Migrating your system to Windows 7 doesn’t have to be a nightmarish headache. With a little planning and preparation you can make the transition to Windows 7 smoothly.

System Requirements
First thing’s first, you’ll need to make sure your system is prepared to handle Windows 7. If any of the following are not true for your system, you need to upgrade your system to match up with 7’s requirements.

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or f aster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor (What's the Difference?)
• 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• Internet access

If you aren’t sure that your system meets these requirements, you can use the Windows Upgrade Advisor. Windows Upgrade Advisor is a free download that scans your system and looks for any potential issues that you would run into when installing Windows 7.

You can also use Microsoft’s Compatibility Center to see if the software you have will experience any problems running on 7.

Data Back-up

Hopefully you’ve been good and have been religiously backing up your files on a regularly scheduled basis. If you haven’t, it’s never too late to start.

Does backing up your system sound like a daunting task? You can use Windows Easy Transfer to back up documents, pictures, Internet favorites, user accounts, program settings, music, and e-mail. Windows Easy Transfer is a wizard that’s built into XP and Vista systems.

Just go to your Start menu in Vista and type Windows Easy Transfer into the search blank. Once it starts, you’ll be asked a series of questions and then the transfer will be complete. Keep in mind that Windows Easy Transfer only handles settings and files. Your software will need to be transferred by other methods. If you can't find Windows Easy Transfer in your edition of Windows XP, you can get it from Microsoft Here.

You can also use an external hard drive to back up your system or a series of CDs/DVDs.

Installation Types

You can install Windows 7 in two different ways: custom and upgrade. A custom installation means you are erasing everything on your hard drive and starting fresh with Windows 7. Everything has to get backed up somewhere else and then reinstalled on your PC after 7 is operational.

With the upgrade installation, you can just replace your operating system with Windows 7 without disrupting anything else on your system (you should still create a back up though in case of freak acts of nature).

If you are running Windows XP you will have to do a custom installation of Windows 7. There is no way to simply upgrade from XP to 7. If you have Vista Home Basic or Premium you can do an upgrade installation. If you have Vista Business or Vista Ultimate, you will need to do a custom installation.