Windows Hardware Requirements - Online Computer Tips

Not all hardware will run all operating systems, especially Windows. Hardware components such as processors and RAM are getting faster all the time and that’s a good thing because operating system requirements are calling for faster hardware with each new release.

As Windows becomes more advanced, the required hardware to run Windows increases at the same time. Microsoft lists the minimum hardware requirements for each version of Windows but it’s never really enough to run the operating system at an acceptable level. Here is a listing of the various versions of Windows and their minimum hardware requirements. Also listed is the maximum amount of RAM and the number of processors supported as well.

Windows 2016

1.4 (GHz) 64 bit processor or faster that supports NX and DEP
512 (MB) of RAM – 2 GB for server with the Desktop Experience installed
32 GB of hard disk space
Gigabit (10/100/1000baseT) PCIe Ethernet adapter with PXE support
Super VGA (1024 x 768) or higher-resolution monitor
Trusted Platform Module
UEFI 2.3.1c-based system and firmware that supports secure boot

Windows 10

1 (GHz) processor or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2
1 (GB) of RAM (GB) for 32-bit versions or 2 GB for 64-bit versions
16 GB of hard disk space for 32-bit or 20 GB for 64-bit
Graphics card – Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

Windows 2012 R2

1.4 (GHz) 64 bit processor or faster
512 (MB) of RAM
32 GB of hard disk space
Gigabit (10/100/1000baseT) Ethernet adapter
Super VGA (1024 x 768) or higher-resolution monitor

Windows 8 & 8.1

1 (GHz) processor or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2
1 (GB) of RAM (GB) for 32-bit versions or 2 GB for 64-bit versions
16 GB of hard disk space for 32-bit or 20 GB for 64-bit
Graphics card – Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

Windows 7

1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor – We recommend a 2GHz or higer quad core processor
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit) – We recommend 3 or more GB
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
For some Windows Media Center functionality a TV tuner and additional hardware may be required
BitLocker requires Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2
BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive
Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM, an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space, and a processor capable of hardware virtualization with Intel VT or AMD-V turned on

Windows Vista
All Editions (minimum requirements)

800 MHz processor and 512 MB of system memory
20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
Support for Super VGA graphics
CD-ROM drive

Below are the recommended requirements from Microsoft for Vista but we recommend a faster processor like a Core2Duo and 2 GB of RAM for any version of Vista.

Home Basic

1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
512 MB of RAM
20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory
DVD-ROM drive

Home Premium / Business / Ultimate

1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 GB of RAM
40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
DVD-ROM drive
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:

* WDDM Driver
* 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
* Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
* 32 bits per pixel

Windows Server 2008 R2

Single processor with 1.4 GHz (x64 processor) or 1.3GHz (Dual Core)
512 MB RAM
32 GB or greater hard drive space
Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution monitor

Windows Server 2003

Web Edition

Supports two processors and 2GB of RAM.
133-MHz processor (550 MHz recommended)
128 MB of RAM (256 MB recommended; 2 GB maximum)
1.5 GB hard disk space

Standard Edition

Supports four processors and 4GB of RAM.
133-MHz processor required; 550-MHz or faster processor
128 MB of RAM required; 256 MB or more recommended
1.5 GB hard disk space

Enterprise Edition

Supports eight processors and 32GB of RAM.
133-MHz or faster processor for x86-based PCs; 733-MHz for Itanium-based PCs
128 MB of RAM required; 256 MB or more recommended
1.5 GB hard disk space

Datacenter 32-Bit Edition

Supports 32 processors and 64GB of RAM.
400 MHz processor required; 733 MHz processor recommended
Minimum: 512 MB of RAM; recommended: 1 GB of RAM
1.5 GB hard disk space

Datacenter 64-Bit edition

Supports 64 processors and 512GB of RAM.
Minimum: 400 MHz processor for x86-based computers or 733 MHz for Itanium-based computers; recommended: 733 MHz processor
Minimum: 512 MB of RAM; recommended: 1 GB of RAM
1.5 GB hard disk space

Windows2000

Windows 2000 Professional

Supports up to two processors and up to 4GB of RAM.
Pentium 133 MHz, 65MB of RAM, 650 MB free hard disk space (2 GB recommended)

Windows 2000 Server

Supports up to four processors and up to 4GB of RAM.
Pentium 133 MHz, 128MB of RAM, 1 GB free hard disk space (2 GB recommended)

Windows 2000 Advanced Server

Supports up to eight processors and up to 8GB of RAM
Pentium 133 MHz, 256MB of RAM, 1 GB free hard disk space (2 GB recommended)

Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

Supports up to 32 processors and up to 64GB of RAM.
Pentium 133 MHz, 256MB of RAM, 1 GB free hard disk space (2 GB recommended)

Windows XP

Home

Supports 1 processor and up to 4GB of RAM
233 MHz CPU (300 MHz recommended)
64 MB of RAM (128 MB recommended)
1.5 GB of available hard disk space

Professional

Supports up to 2 processors and up to 4GB of RAM
233 MHz CPU (300 MHz recommended)
64 MB of RAM (128 MB recommended)
1.5 GB of available hard disk space

64 Bit Edition

Supports up to 2 processors and up to 64GB of RAM
AMD Athlon 64, AMD Opteron, Intel Xeon with Intel EM64T support, Intel Pentium 4 with Intel EM64T support CPUs
256 MB of RAM
1.5 GB of available hard disk space

Windows 95/98/ME

Windows 95