Considering an upgrade to Win 7

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demarpaint

demarpaint

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I'll be putting a new hard drive in a Dell 3100 P4 tower with 2 GB of ram. My laptop i7 8 GB of Ram has Win 7. Even though I like XP it might be time to upgrade, so I have a few questions.

Since it will be going on a new Hard Drive, in the eyes of MSFT it is not an upgrade, or is it? What I mean is if it scans the drive for an old OS it won't find it on a new HD. So I'm not sure which version of Win 7 home/office I should buy. Then they have Branded OEM versions for under $100 but if the PC dies it can't be installed on another machine, so in effect if the new hard drive is a defect am I SOL? Or am I reading to much into this?

Should I just leave XP on the machine in question and save the cash?

Suggestions are welcome!

Edit to add:


I ran the tool to see if I can upgrade, this is the only message that stuck out.

Your current graphics adapter won't support the Windows Aero user interface. If you want to experience the benefits of Windows Aero, contact your PC manufacturer or retailer to see if an upgrade is available.

Thanks!
 
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You can't upgrade if there's no existing operating system. You need a full version. Simple.

32-bit Windows 7 would probably run fine on it, but at this point in that computer's life, you might as well save some cash and install something like Linux Mint. That or find someone who works in IT that can grab you a Dell-branded Windows install disc.
wink.gif
 
That's what I thought. Even though I have an OS I don't want to install it so that I can write over it with Win 7, I'd want a clean install. I think I'll just use XP again and call it a day.

Or can I install XP on the new HD, then put in a Win 7 upgrade, format the drive and do a fresh install of Win 7?
 
You CANT do a direct upgrade from XP to 7. Backup your data manually or download the winfows easy transfer tool from microsofts website.

When you put in the upgrade CD, it will tell you that having XP qualifies for an upgrade. It tells you to backup your stuff and that you HAVE to do a fresh install of 7.
banana2.gif


This will explain in more detail m.zdnet.com/blog/bott/clean-install-with-windows-7-upgrade-media-get-the-facts/1505

You might consider buying another gig of ram and at least a cheap nvidia 7000 or 8000 series card for best performance
 
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Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Originally Posted By: Jeffy_D
You CAN'T do a direct upgrade from XP to 7.

Oops, yeah, there's that problem, also anyway. lol


I thought I could do an upgrade from XP to Win 7? My mother board won't support any more Ram, 2GB is it.

What I was considering was doing a quick install of XP on the new hard drive then that would qualify me for an upgrade to win 7. I think it would allow a fresh install, all it needs to do is see a qualifying program for the upgrade? At least that's what I read. I think I'll scrap the whole idea and stick with XP.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Originally Posted By: Jeffy_D
You CAN'T do a direct upgrade from XP to 7.

Oops, yeah, there's that problem, also anyway. lol


I thought I could do an upgrade from XP to Win 7? My mother board won't support any more Ram, 2GB is it.

What I was considering was doing a quick install of XP on the new hard drive then that would qualify me for an upgrade to win 7. I think it would allow a fresh install, all it needs to do is see a qualifying program for the upgrade? At least that's what I read. I think I'll scrap the whole idea and stick with XP.


Yes, it just needs to see a valid install of XP or vista installed on the hard drive. I apologize for not being more clear. Its early and it skipped my mind that your hard drive is new. A direct upgrade means it would upgrade your OS but preserve and files or third party software installed. But thats irrelevant at this point. Vista can be directly upgraded, but not xp. having XP gives you the "right" to install a fresh version of 7, but warns youthat any software and data wont be preserved. Thats why you would of backed your data up before proceding.

Except for security, I doubt you would get alot of benefit from upgrading to 7 without adding a good video card. sux that your board has a 2 gig limit.
 
Thanks for clearing that up!

I have a Win 7 Laptop, and quite honestly I still like XP a bit more. I was thinking in terms of a more stable OS, and being a little more current since I was replacing the hard drive. But I don't want to waste money either on a old machine I tossed together from parts. I'll do a fresh install of Win XP, clean things up a bit and call it good!
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
What I was considering was doing a quick install of XP on the new hard drive then that would qualify me for an upgrade to win 7. I think it would allow a fresh install, all it needs to do is see a qualifying program for the upgrade? At least that's what I read.


