One important thing before upgrading your existing PC or laptop’s operating system (Windows XPor Vista) to Windows 7 would be to run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. This nifty utility is pretty simple to use, just download, install and run it and it should be able to tell you whether your machine is compatible with Windows 7 (get it here).

Unfortunately, the diagnosis didn’t go so well for my home laptop, a Dell Inspiron 8600. The previous installation of Vista didn’t run properly on my machine due to the lack of driver support by the manufacturer for the Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3A Mini PCI Adapter (think BSOD).

The wireless network adapter was likely it would be a problem with Windows 7  as well, and the Upgrade Advisor highlighted that I needed to download the driver from the manufacturer’s site and this being a discontinued product, there’s no chance of getting a Windows 7 driver for it.

results

It looks like I won’t be able to upgrade this machine to Windows 7 without disabling the wireless network adapter and opting for one of those newer USB WiFi dongles.