Upgrade

Hi you have to buy from a proper source and make sure its genuine also your hard drive on your pc has to be large enough to cope with the new install . Another way is you could invest in a new pc system that has a new up to date operating system .

There are tons of different types of processors. I will go into detail and then sum it up simply at the end.

When choosing one, the largest distinction is brand. AMD and Intel are the two brands to choose from. Most people choose Intel for a more powerful system.

Then you must choose how much multitasking power you would like (how many cores). The market ranges from 1 to 12 core processors. The more cores, the more $$$ your're going to spend and the more power you will have.

Then you must choose speed which is measured in GHZ. This determines how fast your computer will do each task. More GHZ also equals more $$$ and speed.

There are also processor sockets which must be compatible with the motherboard. You must research this yourself (there are TONS of options) if you are building the PC yourself. Dell or Apple (or any other computer company) will make sure everything is compatible if you are ordering from them.

SIMPLIFIED:

There are two main brands of processors: Intel and AMD

Processors have a certain number of "cores" which help with multitasking (having lots of browser tabs open). MORE CORES = BETTER ABILITY TO RUN LOTS OF PROGRAMS

Then there is the processor speed (how fast it does all the tasks). MORE GHZ = MORE SPEED

As a benchmark, a mid range processor will have:
4 cores
~3 ghz

hope that helps

The disk is most likely no good anymore get another one from the factory for your computer or buy an operating system disk for your computer and go from there. I'm assuming this the disk you are speaking of. The question was kinda of vague was not sure what you meant. John

Hi, Unfortunately any of Bernina's software that is older than Version 5 , will not work with Vista. There are some software patches available on the berninausa.com web site, but there is nothing out there that will help you if you have any Version 4 software or older. Microsoft really through out a curve ball to everyone with VISTA as there is a lot of software out there that will not work in that operating system.
Actually the lowest cost solution would be to get a nice used computer that runs Windows XP. You do not need a super fast, state of the art computer to run embroidery programs.
I bought a nice used computer at a yard sale for $10.00 and it even came with the XP install disk. I replaced the hard drive just because they do wear out after a few years, installed XP in it and that computer is now in my wife's sewing room and it is only used for her embroidery work.
You might have a computer repair shop in your area where you can buy an older XP computer that has been reconditioned. The few dollars you would spend to get an older computer would cost you far less than buying new Bernina Version 5 software. It is EXPENSIVE! Good luck...bushvideo