Upgrading my Windows XP to Windows 7

Upgrading my Windows XP to Windows 7

To upgrade your system from Windows XP to Windows 7:

• Have an external hard disk ready or any external storage device to backup your important files
• Make sure to read the original installation discs or your setup files for all applications you would like to run under the Windows 7 OS
• Check your computer and make sure it has the system requirements for installing Windows 7 successfully:
  • 1 GHz Processor
  • 1 GB RAM for 32-bit or 2GB RAM for 64-bit
  • 16 GB HDD free space for 32-bit or 20 GB HDD free space of 64-bit
  • DirectX 9 graphics device that has a WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Now you have 2 options to get the installer to upgrade to Windows 7. You may use a CD or you can download it through https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/products/windows.

Upgrading my Windows XP to Windows 7

Just to clear things up, you cannot upgrade Windows XP to Windows 7 directly. When you upgrade an operating system like Microsoft Windows, you execute or perform the upgrade within the operating system. Your user account and applications will be intact after the process. But in the case of Windows XP, it is not possible.

If you wish to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, you have to do a clean install. A clean install involves reformatting your hard drive or the system partition and installing everything back from the operating system, hardware drivers, down to your applications. It’s like starting all over again.

In your case, if the hard drive suddenly disappeared during the process, it means the cable must have been loosed. To fix it, cancel the installation then turn off your CPU. Open your CPU case then check the connectors at the back of your hard drive. To make sure, remove or disconnect both the ribbon cable and the power connector from the hard drive and then connect them back.

Restart the installation and your hard drive should be detected this time. The installation should resume from where you left off.