Yup... http://www.pcworld.com/article/174710/microsoft_says_windows_7_install_workaround_is_legal.html
And a workaround to install in blank disk http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-128512
Windows 8 is suppose to be coming out soon too, don't know if you want to wait for it.
 
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I read a few of the work around articles. One of them said that they might have done some tweaks after the article was written and the work around might not work. The way my luck goes that would be the case, so I'd have to do a double install.
 
I tested Win7 RC on a P4 (540J) with 1gb of RAM and it ran equal or better than XP on it, unlike Vista.

Personally, I would not waste money upgrading an XP box to Win7. You can't upgrade the RAM on that PC to take advantage of 64-bit OS's, and there isn't anything that will run on 7 but won't run on XP (unless you REALLY want IE 9). You can find a newer clearance PC for $300 that will come with Win7 and run laps around an old P4.
 
The Dimension 3100/E310 has limitations.

Windows 7 is graphics intensive, even moreso than it is CPU intensive. The Dimension 3100 has no connection for a current PCIe x16 graphics card. You're limited to a PCI or PCIe x1. Even if you did have a PCIe x16 slot almost all current graphics cards would require more power than your Dell power supply can handle requiring you to change out the power supply.

There are no Dell Windows 7 drivers available for the Dimension 3100, only XP and Vista. Vista drivers sometimes work with Windows 7 and Windows 7 will find some drivers that are compatible....... sometimes.

If you have a fast P4 with hyperthreading, (acts like 2 cores), you could certainly run Win7, but then you have to install and run whatever software you'll be using and I don't think you're going to be happy with the results of having only 2GB memory and no graphics card.

You can still buy PCI and PCIe x1 cards, check Newegg for instance. But again, that will almost certainly require a beefier power supply.

I recommend against upgrading your machine. Instead, consider selling it and putting that money with the money you would have spent on a new hard drive, graphics card, power supply and Windows 7, toward a new pc.

If you still just want to try it, do a search on eBay for "Dell Windows 7". You'll get hits for Dell Windows 7 Reinstallation cds. They'll run from $20.00 to $40.00 and will probably install on your 3100.

If you do this, I suggest you use 32 bit rather than 64 bit. The only benefit to 64 bit would be the ability to address more than about 3.5GB of memory, (32 bit limit), and since the 3100 can only use 2GB that benefit is lost.

Larry
 
Thanks for the replies. I can now see there is really no point in sinking any money into this machine. I already have an i7 Laptop with 8 GB of Ram so I don't need another computer. Tinkering with this machine has become a hobby of sorts, and I spend a lot of time on it. It can do anything I need it to. With Win XP and 2 GB of ram it runs quite well. I was toying with upgrading, but now seeing the limitations, I'll put in the new hard drive re-install XP and all the fixes, then install my software and data and be done with it.
 
I think you've made the right decision.

Just one more thing.

Support for XP will end 2 years from now. That means no further updates or security patches after that. The computer will still operate of course, but security will continue to deteriorate due hackers ability to penetrate holes as they're found.

This might be a consideration for you before you spend much money on even a new hard drive since they have become quite expensive since the Thailand flood wiping out Western Digital factory last year.




Larry
 
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I realized that. I figure I can put the hard drive to good use as a back up drive, or for another PC if I can get another unit that someone is going to pitch. I was running a Dell XPS-t750r up until a few months ago, and got this P4 machine for nothing. I might be able to score something a step up, that that will run Win 7 w/o issue, and I can swap the HD. As I mentioned I have a 4 month old Intel Core i7 machine so I'm no longer that far behind the times.
smile.gif
 
A p4 machine makes a great linux box for web surfing.

That OS is free. I would not put windows 7 on a p4 machine. It is even a little slow on my dual core intel machine with 4gb ram.
 
I have a lot of windows programs for it, and really don't know anything about the Linux OS.
 
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