The Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant Explained
Screenshots
The Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant is basically a program by Microsoft that enables you to easily check whether or not your current computer is compatible with Windows 8 and if not, then buy it at a discounted price. It does this by automatically scanning all devices and programs on your computer for potential conflicts and gives you a full report of what devices or programs may keep you from successfully running Windows 8... all via a single interface! There is no need for you to manually scan your system or even spend time trying to find out what programs may be causing issues. Just fire up the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant, scan everything, and give Windows a clean bill of health.
In order to use the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant, you will first need to launch it; click "scan" at the bottom left-hand corner. Once it has scanned your system, you will see an overview of the problems detected. Click on "get devices and programs to update" and follow the onscreen instructions. After you have selected your devices, click "run" to complete the process. As soon as you are done, you will be able to see which devices are compatible with Windows 8.1, and which ones are not compatible, letting you know ahead of time that you need to purchase in order to successfully run Windows 8.1.
If you are not using the Windows 8.1 Setup disk, it will take care of that for you by detecting all components and checking if they are compatible with Windows. Any components that are not compatible with Windows, you will notice. In fact, you won't even have to purchase Windows vista if your hardware is not compatible. If you are upgrading from Windows Vista, you will want to go one step further and get the setup disk for that OS. You will need it to install Windows and any necessary drivers.