Masoud said:
Hi,
If I upgrade my XP PC to Vista, can I run already installed programes
Under
VISTA?
Or shall I reinstall all of them again again?
Yes, if all things work properly, an upgrade retains installed programs and
data. Some programs are not Vista compatible and need to be uninstalled
before doing the upgrade. Make sure you run the Upgrade Advisor and remove
any software it flags as being a possible problem. This includes all
Anti-virus and anti-malware apps, 3rd party firewalls, system utilities like
partitioning tools, CD/DVD burning software such as Nero and Roxio, Sonic
DLA, and any software that uses drivers.
The upgrade advisor is just that, it provides advice. This is no guarantee
that things will work out. You need to do some homework. Research all the
hardware to make sure Vista compatible drivers are available, check all the
software on the individual program author sites for compatibility.
Uninstall any that is not compatible.
Use a drive imaging program, such as Acronis True Image Home, version 10,
to make an image of the XP installation to an external USB connected drive.
Disconnect all devices and remove all add in cards except for video, the
monitor, mouse, keyboard and DVD drive. Then after the install add hardware
back one item at a time.
If the upgrade doesn't work you might need to do a clean install. So plan
ahead for that. Before trying the upgrade, use Windows Easy Transfer (WET)
on the XP installation to copy data and settings to that external hard
drive, then do the clean install, then bring in the data and settings using
WET, install Apps, and then bring in their data and settings with WET.
