Upgrading from XP
- Thread starter gaz1971
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It depends what you mean by upgrading, and what OS you want to end up on!
I assume that - as it's on XP - it's a relatively old system, therefore it will be worth bearing in mind the minimum requirements for the various versions of Windows that you're looking to upgrade to.
I assume that - as it's on XP - it's a relatively old system, therefore it will be worth bearing in mind the minimum requirements for the various versions of Windows that you're looking to upgrade to.
Depends on what OS you're upgrading to. For Windows 10, it's this: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/windows-10-specifications
Either way I think even with 7, you'll need to do a clean install from fresh, there's no way to do an upgrade install.
Either way I think even with 7, you'll need to do a clean install from fresh, there's no way to do an upgrade install.
Man of Honour
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Technically, you could upgrade to Vista, then 7, then 10.
However for that you would need a license for each so it would probably be best to do an install from scratch.
It depends on the age of the hardware though, if it is running XP then chances are the hardware is incapable of running Windows 10, at least acceptably.
What are your pc specs? easier to start with that.
Personally, I think an SSD is a must with a modern operating system (Vista onwards).
Easy, I bet most normal people don't know the detailed specifications of their PC.
If you want to stick with Windows gaz1971 you're probably best of backing up all your important data, buying a retail copy of Windows 10 and an SSD and installing it fresh onto that. If you find it doesn't work well enough you can move to a new machine. (OEM versions don't let you change motherboard AFAIK.)
Alternatively there are plenty of Linux distributions that work very well on old computers.
You will need a Windows 10 license whatever you do. So £80 upwards depending on what version you want.
However, if its a 10+ year old PC that came with XP then your probably better off throwing it in the bin and buying a new one.
However, if its a 10+ year old PC that came with XP then your probably better off throwing it in the bin and buying a new one.
Why?
Any computer that is capable of running windows XP should be capable of running windows 10 as long as the processor supports all the instruction sets (or whatever they're called) that windows 10 requires to actually install it.
You'd have to go back to at least the 2000's to find a computer that won't run windows 10.
Soldato
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You should do a clean install with Windows 10 64 bit.
Definitely spend the extra on an SSD.
It will make a big difference to how responsive the machine is. Most cost effective upgrade you can make to any machine IMHO.
Another bonus will be that you can keep your XP drive with OS intact should you need to use XP or have any compatibility problems with old programs.
It will make a big difference to how responsive the machine is. Most cost effective upgrade you can make to any machine IMHO.
Another bonus will be that you can keep your XP drive with OS intact should you need to use XP or have any compatibility problems with old programs.
As long as you can boot from USB it's a little more convenient and robust than DVD (and usually a few more quid).
There's not a lot of difference between SSDs for a typical PC, you can't go too wrong getting the cheapest one in the capacity you need. I recently got an ADATA Premier SP550 240GB for £49 that's great (unfortunately ocuk don't stock it) but I've also used a Kingston 60GB SSDNow V300 and that is fine too (£32 from ocuk). The latter has been fine in a family PC running Windows 10.