Would It be worth installing windows 7 on an old machine?
- Thread starter Coco
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As I voted for About the Same, the bigger problem in my opinion is the older machines usually have graphics not able to run Windows Aero and looks terrible without the effects. If you can not run Windows Aero then Windows 7 may not be a choice you would make.
One other note P4's run in a wide range of speed's. I would only consider installing Windows 7 on the top end of this spectrum.
One other note P4's run in a wide range of speed's. I would only consider installing Windows 7 on the top end of this spectrum.
catilley1092
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Windows 7 looks better and runs faster on my Latitude C640, 8 years old, designed for Win 2K. In fact, it has only 1GB RAM, 40GB hard drive and Pentium 4 processor. I left Win 2K 15GB, gave Win 7 Home Premium the rest. Win 7 would not "sleep", but a quick trip to Driver Max fixed that. No, it doesn't have Aero, but it looks better than Win 2K or XP Pro (which was kicked to the curb), and starts up a helluva lot faster than Win 2K does. Aero isn't everything on an older computer, the main thing to look at is will it run, does it look better than what you had, and is it faster than what you had. I would have to answer yes to all three of those. So my vote is Yes, worth it, fast! Thanks for the poll!
I have 7x64 running on an Athlon 64 3400+ w/2gb ram + a 512mb AGP vid card, runs great. Have 7x86 on my wife's Inspiron 8500 P4 mobile 2Ghz w/2Gb ram but only a 32mb vid. Win 7 runs fine on hers, yes no Aero effects but hers now boots way faster than it did with XP.
Sam
Sam
catilley1092
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What a great thing! Hearing of older computers running Windows 7. Of course, no Aero, but with the right drivers, Windows 7 will bring new life to an older computer. Aero is great to have, but there's a lot more to the OS than it. It usually cuts boot times in half, if not more, doesn't hog your RAM, loads web pages faster and much more. Were it not for the Aero interface, a lot of computers that the advisor turned away, would be running Windows 7. Back in late spring or early summer, Microsoft sent me an email promoting Windows 7, with prices starting around $49 to $59, provided I had a legal copy of Windows installed. I ran the advisor and turned it down, not realizing everything about Aero. Had the advisor reported it would run, but with less function, I would have bought as many as I could with the promotion, keeping 4 for myself, and selling the rest on eBay. Microsoft probably would have sold 25 to 35% more copies this way, too.
Had another system, a Dell Optiplex GX270 (P4 2.4Ghz, 1.5Gb ram, 128mb AGP video), that I had 7x86 on. Again ran fine just no Aero. Mobo died on it. Have a new Biostar P4M900-M4 socket 478 board coming and will use the Optiplex parts to make another system. 7 x86 should be fine on it.
My daughter is currently borrowing my old Toshiba laptop (Celeron 1Ghz, 768mb). May just try to run 7 x86 on it just to see if it works.
Sam
My daughter is currently borrowing my old Toshiba laptop (Celeron 1Ghz, 768mb). May just try to run 7 x86 on it just to see if it works.
Sam
catilley1092
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Go for it! Another member here ran Win 7 on 512MB RAM, although to be honest, he was doing it to prove a point. That's what I was doing with my Latitude C640. I didn't really need Win 7 on it. I did it because I was told that I couldn't. That fires me up. But the lady next door gave me the OS, so I had no money tied up in it. I help her a lot, I was cleaning her PC, and among the ton of dust was a Win 7 Home Premium. She runs XP Pro. I told her I would install it for her, but she refused, and told me to make good use of it. Some would say I made a piss poor choice as to how I used it, but it works fine. Boots up over twice as fast. And when I'm running it, the laptop doesn't get so hot as it does with Win 2K. Until that point, I never realized that an OS could make a computer hot. Especially being that the laptop was built to run Win 2K. But if you do decide to run it on the Toshiba, make a free trip to Driver Max, the program scans your system, and shows all drivers that need updating or missing. For free, you can download two drivers a day. For a few bucks, you can download unlimited drivers. You pay a price for how long you want the service. But you can upgrade every driver on every computer in the house for the price. Just a recommendation, I needed it, too.
Nibiru2012
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As C_C said, basically it boils down to the graphics card.
If you can't run the Aero interface, to me it's not worth it.
It is amazing though to see how many of the older graphics cards will run Aero.
If you can't run the Aero interface, to me it's not worth it.
It is amazing though to see how many of the older graphics cards will run Aero.
That's the main reason I decided to get the Biostar P4 motherboard. It uses DDR2 memory and has a PCIe x16 (though not a PCIe 2 x16, but cards are backwards compatible) slot. Pick up an older 256 or 512mb PCIe vid card and for $70 plus reusing the older parts I have a setup that will run Win 7 for everyday tasks for a couple more years and not put more stuff in a landfill.
I guess I just have a hard time just junking hardware because of an OS upgrade. The reason I dual boot XP and Win 7 is because my Canon Lide30 scanner and Epson Stylus Photo 875DCS printer aren't supported in Win 7.
Sam
Nibiru2012
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You should be able to use the Vista drivers for your Canon scanner.
catilley1092
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There you go, why through in the landfill what will still run, as long as you don't have to spend a fortune on it. I'm dual booting Win 2K Pro & Win 7 on one laptop, XP Pro & Windows 7 on another. I was told that 8 year old laptop belonged in the trash, that it would never boot into Win 7, let alone run it. I did it to prove a point. It smokes Win 2K. As long as it will run, I'll run it. I'm about to inherit another C640, this one with a P3 processor, 20GB hard drive and 512MB RAM. Once I get it, I'll make sure it's healthy, mabye go with 1GB RAM and go for it again.
I am going to put my 2 cents in. I don't think it is worth putting 7 on an older machine. I am currently writing from a Dell D810 that I put 7 on and the performance is really pissing me off. I also borrowed a C640 from a friend and put W7 Ultimate on and it is currently going through the kids' test. ( They will probably start complaining in a couple of days). Yes you can put it on there but between XP, W7 and Server 2003 on the Dell D8XX series, I find Server 2003 a lot faster and more versatile than either. .... I get better response from running Ubuntu on a Gateway 7422gx (Emachine M6811) AMD Athlon 64 with 2 Gig of ram than W7.
Eunix
Eunix