To prevent yourself from losing data and to ensure that an upgrade goes smoothly, you should take care of a few things before performing your upgrade:
● Back up your PC This is really important. If you are running Windows Vista, perform a Complete PC backup. If you are running Windows 7, perform a system image backup. Windows XP didn’t include good software for backing up your entire PC, including apps and settings, so find third-party software. Be sure you have a bootable CD or flash drive that will allow you to restore your PC from the backup.
● Upgrade your BIOS and other firmware Motherboard and PC manufacturers occasionally release BIOS upgrades for PCs to update the lowest-level software that runs on the PC. Often, they release updates specifically to improve compatibility with new versions of Windows. Search for your PC model or make of motherboard to find a BIOS upgrade, and install the latest version of your PC’s BIOS.
● Uninstall unwanted apps From Control Panel, access the Add Or Remove Programs tool in Windows XP or the Uninstall Or Change A Program tool in Windows Vista and Windows 7. Remove any app that you aren’t using. This frees up disk space, improves the performance of your PC, and simplifies the upgrade.
● Deactivate or deauthorize apps Some apps, including Apple iTunes and Adobe Photoshop, can be authorized on only a limited number of PCs. Your upgraded PC might count as another PC. To avoid this, deactivate or deauthorize such apps prior to your upgrade.
● Free up disk space Windows 8 requires at least 16 gigabytes (GB) of free disk space, but more is better. Right-click your drive in Windows Explorer, and click Properties. On the General tab, click Disk Cleanup, and free up as much space as possible. Also delete any unwanted files.
● Verify that you have enough memory (RAM) Your PC needs to have 1 GB of RAM for the 32-bit version of Windows 8 or 2 GB of RAM for the 64-bit version of Windows 8. To determine how much memory you have installed, right-click My Computer and then click Properties.
● Verify that your PC supports Data Execution Prevention (DEP) Your CPU and motherboard must support DEP (a feature of newer CPUs and motherboards) and have it enabled. Check your BIOS settings and verify that DEP is enabled. If it’s not an option, you might be able to find a BIOS upgrade for your PC that adds support, but probably not.
● Make sure you know your Wi-Fi password Windows 8 won’t transfer your Wi-Fi password, and you don’t want to be left without Internet access after upgrading.
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