We are trying to figure out how many PCs we are going to have to upgrade/scrap and buy new if/when we decide to move to Vista. The end of XP licensing and support are coming up and we need to know. Is there already a relevance script written somewhere that checks a PC and like the MS Vista compatibility utility lets you know if the machine is able to be upgraded or not? Maybe a special site we are not subscribed to? It would help A LOT if that was available somewhere as a report or Analysis.
That’s certainly an interesting question. There has been a lot of issues with what Microsoft considers ‘Vista Capable’ compared to what customers expect from their OS. There is also a difference between running the lightest version of Vista and running the premium versions.
I don’t think we have anything pre-made that determines if computers are vista capable. I would suggest going one of two routes:
Making a Fixlet that runs the MS Vista compatibility utility and collecting the results. I can’t find the tool you are referring to, do you have a link?
Deciding what your company believes are the appropriate hardware levels needed to run your version of vista and then using the basic hardware properties to give you a thumbs up or thumbs down.
I’m sure someone else could add some more to this discussion!
This is the “Upgrade Advisor” utility which after running on your PC it lets you know which/if features/versions of Vista can be run on your computer.
I certainly understand your meaning though about what the company will see as “Vista Capable”. I can see where this could become a very long if at all possible Relevance Script. Also the fact that it would have to differentiate in between the different versions of Vista and like the MS utility check for compatibility issues with the firmware/hardware version of the local components…Can of Worms all right.
Thank you for your prompt response Tyler,
Marlon
update:
Found a utility in MS site that seems to do what I wanted to use BigFix for…probably not even close to being as fast or through as BF but…
It will scan a network and using WMI assess whether the PCs are compatible with Vista and Office 2007, recording the report in SQL 2005 Express and outputting it on an excel sheet… Seems like it will do it but I’ll see.
Thanks a lot Ben I havent tried the other utility I posted yet but I will definitively take a look at this analysis you gave me and have my manager look at it and see if he deems it enough. Thank you again this should make it a lot easier.