Going from XP to Windows 7 what do I need?

neojapsz

neojapsz

neojapsz

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I’m quite happy with my current PC, only use it for internet and word docs, copying cd's etc it’s in a really nice quiet case so I’m not looking for a new PC.

However XP security updates are going to stop shortly from Microsoft so I need to get onto windows 7.

I want the PC for quite a few more years, and my hard drive is old, so I could do with a new one. Was looking at SSD's, can anyone recommend one, I was thinking Intel would have less issues with such an old PC with it been SATA 1.

Also need more memory, I’ve got 1 gig now in 2 sticks, I could get another 2 gig to make 3 gig. Or I could take out my memory and put in 4 gig, is there any big advantage to that, as what I’ve read there seems to be an opinion that windows can only use 3.5 gig anyway, if that’s the case it might be worth going just for the 3 gig and keeping my memory.
 
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit can handle up to 16GB of memory. More expensive versions (Professional, Ultimate) and any version of Windows 8 can handle more than 16GB.

You'll be fine with 4GB. You'll have to check what DDR type your board takes. It's an old one.

Also, not sure whether that system can handle 64-bit. Hopefully someone else will know.
 
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4Gb of DDR memory will cost a fair bit unless you can find it used. Windows 7 is usable with 2gb if you are just performing basic tasks.

An SSD may not be worth it as your processor will most likely bottleneck performance. If you have a very small budget it may be worth looking in to a used core 2 Duo setup. This will give a massive performance increase and you will be able to use DDR2 ram which is marginally cheaper in larger quantities than DDR. You will however have to bear in mind things like your GPU (im guessing its AGP) would not work with a core 2 duo setup as it will most likely use PCI Express although you can pick up a PCI Express GPU for very little money.

If you really want to keep your current setup it may be worth switching over to a lightweight linux distribution. You will be able to perform all of the things you do now and wouldn't really need to upgrade anything (although another 1gb of ram would help).
 
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I don't think his cpu can handle 64bit instruction set, Prescott had the 64bit instruction set on socket 775.

Also you will need search around for DDR ram which I suspect would be costly.

Have you though about a cheap upgrade?
 
Northwood were originally x86. I seem to remember intel prototyping 64bit on the northwoods but held back for the move to 90nm (prescott) due to heat issues. P4's were made on both the northwood and later the prescott cores. I thunk ;)
 
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Checking on the Intel site both Northwood 2.8GHz models are only 32-bit.

Checking the Asus site there seems to be no drivers for your motherboard for 7 either (latest supported OS being XP)...

And the fact your board only supports DDR will make upgrading to 4GB very expensive.

Honestly considering the costs, I would say you're better off upgrading the entire thing.
 
Given how old your system is I would seriousely consider doing a full upgrade if you are jumping to windows 7. I appreciate you dont need a high spec, but you might find that spec a little on the slow side loaded up with Windows 7. As others have said you are going to miss out on 64 bit, finding 4GB of DDR ram will be insanely expensive for what it is, and your CPU will probably bottleneck your SSD.

Assuming you need everything I would get something like the below that will be a massive upgrage in every respect and when you think £65 of it is the SSD and £70 is windows it's insanely cheap.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £73.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SH103S3/120G) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £39.95
1 x MSI H81M-E33 Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £34.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £31.99
1 x SuperFlower Amazon 300W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply £29.99
1 x Zalman T4 Micro-ATX Case USB 3.0 - Black £22.99
Total : £353.48 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
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DDR ram can be had fairly cheap if you search the right places :)

And an SSD on an old system still makes a massive difference. Even on my 1.0GHz AMD netbook it's SO much quicker with an SSD.

However I'd look out for a few cheap components, something S775, Core2Duo with DDR2 and SATA2 will be a hefty upgrade really.
 
You could get Linux on it. You can get a nice light distro like lubuntu or Mint-xfce. I'd do this before anything see if it's ok as you seem quite happy with your PC. I wouldn't put Windows 7 on it, I wouldn't upgrade it in any way. If Linux is no good then get a new setup.
 
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