Everybody who finds himself in the situation that he or she has to take the GRE General Test will receive a CD with the GRE® POWERPREP software from ETS a few days after registering for the test. Alternatively, the software can be downloaded from the ETS website.

However, it only works with Windows OS up to XP. With Vista users experienced a lot of trouble trying to install POWERPREP, but using the compatibility mode they were able to start and use the test prep material. Nevertheless, using Windows 7 I could not accomplish to get it startet, even with the compatibility mode: the window just flickered and nothing else happened.

A possible solution for those, who do not want to install Windows XP on a separate partition, is the new Windows 7 XP mode. The XP mode offers the capability to run a Windows XP environment from your Windows 7 desktop. It therefore requires a processor with the Intel® Virtualization Technology or AMD-V™ turned on and Windows 7 Professional or higher. The Intel® Processor Spec Finder helps to find out whether your (Intel) CPU meets these requirement.

If so, you can download Virtual PC and the XP mode installer. After the installation a reboot is required. Within the XP mode POWERPREP installs and runs smoothly.

GRE® POWERPREP and GRE® General Test are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). This website is not endorsed or approved by ETS.