Despite Microsoft’s best efforts, some potential Windows 7 users will have to wait for updated drivers for their hardware and peripheral devices. HP, for example, released a table of supported Windows-7 compatible systems. The company says that systems that do not appear on the table of supported hardware will not be getting updated drivers that will enable them to run Windows 7.

Options For Unsupported Hardware

If you have hardware that is not yet supported with the correct driver, the first order of business should be to contact the manufacturer to see what their driver plans are. It’s possible that a driver for your hardware is in development, so all that’s needed is a little patience on your part.

If the manufacturer indicates that no driver is available and they do not plan to create one, you can ask them if they have any suggestions regarding third-party drivers that may work with your hardware. You can also do a little research to see if other users in your situation have found an acceptable workaround.

If you’re running your hardware with an older Windows OS like Windows XP, you may be able to run XP virtually after upgrading to Windows 7. The virtual XP will use all of your XP drivers, so you may not have to make much of an accommodation for your older equipment. To run XP in virtual mode, your computer will need to have a processor that supports virtualization and these services must be turned on. You’ll also need additional memory and hard disk space available.

If your hardware manufacturer has no driver available, doesn’t plan to make one and there is no third party support for your equipment, your best bet may be to do nothing in terms of upgrading. Not being able to take advantage of some of the new features of Windows 7 may be frustrating, but for specialized hardware, you may not have any other options.

You may also choose to replace your system with a newer system that supports Windows 7 directly. In this approach, you can retain your old hardware in a working environment, and migrate certain functions to a newer system that runs Windows 7. You may also find that Windows 7 opens up new alternative solutions for the functions that rely on Windows XP.

Ultimately, migrating to a supported OS will put you in the best position. Microsoft has already curtailed support for Windows XP and in the not-too-distant future, the company will drop support for this product altogether.

Photo Credit: Randy, Son of Robert, via Flickr