Old Family Laptop - Upg. Vista > Win 8?

mothermachine · 4 Mar 2013 at 12:16

Hi folks,

My parents have a fairly old Vista-based 32bit laptop with 3GB ram (only using 2GB obviously) and a core 2 duo 1.xghz processor (not sure exactly the spec). It's fairly old now and has never been formatted, so it's full of junk and quite clunky - VERY slow to boot - like 5 mins!

My plan, rather than buying them a new laptop, is to buy an upgrade from Vista > Win 8 (64 bit), format and install, install everything else from fresh and buy them a new large monitor to go with it, which they want.

Do you think this would give enough of a speed boost to the laptop for them to notice? I think the very act of formatting it and removing all the nonsense will do most of the work, but I've heard win 8 is a lot more speedy and efficient with RAM use than Vista, notoriously a dog.

I don't know if the CPU is capable of 64-bit but I would guess it is. I can check this later today.

Any ideas/thoughts?

Thinking these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-150-MS&tool=3
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-062-BQ

The laptop has only got VGA out so will that pump out high enough resolution for this screen do you think? No idea what the graphics chip is. I might be able to find out later today.

Cheers!

edscdk · 4 Mar 2013 at 12:23

fresh vista install updated and patched - save the £50 for beer..

old foke will die when presented with w8

edscdk · 4 Mar 2013 at 12:24

i ahve reinstalled loads of vista machiens just remember to tweak the services so indexing / server / rubbish services dont start.. and install a lightweight av like MSSE

mothermachine · 4 Mar 2013 at 12:47

edscdk said:
i ahve reinstalled loads of vista machiens just remember to tweak the services so indexing / server / rubbish services dont start.. and install a lightweight av like MSSE

I'm thinking Win 8 but with the classic shell might work for them... I'm wondering if a fresh vista install will really help all that much given that it's only 32bit and not using that extra 1Gb ram. Already using MSSE with malware bytes and spybot.

cheers,

Fire_fly · 4 Mar 2013 at 13:29

I did a similar thing with an five year old laptop the last week, re installing Vista made it feel noticeable quicker.

mothermachine · 4 Mar 2013 at 13:30

They won't have an issue forking out £50 to upgrade to Win 8. Do you think it would be worthwhile? I mean it would unlock that 3rd GB of RAM that their current 32-bit vista can't address. I think that might make all the difference.

flinco · 4 Mar 2013 at 14:37

Not worth spending 50quid on a W8 licence for such an old laptop.

Just reinstall Vista.

mothermachine · 4 Mar 2013 at 14:38

flinco said:
Not worth spending 50quid on a W8 licence for such an old laptop.

Just reinstall Vista.

Even with this RAM issue? I'm pretty sure that the vista license on the laptop is 32 bit only and can only be done using one of those awful system restore disc jobs....

pokerking · 4 Mar 2013 at 17:00

Buy an extra stick of memory, make it up to 4GB. Buy a copy of Windows 7 64Bit, much better than Vista rubbish and do it from a fresh format. Will feel like a new Laptop!!! Windows 8 with Metro and the fact the conventional start menu is not there may be too much of a change for the older generation.

edscdk · 4 Mar 2013 at 17:02

mothermachine said:
I'm thinking Win 8 but with the classic shell might work for them... I'm wondering if a fresh vista install will really help all that much given that it's only 32bit and not using that extra 1Gb ram. Already using MSSE with malware bytes and spybot.

cheers,

32bit will use 4gb minus a bit...

mothermachine · 4 Mar 2013 at 17:51

edscdk said:
32bit will use 4gb minus a bit...

Since when? I thought 32-bit could only address 2GB max unless you use the 3GB-switch trick.

Changing/upgrading the RAM will be expensive, I think. And complicated. It's very old so finding compatible RAM will be a task...

pokerking · 4 Mar 2013 at 18:14

mothermachine said:
Since when? I thought 32-bit could only address 2GB max unless you use the 3GB-switch trick.

Changing/upgrading the RAM will be expensive, I think. And complicated. It's very old so finding compatible RAM will be a task...

32-bit Windows has an address space of 4GB. Part of that is used by system BIOSes and graphics memory.

With a 256MB graphics card about 3.3-3.5GB of RAM can be addressed and used, assuming you have 4GB fitted.

If you fit a graphics card with 1GB of memory only about 2.6-2.8GB of the RAM would be addressable and usable.

mothermachine · 4 Mar 2013 at 18:16

So realistically speaking this vista 32-bit install with on-board graphics chip probably leaves around 2GB for windows + apps etc. Maybe a fresh Vista reinstall is the way to go.

pokerking · 4 Mar 2013 at 18:26

Depending on what apps they are, all use memory some more than others, you will never see the full 4GB on any 32Bit versions of windows but you should see around 3.5GB. I can't see an old laptop using more than 512MB of shared memory for the GPU. So yes you will see around 2.5GB usable with 3GB of memory installed.

Yeah defiantly a fresh install would be the first port of call, see how much it does actually speed it up. But remember it will be totally clean, once you start installing your apps again it will slow again. What is the laptop?