Microsoft's upgrade advisor show that my PC can run Vista Ultimate, but I need a better graphics card, and I need a DVD-Drive which I am about to get. My Desktop can hold a max of 1GB. I will put like 1GB on my laptop and install the Vista RC1 version to test drive it before I spend mad money on a desktop with Vista included.

I do have a P4 CPU that is on 2.2GHz speed. Plus my HD is at 60GB. I am gonna get a new Graphics card. I have 768MB RAM presently. My machine can only go up to 1GB.

Message Edited by SR45 on 09-28-2006 03:39 PM

Message Edited by SR45 on 09-28-2006 04:09 PM

You definitely need one gig of memory. I don't know that I would complain, considering by the time vista ships most mainstream systems over 800 dollars will probably have more than that. Many 1000 dollar systems are already shipping with 2 gigs. Memory is pretty cheap.

As far as needing a 2 ghz processor, that depends. If you have a CoreDuo, it can most definitely be less than 2 ghz. My 2300, 1.6 runs much faster than pretty much any P4 system. But you do need a good video card.

But, get the added memory and the better video card and try it. If you are comfortable with your system being trashed, and you know you can completely restore your old system easily, you are set to go. I don't mean this to sound facetious. I suspect many of the people on this forum who are using Vista can repartition and reinstall their XP system with no loss of data in a couple of hours.

***You ask good questions, but there are so many uncertainties, given your systems, etc., that it would take a book to cover the possibilities. I have taken a stab below at providing you with some decent, but incomplete, answers to provide you with some though food. You need to go to the Vista site and read every word on the site. Then, you'll have a better ability to frame your questions.***

"Question 1: ....

***You should be able to dual boot assuming .... But, Vista 5728, generally speaking, is very stable in the role of a primary drive. Regardless, you may not be able to upgrade from any Vista beta to any final version. And, your machine may not run Vista well enough for you to be satisfied. Given these observations, personally, I'd buy a second drive at this point--one that would be suitable for using a final version of Vista as your primary drive (i.e., Why make an XP drive your primary drive assuming Vista runs OK on your machine?). I would intall 5728 on this drive just to see how it runs on your machine. From there, you should be able to make good decisions once the final Vista product is released and more is known about it.***

Question 2: ....

***Check out what I think is pertinent for a machine to run Ultimate well ignoring Aero Glass. As mentioned above, Glass really has little to do with Vista.***

Question 3: (not labeled) ....

***Personally, I make an image of the laptop drive on an external, for example. Then, I'd upgrade from XP if that option is available to you. Doing so will provide you with good insights into how to get Vista running well on your machine. Then, if you don't like the way things are going, you will be able to do a clean install or unintall incompatible programs, etc., before doing a second upgrade.***

Message Edited by Znod on 10-01-2006 12:45 AM

Message Edited by Znod on 10-01-2006 12:47 AM

Message Edited by Znod on 10-01-2006 12:48 AM

You have ask good questions, but there are so many uncertainties, given your systems, that it would take a book to cover the possibilities. I have taken a stab below at providing you with some decent, but incomplete answers to provide you with some though food. You need to go to the Vista site and read every word on the site. Then, you'll have a better ability to frame your questions.

"Question 1: ....

You should be able to dual boot assuming .... But, Vista 5728, generally speaking, is very stable in the role of a primary drive. Regardless, you may not be able to upgrade from any Vista beta to any final version. And, your machine may not run Vista well enough for you to be satisfied. Given these observations, personally, I'd buy a second drive at this point--one that would be suitable for using a final version of Vista as your primary drive (i.e., Why make an XP drive your primary drive assuming Vista runs OK on your machine?). I would intall 5728 on this drive just to see how it runs on your machine. From there, you should be able to make good decisions once the final Vista product is released and more is known about it.

Question 2: ....

Check out what I think is pertinent for a machine to run Ultimate well ignoring Aero Glass. As mentioned above, Glass really has little to do with Vista.

Question 3: .... What is better to do, ...?

Personally, I'd make an image of the laptop drive on an external, for example. Then, I'd upgrade from XP if that option is available to you. Doing so will provide you with good insights into how to get Vista running well on your machine. Then, if you don't like the way things are going, you will be able to do a clean install or unintall incompatible programs, etc., before doing a second upgrade.

I downloaded a Vista Pack and it makes my PC looks Vista. It even shows Microsoft Vista when the PC is loading up, instead of saying Windows XP. Plus the transparency features are nice since I don't have a graphics card that can do that. I have the integrated Intel version on the motherboard. It even put the Vista icons and settings on my PC. Of course I did a system restore point just in case.