How do I go about upgrading my laptop Toshbia Satellite Pro 6100 Series to run the new Windows Vista operating system. Right now I have only 256 MB of memory
Vista places a serious strain on the hardware in your system. It's the most demanding version of Windows yet, so you need to make sure your hardware is up to snuff before you can run it.
Before you make the final decision to move to Vista, you should check your hardware to make sure you can run it. I've tried to look into your laptop, and the processor you have should be adequate. Your first caveat is that you can't run any version of Vista with 256MB of RAM. Vista requires, as a bare minimum, 512MB of RAM. However, for any level of performance, you should not consider the upgrade to Vista without 1GB of RAM. In all reality, you should probably not even be running XP without 512MB of RAM... it just runs too slow.
The other caveat to your notebook is the video section, which probably won't be enough to run Vista's Aero interface (one of the main motivations to move to Vista). This means Home Basic is probably the best version for you to get, but it won't provide an experience much better than XP. Sure, you'll get some security benefits and faster search capabilities... but not much else.
It would be helpful to know why you want to move to Vista. What is it that makes you want to upgrade? What do you think it's going to do for you?
If you decide that you need a new laptop to run Vista, I found a
program that will move all your Programs, Files and Settings from your
old laptop to your new one.
The program is PCmover and it
is marketed by LapLink. I just used it and everything seems to be
working fine on the new computer.
Just to be safe, I created a system restore point on the new computer before running the program.
I only encountered two problems.
1.
Apparently the USB drivers on my version of XP were not compatible with
the USB cable that comes with the program, but it offers other options
for the migration. I just used my local network instead.
2. I didn't
choose the exact same user name when I started Vista for the
first time. This meant that some of the programs will not run under
that user name, but the program also migrated the users from XP and the
programs work fine when I login with the old user name.
I'd be hesitant to try and transfer installed programs from XP to Vista. Too many differences and too many incompatibilities. I'd transfer files and re-install programs.
Vista also has a much better (compared to what was built into XP, I can't speak for PC Mover) file transfer wizard that will help you move everything from XP to Vista, though you need the "USB transfer kit", or you can do it via network (which is free).
Hi faithworks,
Vista places a serious strain on the hardware in your system. It's the most demanding version of Windows yet, so you need to make sure your hardware is up to snuff before you can run it.
Before you make the final decision to move to Vista, you should check your hardware to make sure you can run it. I've tried to look into your laptop, and the processor you have should be adequate. Your first caveat is that you can't run any version of Vista with 256MB of RAM. Vista requires, as a bare minimum, 512MB of RAM. However, for any level of performance, you should not consider the upgrade to Vista without 1GB of RAM. In all reality, you should probably not even be running XP without 512MB of RAM... it just runs too slow.
The other caveat to your notebook is the video section, which probably won't be enough to run Vista's Aero interface (one of the main motivations to move to Vista). This means Home Basic is probably the best version for you to get, but it won't provide an experience much better than XP. Sure, you'll get some security benefits and faster search capabilities... but not much else.
It would be helpful to know why you want to move to Vista. What is it that makes you want to upgrade? What do you think it's going to do for you?
If you decide that you need a new laptop to run Vista, I found a
program that will move all your Programs, Files and Settings from your
old laptop to your new one.
The program is PCmover and it
is marketed by LapLink. I just used it and everything seems to be
working fine on the new computer.
Just to be safe, I created a system restore point on the new computer before running the program.
I only encountered two problems.
1.
Apparently the USB drivers on my version of XP were not compatible with
the USB cable that comes with the program, but it offers other options
for the migration. I just used my local network instead.
2. I didn't
choose the exact same user name when I started Vista for the
first time. This meant that some of the programs will not run under
that user name, but the program also migrated the users from XP and the
programs work fine when I login with the old user name.
I'd be hesitant to try and transfer installed programs from XP to Vista. Too many differences and too many incompatibilities. I'd transfer files and re-install programs.
Vista also has a much better (compared to what was built into XP, I can't speak for PC Mover) file transfer wizard that will help you move everything from XP to Vista, though you need the "USB transfer kit", or you can do it via network (which is free).