Software Requirements And Software Requirements For An Operating System

801 Words2 Pages

As a computer administrator one must be aware of what the system requirements are for the operating system being used or installed on a system. Computer administrators that install operating systems on new or old hardware often will research what the manufacturer suggests for the operating system to work properly. The requirements for an operating system can be broken down into two categories hardware requirements and software requirements.
Hardware Requirements are the resources that are needed to support an operating system. Microsoft has a set of suggested requirements and minimum requirements available to view on their web page. Direct X version 9 is a requirement for Windows 7 and is an example of a software requirement as well …show more content…

Upgrading an Intel 80486 or i486 to Windows 7 is not possible for several reasons. The fastest processor for an i486, the Am5x861 was introduced in 1995 and had a processing speed of 133 MHz this is below the minimum requirement for Widows 7 which requires at least 1,000 MHz or 1GHZ of processor speed. I486 hardware also does not support enough RAM (random access memory). I have an i486 and the motherboard only accepts 160 MB of ram. The RAM requirement for Windows 7 is 1GB for 32 bit systems and 2 GB for 64 bit systems2. Video Hardware produced for an I486 is not supported by Direct X version 9. When Windows starts an install it will check to see if the hardware meets the new operating system’s requirements. These checks sometimes can be bypassed by using a system image for the operating system install. The computer still will have problems using the operating system if it does not have the proper hardware that is needed to run the …show more content…

The system image will contain a set of software that is common to computers used on the network. Using one of these images the operating system can be installed to a hard drive unattended by copying the files to the drive. The startup process3 of a modern computer requires several steps. A power on self test (POST) is used to test the system before programs are loaded. The POST will test memory, video, fixed disks and CPU (central processing unit) for compatibility and to see if they function properly. Programs are started from ROM (read only memory) stored on the computer’s main board. The BIOS (basic input / output system) loads into the system’s memory and will access programs on disk drives or fixed disks. The operating system will be loaded from a disk drive or solid state drive using the Windows boot manager.
The Operating system will continue the startup process with the Windows boot loader during a normal startup. As the operating system starts programs will start in a specific order. This is determined by the writers of the operating system. Services and programs start as each one is intended unless problems are detected by the operating system’s programming. After the Kernel and all other startup programs are loaded a logon phase is

Open Document