If you’ve used Microsoft Windows in the past, you may have found that upgrading your computer isn’t as straightforward as buying the latest operating system. With major upgrades, you’ll often find that certain pieces of hardware in your computer don’t work, needed drivers aren’t available or you need more memory to make the system run.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Microsoft has created a Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor tool to help you determine what you’ll need to do to your PC to get it ready for the next release of the Windows Operating System. Like the Windows 7 Release Candidate, the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor is a beta, but it will work well enough to guide you through the process of getting your PC ready for Windows 7.

Right now, Windows 7 Release Candidate is available as a free download. Unlike previous release candidates, this one comes with a full license that expires August 1, 2010, so you’ll have more than a year to work with the OS before you decide what you want to do.

If you download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, the software will scan your existing computer setup, including hardware and software, looking for issues that may prevent your current equipment or your favorite applications from working properly.

You can find the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor here. Once you have it installed, it will take just a few minutes to determine whether your computer needs upgrade work or is already good-to-go. For the most part, if you’re already running Windows Vista, you shouldn’t have any migration issues – at least not that are related to the hardware you’re running!

When the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor is running, you’ll be asked to connect all of your peripheral devices so that they can be included in the scan. Don’t forget to connect the devices that are connected to your computer only periodically, like digital cameras and MP3 players.

After the scan is complete, the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor will let you know what will still work and what (if anything) should be upgraded. You’ll see a variety of upgrade options and information on how to correct any potential issues the Upgrade Advisor turns up before you install Windows 7.

One side note: Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor does send information about your computer back to Microsoft, but nothing that will be used to identify you or contact you. Microsoft will use the information it receives to plan and improve the production version of Windows 7.

Photo Credit: Microsoft