Help needed regarding upgrading to Win 7

[liberaltrucker]

I have a 4 year old laptop (Presario V2000) running
XP Home. I found Win 7 at what looks like a good price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116775

Available RAM is 1 gig and all hardware works fine.

I was thinking I'd replace the old hard drive and purchase
Win 7. Is this a good idea? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Feel free to PM with suggestions.

[canetoad]

1. Can't see the point myself

Unless you just feel like giving Win 7 a whirl.

Trucker, I've just spent fucking weeks trying to get XP to run well on a newish laptop that came with Win 7, so excuse my cringe when I see someone trying to go the other way!

Here are the specs for V200

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 705 (1.5 GHz)
Display: 14.0" WXGA BrightView Widescreen(1280x768)
Video Card: Intel(R) Extreme Graphics with productivity ports
Memory: 512MB DDR SDRAM (1x512MB)( ....you have 1 gig)
Hard Drive: 40 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive
CD/DVD Drive: 8X DVD Drive

Here are minimum specs for Win 7

* 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
* 1 GB of RAM (32-bit)/2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
* 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit)/20 GB (64-bit)
* DirectX 9 graphics device with Windows Display Driver Model 1.0 or higher driver

Even with 1gig of RAM your Compaq will be borderline running Win 7 while XP home will perform well with the same RAM. New hard drive is a given, as you will only have 16g left after OS installation.

Some of the nicest features of Win7 need a much faster processor and at least 4g RAM to work properly. You will probably never be able to use many of the interface features like Aeroglass.

Ultimately it's your choice and I can only really say what I would do; stick with XP home. Clean it up and tweak it so it's lean and fast and it will see out the life of the laptop.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do :)

[liberaltrucker]

2. Thanks for the info

The old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"
saying comes to mind.

I realize that sooner or later, it'll have
to be replaced. Until then, your advise will
be treasured. :)

[canetoad]

3. Your laptop

will need to be replaced before XP!

Don't be fooled by talk of ending support for XP. Who needs support? I see machines still on Win 98 and they work just fine, depending on what your expectations are.

I'd still get that extra RAM and a bigger hard drive tho, could be years left in the Presario + XP.

[Jazzgirl]

4. Last year I upgraded a Dell laptop to Windows 7.

It does have 2 gig of ram and a 100 gig hard drive. It runs all the Windows 7 features like Aero just fine. If you are going to be in the market for a new laptop/computer anytime soon though I would just wait.

[darkstar3]

5. As a general rule, a MS operating system should not be installed on a machine

much older than the OS itself. Furthermore, attempting to run Win 7 with ANYTHING less than 2GB of RAM is asking for headaches. I've been running 7 off an on for various machines under my care since it came out, and I don't like using it on computers with less that 4GB of RAM. Don't get me wrong: 7 is better than prior MS offerings in the memory management department, but it really does need a bigger space to play in for that new ability to shine.

Linux, on the other hand, has no such issues. If you're already interested in trying a new OS with some eye candy, cool new features, and new-found speed on your perfectly serviceable Presario, may I shamelessly suggest Ubuntu? :)