Operating System Switchover

[MrSmartAlec]

I was wanting to switch over to windows vista in the near future. I currently have windows xp media center. I'm just curious at what all I have to consider if I want to do this.

I've done a little research and read that I'll have to make sure my current hardware will be compatible. Everything is except for my netgear wireless adapter (I think). The manufacturer's site listed products that were compatible with Vista. They listed the v3 of my product while I have the v2. Would this be a problem? It's a WG311 if that makes a difference.

Would I lose data if I switched over or would any programs not function? I'm really just generally unsure about what would occur if I switched. Is it as easy as uninstalling xp and then installing vista? Sorry if this is too general of a question, I just don't want to make a switch and then have this and that suddenly not work right, or be missing things.

[Homer Gonerson]

Whenever you upgrade your OS, it's always best to backup whatever important data you have, to prevent any of your data from being lost. I would highly recommend a fresh install (In other words, wipe your drive and reinstall everything). This will avoid driver and software incompatibility issues when you go back and reinstall, since you're leaving no trace of your previous installs. I have never trusted the "upgrade" discs from windows. I feel that may leave fragments and parts of Windows behind that will just cause problems later down the road (lord knows we have enough of those already). An "uninstall" of Windows is not so much as an uninstall as it is a reformat (erases everything on that partition/drive)