As you likely know by now (especially if you're reading this), Windows 10, Microsoft's next major operating system (OS), is due out in just a few more days. But if you're not going to buy a brand-new computer to get Windows 10, you'll be putting it on a computer that already has some version of Windows, whether it's (shudder) Windows XP, Windows Vista (highly unlikely), Windows 7 or Windows 8. How do you know, though, if your current laptop or desktop will be able to handle Windows 10?


The place to start is with Microsoft's Windows 10 Specifications page. Remember that not every computer will be able to handle Windows 10's requirements. If you have a computer running Windows 7 or newer, it's likely that it will be able to run Windows 10, but that's no guarantee, either. Read on to find out if your present PC can handle it.

Specifications

Here are the basic specs your computer will need to have, according to Microsoft:

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
• Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS
• Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
• Display: 800x600

How do you know if your computer meets these standards? For Windows 8/8.1, I've written a how-to on where to find that information.

In Windows 7, follow this sequence: Click the Start button/Control Panel/System and Security/System. At the top of that window, it should say "View basic information about your computer." It gives you information about what OS you're running, and which Service Pack (assuming you have one).

Below that category is the rest of the important information. Don't worry about "Rating" -- that's just a gauge of how much performance your system has. The data below that is what you need.

Display Resolution

To find out what kind of display resolution you have, it's the same in Windows 7 and Windows 8: right-click anywhere on a blank section of the desktop, and left-click the menu item "Screen resolution." For a Windows 8 touchscreen, the easiest way is to make sure you're in Modern mode (i.e. not the desktop mode, but the one with the big tiles all over the place), touch any blank area, and type "display," which automatically brings up the Search window. One of the first items listed should be "Display settings," which you'd then click.

You shouldn't have to worry about the "Graphics card:" category. Those are the most basic settings, and pretty much every computer on which you'd consider putting Windows 10 will meet those specs.

Hard Drive Space

To find out how much hard drive space you have, it's different for Windows 7 and Windows 8. In Windows 7, there should be a folder icon on the Task Bar (the thin strip at the very bottom of your screen). Typically, this icon is very close to the Start button. Left-click the folder picture, which brings up various icons. One of them, toward the bottom of this list, is one that says "Computer." Left-click it, and to the right will appear a list that says "Hard Disk Drives." Usually, you'll want the one that says "SYSTEM (C:)". It will show you how much space you have left (this could be another drive, but for most of you it won't be.)

On Windows 8 systems, if you're in the Modern, touch-first mode, just start typing "disk". The first item that comes up in the Search list should be "Free up disk space on this PC." Click that item, and at the top you'll see much free space you have (on mine, for instance, it says "157 GB available of 230 GB"; plenty of space for Windows 10).

Pre-Windows 7 Computers

What if you're using Windows XP or Windows Vista? Chances are very good that Windows 10 won't work on it. The hardware needed to run Windows 10 is more advanced than you're likely to have on your computer.

Even if your old computer could run Windows 10, though, you wouldn't want to. It would run so poorly that it wouldn't be worth it. Imagine if it took six or seven minutes just to power on, or took two minutes to open a web browser. Minimum specs are just that -- the minimum necessary to run the OS. Yes, it may work; but the experience would be so awful that you'd want to throw your computer against a wall after using Windows 10 for an hour.