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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with
Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? |
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#2
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
Antares 531 wrote:
I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? http://windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor http://preview.tinyurl.com/5cxjvr -- 1PW |
#3
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
Antares 531 wrote:
I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? http://windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor http://preview.tinyurl.com/5cxjvr -- 1PW |
#4
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
Antares 531 wrote:
I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? Your processor is 32 bit, so no 64 bit OS for you. A processor with 64 bit support is required for a 64 bit OS. http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id...es=SL92F,SL9KV The 430 also does not support virtualization mode (VT-x), so you can't use the Windows XP Mode of Windows 7. (Even people with Core2 processors have to be careful, as only the expensive processors have VT-x enabled.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7 "A new version of Virtual PC, Windows Virtual PC Beta is available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions. It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode, to run on the same machine, requiring the use of Intel VT-x or AMD-V." You might check and see, if both 32 bit and 64 bit options are available with the same product SKU, so that you can install either version as needed from your three-pack. HTH, Paul |
#5
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
Antares 531 wrote:
I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? Your processor is 32 bit, so no 64 bit OS for you. A processor with 64 bit support is required for a 64 bit OS. http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id...es=SL92F,SL9KV The 430 also does not support virtualization mode (VT-x), so you can't use the Windows XP Mode of Windows 7. (Even people with Core2 processors have to be careful, as only the expensive processors have VT-x enabled.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7 "A new version of Virtual PC, Windows Virtual PC Beta is available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions. It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode, to run on the same machine, requiring the use of Intel VT-x or AMD-V." You might check and see, if both 32 bit and 64 bit options are available with the same product SKU, so that you can install either version as needed from your three-pack. HTH, Paul |
#6
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
Antares 531 wrote:
I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? Just to add to the good advice you already got - you have way too little RAM. I can't believe you're even able to run Vista Basic with only 512MB of RAM. You want to up it to at least 2GB. With that slow processor the machine will never be a speed demon but assuming there are drivers for Win7 it should be acceptable for web surfing, email, office programs, etc. In order to use an upgrade version of Win7, you'll need to start the installation from within a working Vista. Then choose the Custom install to get a clean install. If you buy the full version, then upgrading doesn't come into the picture and you can just boot from the Win7 DVD, delete your old Vista partitions, create a new one, and install. Make sure that laptop will have drivers for Win7 first. Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ |
#7
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
Antares 531 wrote:
I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? Just to add to the good advice you already got - you have way too little RAM. I can't believe you're even able to run Vista Basic with only 512MB of RAM. You want to up it to at least 2GB. With that slow processor the machine will never be a speed demon but assuming there are drivers for Win7 it should be acceptable for web surfing, email, office programs, etc. In order to use an upgrade version of Win7, you'll need to start the installation from within a working Vista. Then choose the Custom install to get a clean install. If you buy the full version, then upgrading doesn't come into the picture and you can just boot from the Win7 DVD, delete your old Vista partitions, create a new one, and install. Make sure that laptop will have drivers for Win7 first. Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ |
#8
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
If you have any machines older than 3 years old, you are strongly advised not to even try doing anything to them because Windows 7 requires a minimum of 1 GB for 32 bit but you will need at least 4GB to do any meaningful work. I recommend 8GB to be really productive. The only way is to buy a new machine for Win 7 to install otherwise stick with XP and Vista until SP1 comes out to fix some the bugs and to introduce some more! By that time you will have the lottery and so you can buy new machines with Windows 7 in pristine condition. Then you will need to ask what exactly do you do with the new OS? What was wrong with XP or VISTA apart from MS not making any more money? Antares 531 wrote: I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? |
#9
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
