control Panel and take inventory of all installed software on the old PC. If you find any programs that need to be replaced or scrapped, uninstall them now and give the setup program one less task to worry about.
And while we're on the subject, don't miss these other Windows 7 gems: