Windows Aero - Not Capable

[BlueCat57]

I have run Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor on two systems running Windows XP. Both systems report that they are "Not capable" of Windows Aero. Both systems recieve "Compatible" ratings in most other categories with none of the "Not compatible" ratings in anything related to graphics.

At first I thought this was due to the capability of my IGP/Graphics Card because the W7UA message says: "Your current graphics adapter won't support the Windows Aero user interface...." but my IGP/Graphics Card recieved a "Compatible" rating.

After receiving a reply in another forum and additional research I understand that the Windows Experience Index needs to be 3 to run Aero.

However I have been unable to discover how to discover the Windows Experience Index for my Windows XP systems. Any suggestions on how to find the WEI for a Windows XP system?

 

[BlueCat57]

Ah the simple solutions. Just as in Vista there is no need to use the Aero theme in Windows 7. Simply disable it and no more concerns about whether or not your system is capable of running Aero. Why doesn't Upgrade Advisor simply say something like that?

 

[stridervm]

Umm. Is your video drivers updated? Try updating them it might help.

 

[BlueCat57]

I tried that and got the same result. I think this is just one of those things that I'm one of the few that noticed the discrepency and am trying to figure it out.

My concern is that people will see the message about Aero and go out and buy hardware to "solve" the issue when they possibly don't need the new hardware to run Aero and don't have to run Aero at all anyway. If Microsoft were a hardware vendor I'd suspect them of trying to sell product.

I'm still trying to figure out how to determine the Windows Experience Index for a Windows XP system. Or barring that, what goes into making up the number and how do I get to 3.

From what I can tell my hardware meets the Windows 7 requirements, so the question is what would I need to add to run Aero?

I've read several comments about Aero and the consensus is don't bother. Like many other "features" it isn't necessary. My personal opinion is that MacWrite is still more word processor than 90% plus of the people out there need; and it ran on the same floppy as the OS on a system with 128KB of RAM.