If you have any machines older than 3 years old, you are strongly advised not to even try doing anything to them because Windows 7 requires a minimum of 1 GB for 32 bit but you will need at least 4GB to do any meaningful work. I recommend 8GB to be really productive. The only way is to buy a new machine for Win 7 to install otherwise stick with XP and Vista until SP1 comes out to fix some the bugs and to introduce some more! By that time you will have the lottery and so you can buy new machines with Windows 7 in pristine condition. Then you will need to ask what exactly do you do with the new OS? What was wrong with XP or VISTA apart from MS not making any more money? Antares 531 wrote: I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? |
#10
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
On Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:04:21 -0500, Antares 531
wrote: I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? Thanks to all who responded. The situation looks rather grim, so I guess I'll just get along with Vista until I have to buy a new laptop computer. I don't think it would be practical or economically prudent to upgrade my old laptop with more RAM and a faster CPU, so I'll just knuckle under and live with it. Gordon |
#11
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
On Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:04:21 -0500, Antares 531
wrote: I have an HP Compaq Presario C 500 laptop computer that came with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. This has been upgraded to SP2. It has a Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 to install on my desktop, my wife's desktop and my laptop computers. I'm not sure this laptop will handle Windows 7, though. It has 512 MB of RAM and 68.9 GB of hard disk space with 47.4 GB free, presently. This is set up as a 32 bit O.S. I will probably do a clean install and delete all files from this hard drive, after backing the important stuff up onto a flash drive or CD. Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. or is that beyond the limits for a computer like this? Am I likely to run into any problems if I go for a clean install. That is, will my "upgrade" intentions be honored once the original O.S. has been wiped off and the hard drive re-formatted? How do I work around this. I do have the Product Key (a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) but will I need a CD or other such in order to do a complete fresh install? Thanks to all who responded. The situation looks rather grim, so I guess I'll just get along with Vista until I have to buy a new laptop computer. I don't think it would be practical or economically prudent to upgrade my old laptop with more RAM and a faster CPU, so I'll just knuckle under and live with it. Gordon |
#12
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
ANONYMOUS wrote:
If you have any machines older than 3 years old, you are strongly advised not to even try doing anything to them because Windows 7 requires a minimum of 1 GB for 32 bit but you will need at least 4GB to do any meaningful work. I recommend 8GB to be really productive. The only way is to buy a new machine for Win 7 to install otherwise stick with XP and Vista until SP1 comes out to fix some the bugs and to introduce some more! By that time you will have the lottery and so you can buy new machines with Windows 7 in pristine condition. Then you will need to ask what exactly do you do with the new OS? What was wrong with XP or VISTA apart from MS not making any more money? I'm sorry but I completely disagree with you. I ran all the Windows 7 betas and RC on an old (older than 3 years for sure) Dell 400SC entry-level server with a 2.8 P4 and 1.5GB of RAM. The video card is a very basic Nvidia GeForce that does support Aero. Performance was just fine for everything except heavy 3D gaming. I used the same machine for the Vista beta all the way through Vista RTM and I was impressed at how much more responsive the box was with Win7 on the same hardware. I now have Win7 RTM Ultimate 64 on a Dell Vostro 400 with a quad core (don't remember the exact specs offhand but it's fast), 4GB of RAM, and an Nvidia Geforce 8800. My son *does* do heavy gaming and so far Win7 has taken everything he's thrown at it without missing a beat and with no sweat. There is absolutely no need for 8GB of RAM unless one is doing professional- level video editing, Photoshop, or AutoCAD types of programs. For someone who just wants to read email, do office programs, surf the web, 2GB will be perfectly fine. Most new machines are coming with 3 or 4GB of memory anyway and the user I've just described will be completely satisfied with the performance with those specs. I think that in the OP's case he should up the RAM to 2GB to get decent performance out of Vista - which is much more of a memory hog than Win7 is - and leave Vista on his Compaq. That's a very low-end laptop and there is no point in going to Win7 on it. Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ |
#13
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
ANONYMOUS wrote:
If you have any machines older than 3 years old, you are strongly advised not to even try doing anything to them because Windows 7 requires a minimum of 1 GB for 32 bit but you will need at least 4GB to do any meaningful work. I recommend 8GB to be really productive. The only way is to buy a new machine for Win 7 to install otherwise stick with XP and Vista until SP1 comes out to fix some the bugs and to introduce some more! By that time you will have the lottery and so you can buy new machines with Windows 7 in pristine condition. Then you will need to ask what exactly do you do with the new OS? What was wrong with XP or VISTA apart from MS not making any more money? I'm sorry but I completely disagree with you. I ran all the Windows 7 betas and RC on an old (older than 3 years for sure) Dell 400SC entry-level server with a 2.8 P4 and 1.5GB of RAM. The video card is a very basic Nvidia GeForce that does support Aero. Performance was just fine for everything except heavy 3D gaming. I used the same machine for the Vista beta all