Laptop uggrade questions

I have a HP laptop that I bought a few years back (Vista days). Never had a single problem with it and wondered why Vista was seen as being so bad, until I recently did a fresh install from the partition, which I have done 3-4 times before and now I feel like I have the glitchiest EVER version of Vista. I swear I have every annoying feature Vista has ever had reported, so I am looking at buying the upgrade to Windows 8.

What info do you guys need to tell me if my laptop can run it?

Can I wipe the Vista partition and reclaim the space or is this even necessary?

I have dual ram in my laptop (2x2G), can I replace this with 2 x 4G or do you need other info to figure out if the laptop can handle that?

If it can handle it, what am I looking for specifically when I buy the new RAM?

Any and all help appreciated.

Nothing to do with electronics is decently priced in New Zealand. Peter Jackson bought it all to make The Hobbit.

Upgrade to Windows 7. 8 is going to be crappy unless your laptop has a touchscreen. 4GB of ram is fine. You don't need more. Just make sure you install a 64-bit version of 7 so you can use all of it.

Just noticed I only have 3GB of RAM. A 2GB stick and a 1GB. Will the increase from 3GB to 4Gb be noticeable at all?

I say save up and get a new laptop! Sounds like you've had it for at least 3 years now, and well systems have become much more efficient since then, also if possible get Win 7 to replace Vista.ULTIMATEZWARRIO