In this visual tutorial I present to you a simple upgrade scenario from Windows XP Professional SP2 to Windows Vista Ultimate RC1. Upgrading to the latest version of Windows has been of curiosity to many. Is it successful, slow, tedious or worthless? Well here is your chance to find out and you would be surprised to know how “ok” it was.

One thing I must note is the complexities of an upgrade because of the various hardware configurations out there that come from a number of PC Brands. A generic beige box PC might not upgrade as well as a name brand or vice versa. Reasons may include legacy hardware devices that are not supported by the OEM or Microsoft or simple hardware defects. My install of Windows XP is a very simple one and would be more favorable to consumers than businesses; here I have installed just Office and Adobe Acrobat and some files in my documents folder.

  

Installation in Vista is a very straightforward experience, its almost unattended; you only need to be at the computer during the initial phase of set up and the Out of Box Experience page. Installation time varies, factors include memory and processor speed, my clean install of Vista took around 42 minutes (others have reported 20 to 30 mins), while the upgrade took a lot more, nearly 5 hours.

SET UP – Phase 1

 

After inserting the Windows Vista DVD, the set up window appears. You can check your computers compatibility, transfer files from another computer, learn about what you should know before installing or just go ahead and install Windows Vista. After launching the installation, set up prepares your computer to install Windows. Next, you are asked if you would like to download any important updates that might ensure that Vista installs successfully. On the Next screen, you will enter your Product Key, next you agree to the EULA. The next screen presents to you two choices, Custom or Upgrade. An Upgrade will only be allowed if you have enough free space, Custom allows you to choose more advanced options such as installing on a logical partition if you have one set up. For this Tutorial we will choose Upgrade. After clicking upgrade, set up immediately begins copying files, gathering files then begins Expanding files.

SET UP – Phase 2

 

During this process, the computer restarts and continues the installation. The Expanding of Files continues, after which necessary Updates and Features are installed, after this your computer will restart. Windows Vista will prepare to start Windows Vista for the first time, then set up completes, your computer will restart again and finish the installation and take you to the Out of Box Experience Page.

SET UP CONCLUDES

Now we are at the Out of Box Experience page, here we are greeted by the Localization page. Next you are asked to select a Security Setting, your Date and Time and you are finished. But there is still some configuration left to do after logging in.

LOGGING INTO Windows Vista

 

As you can see here in the Log on phase, there is still some task left for the operating system to accomplish although most of it is automated, others require some user interaction, such as setting up your network if you have one. If you did a clean install, most of this would have been taken care of.

So, this has been my upgrade tutorial introducing the experience of moving from Windows XP to Windows Vista. I must remind you though, this is only one out of millions of configurations out there. So, experiences can vary.