Verify Audio Card

Because Microsoft doesn’t offer many up-front details on the requirements for the audio component, you can either wait until you install Windows Vista to see if the audio works or you can check ahead of time on the Microsoft list of supported components at the following website: (Далее…)

Verify Graphics Card Specs

If your PC is a few years old (or newer), the graphics card (see Figure 1.18 for an example) will most likely be compatible with all the Windows Vista editions; however, you should check just to make sure. The only item you should be worried about looking up (from the Graphics section of Table 1.1, shown earlier) is the amount of graphics memory, as the other items should be up to spec if the memory requirement is satisfied. (Далее…)

Check CD Drive Type

You should pay close attention to the type of CD drive your PC has because the retail version of Windows Vista only comes packaged with a DVD rather than a plain CD. Fitting everything for Vista on one DVD rather than having to use multiple CDs is beneficial; however, it’s not that (Далее…)

Verify Hard Drive Space

As you probably know, all the files and software on your PC take up space on the hard drive (see Figure 1.14), which is the main data storage component in a PC. Hard drives store your email, pictures, movies, music files, letters, work files, and everything else you create, along with thousands of files that comprise the operating system. With each version of the OS, Windows has gotten larger and larger. Vista needs about 10 times more space than Windows XP. (Далее…)

Check Memory (RAM)

Along with the processor, the amount of random access memory (RAM), or simply memory for short, greatly influences your PC’s performance. Rather than a shortage component like a hard drive, RAM (Figure 1.13 shows an example) is used when the information needs to be quickly (Далее…)