The good news, Windows 7 is available! It is supposed to be less painful than Vista (personally I’m waiting for the first service pack to come out). The bad news? If you are still running XP, the upgrade isn’t necessarily painless. You must:
1) Backup your data.
2) Wipe the hard drive.
3) Install Windows 7.
4) Reinstall all of your old programs (hope you have those install disks somewhere).
5) Restore your data files.
This process is not for the faint of heart! If you have any doubts, contact your favorite local IT service provider.
For those small business owners who don’t have in-house IT support or a regular service provider, here’s a basic plan. A service provider will go through these same steps.
1) Determine if your computers can support Windows 7. It requires a minimum of 1G (gigabyte) of memory and 16G’s of free hard drive space. If it has been a while since you last upgraded hardware (not unusual for a small business), your desktops and servers might not be able to support Windows 7.
- Go to each computer and access My Computer.
- Note the hard drive size and free space. If it is less than 16G you’ll need a new hard drive.
- Click “View System Information” on the left. Note the amount of RAM.
- Some older hardware will only support up to 1G of memory. If you expect the hardware to last longer than a couple of years, you will want to invest in more than just 1G.
- How do you know if you can add more memory? Most of the major computer manufacturers track this information. Go to their web site and look for the memory upgrade section. It will guide you through the process.
- NOTE: If you find yourself buying more memory and a larger hard drive it will probably be easier and less expensive in the long run to buy a new computer.
2) Determine whether your old applications will run on Windows 7.
- Go to each computer and access Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) or consult your Software Asset Inventory.
- Select Add or Remove Programs.
- This will give you a list of most of the programs installed.
- Contact the application vendor (website or phone).
- Most vendors support the current version and the previous version. If your software is older, you are probably on your own.
- You can try to install these programs on Windows 7, but the results may be unpredictable. The vendor will not feel any obligation to fix the old program to make it work on Windows 7.
- Be sure you have the old software installation disks. If you don’t have them, you’ll need to buy the new version.
- NOTE: If you customized the application (forms, queries, screens, etc.) or paid for customization, it will need to be repeated for the new version. Plan accordingly.
- FYI. If you have an application that allows you to deposit checks from your desktop, be sure to include the bank in your plans. For one of my clients, the bank will have to reinstall their software.
3) Create your migration plan.
- Which computers require a hardware upgrade?
- Which ones must be replaced?
- Which software must be upgraded or replaced?
Armed with this information, you can determine the costs and a timetable for your company’s migration to Windows 7. The good news: You have until 2014 to convert your computers to Windows 7! Microsoft will continue to support security patches for XP until then. You don’t have to spend several thousand dollars in 2010 to get it done.
Wishing you safe passage through the IT Minefield!
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Asset inventories, backup and other topics are discussed in greater detail in Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise. To purchase your copy, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.
Leslie Knight is a small business consultant with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology management in Fortune 500 companies. She applies her experience in Corporate America (saving them millions) to smaller entrepreneurial enterprises. She is also the author of Navigating the I.T. Minefield.
If you have questions, feel free to ask @ITMinefield on Twitter.
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This is an amazing guide for migration. The only thing I would add as an IT service provider is that my first question to the client (business owner) would be to why they want or need to move to Windows 7.
It has some “cool” new features and it is a good operating system but from a business stand point why would a business owner choose to make the jump to Windows 7? As Leslie has pointed out this process is not for the faint of heart. This isn’t going to be cheap or easy. Make sure you have a solid business reason to make the move.
Super article Leslie keep up the amazing work!