the way through Vista RTM and I was impressed at how much more responsive the box was with Win7 on the same hardware. I now have Win7 RTM Ultimate 64 on a Dell Vostro 400 with a quad core (don't remember the exact specs offhand but it's fast), 4GB of RAM, and an Nvidia Geforce 8800. My son *does* do heavy gaming and so far Win7 has taken everything he's thrown at it without missing a beat and with no sweat. There is absolutely no need for 8GB of RAM unless one is doing professional- level video editing, Photoshop, or AutoCAD types of programs. For someone who just wants to read email, do office programs, surf the web, 2GB will be perfectly fine. Most new machines are coming with 3 or 4GB of memory anyway and the user I've just described will be completely satisfied with the performance with those specs. I think that in the OP's case he should up the RAM to 2GB to get decent performance out of Vista - which is much more of a memory hog than Win7 is - and leave Vista on his Compaq. That's a very low-end laptop and there is no point in going to Win7 on it. Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ |
#14
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
Antares 531 wrote:
I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 Besides the marketing mantra of "newer is better" drilled into you since you were old enough to understand speech, what is the REAL reason you need to migrate to Windows 7? What can you not do now with whatever OS you have that Windows 7 will marvelously open up for you? What is it about a current working computer that you feel compelled to destroy and convert into a less stable platform that has a non-existent released version history? to install on my desktop, 1st license. my wife's desktop 2nd license. and my laptop computers. Computers. Plural so 2, or more. That's 3rd and 4th licenses, or more. You've already exceeded your 3 licenses. Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz Missing a L1 cache. Slow CPU. No only is it a crippled Pentium but it is also a Mobile version. Doesn't support VT-x instructions so you cannot use the Windows XP compatibility mode (VirtualPC) included in Windows 7 to run older apps that run on XP but not on 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_vir...8Intel_VT-x.29 Are you sure that every application you have in its current version will function correctly under Windows 7 (i.e., without having to use its Windows XP compatibility mode)? 512 MB of RAM Undersized even for Windows Vista even if the Aero interface is disabled (to save anywhere from 41+ to 105 MB of memory). This size RAM is even more undersized for Windows 7. Read: http://windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements Those are the *minimum* specs which results in a crappy performing platform. Of course, if all you do is e-mail and word processing (no games, no video editing, no scientific math computations) then you might be okay - but then you would be okay using Windows 95 for those tasks. Download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to see just how it ranks your host (the one you mentioned and the other 3, or more, that you didn't identify by their specs): http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e-advisor.aspx Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. You don't have a 64-bit CPU (on the 1 computer you mentioned out of the possible 4 computers on which you intend to pirate one of the 3 licenses). |
#15
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Laptop upgrade to Win 7
Antares 531 wrote:
I am contemplating buying a 3-pack of Windows 7 Besides the marketing mantra of "newer is better" drilled into you since you were old enough to understand speech, what is the REAL reason you need to migrate to Windows 7? What can you not do now with whatever OS you have that Windows 7 will marvelously open up for you? What is it about a current working computer that you feel compelled to destroy and convert into a less stable platform that has a non-existent released version history? to install on my desktop, 1st license. my wife's desktop 2nd license. and my laptop computers. Computers. Plural so 2, or more. That's 3rd and 4th licenses, or more. You've already exceeded your 3 licenses. Intel Celeron M CPU 430 @ 1.73 GHz Missing a L1 cache. Slow CPU. No only is it a crippled Pentium but it is also a Mobile version. Doesn't support VT-x instructions so you cannot use the Windows XP compatibility mode (VirtualPC) included in Windows 7 to run older apps that run on XP but not on 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_vir...8Intel_VT-x.29 Are you sure that every application you have in its current version will function correctly under Windows 7 (i.e., without having to use its Windows XP compatibility mode)? 512 MB of RAM Undersized even for Windows Vista even if the Aero interface is disabled (to save anywhere from 41+ to 105 MB of memory). This size RAM is even more undersized for Windows 7. Read: http://windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements Those are the *minimum* specs which results in a crappy performing platform. Of course, if all you do is e-mail and word processing (no games, no video editing, no scientific math computations) then you might be okay - but then you would be okay using Windows 95 for those tasks. Download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to see just how it ranks your host (the one you mentioned and the other 3, or more, that you didn't identify by their specs): http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e-advisor.aspx Should I set this up as a 64 bit O.S. You don't have a 64-bit CPU (on the 1 computer you mentioned out of the possible 4 computers on which you intend to pirate one of the 3 licenses). |
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