RE: Windows 7

[IMINXTC]

My plan is to install Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit on the older pc, which now has 1gb Ram. (Compaq Presario s5200nx) Processor is a mild 2.7 GHz

Before installing, I'll raise the power supply to 300 watts and put in a 256 mb pci video card to handle advance features of Window 7 (but mostly for AutoDesk software demands)

My hope is to not discontinue this pc and spring for new one. It networks with a dual-core x64. I have a bit invested in external hardware and I use both pc's for work.

Has anyone tried Windows 7 32bit with 1gb Ram, which is the minimum requirement and does it look like I might blow the whole thing up?

[bdh]

Not sure what the minimum is for windoze 7 but it will be pretty slow on a GB. RAM is pretty cheap and if you can, I'd recommend at least another GIG ... more if the machine can take it.

[BrianW]

The geek in me is screaming "No!!!!"

But to answer your question: Windows 7 should work in your setup "as is" and give you adequate performance.

However.....

If you're upgrading your OS you may as well upgrade your motherboard as well as the one you have only supports a maximum 1GB of RAM.

You can get a new MSI H61M-P23 B3 Intel H61 Motherboard / Intel Core i3 3.10 GHz Dual Core PCU combo for around $180.00 (+ shipping of course) that supports DDR3 1333MHz memory. Ram sticks are cheap these days. I think you can pick up a 2GB stick for around $24.00.

It's really not all that hard to switch out a MB but if you're leery of doing it yourself most Indi PC techs will do it for you for around $40.00 to $60.00. (If they want more than that price tell them to go pound sand)

And, hey, while your at it a 500w PS isn't all that much more than a 350w and you can then do even more upgrades in the future.

[IMINXTC]

Thanks! I could upgrade the motherboard but at that cost a new pc would make more sense.

Back to the piggy bank.

Thanks for your time and infor.

[IMINXTC]

Ha!

Ten minutes later I find a new HP tower with 4Gb ram, 1TB HD, Intel 3.0GHz Pentium, dual-core etc - affordable! (cheap, even). Pick it up tomorrow.

God is good

Thanks.

[bdh]

Dual cores have become real cheap and they are not half bad if you get enough RAM in them.

[IMINXTC]

Well, this should be good for the next few years, Lord willing, and if the Lord tarries.

And I won't be blowing anything up.

The Presario went for years with no problems and only a memory upgrade.

Thanks for all the info and, of course, time.

[BrianW]

What's the price on the new HP?

[IMINXTC]

This model is 500 retail or online.

[BrianW]

So if you bought what I posted before and add a 1 TB hard drive you're looking at around $438.00 and a really good motherboard, a much better CPU and a system that will last you a lot longer.

It's your choice and your money of course. Personally I would rather spend my money on solid upgrades that can last me a while rather than on things I already have such as a new case, drives, wires etc.

Then again I'm kind of a geek as I like opening up my PC and rearranging the innards once in a while.

[IMINXTC]

I also enjoy that, to a degree, but time is also a factor.

And I save on the OS.

The presario will go to a young friend, so it works out great.

Thanks again.

[tim_from_pa]

Then again, try another OS like Linux Ubuntu. It's user friendly and they are not resource hoggish like Microsoft. In addition, you won't get the myriads of viruses that only plague Microsoft. In this household I have 2 desktops that have Microsoft whose days are numbered. My wife has a Mac and I have personal devices that have Android and I can run my computer on Linux live CD.

One Christian forum I was on had a virus attack and since most people use Microsoft were scared away. I just switched over to Linux to post (and had most of the board ) which was impossible to get a virus. The OS is free or you can get someone to put it on a CD for you for modest price. I cannot undersand why someone would want to spend a lot on Microsoft. Ok, Ok there are a few things Microsoft can do that other OS are not as good at, so I can understand using it for those things but then quickly switch to something else before another virus gets you. But if you are like me that posts on forums, listens to online music, surfs the web or checks email, then Linux can easily do all that and more.

[IMINXTC]

I agree with you, and like Linux on a dual-boot. I use AutoDesk software which was built around Windows and just doesn't seem to operate as well anywhere else. Again, Logos software likes Windows best.

I've been using the AVG suite for over three years and can't remember when I've had malware. It's too bad an entire security industry is built on MS vulnerabilities.

But lately I've been told of Linux users catching viruses too. Just a matter of time, I sp'ose.

[tim_from_pa]

I agree with you, and like Linux on a dual-boot. I use AutoDesk software which was built around Windows and just doesn't seem to operate as well anywhere else. Again, Logos software likes Windows best.

I've been using the AVG suite for over three years and can't remember when I've had malware. It's too bad an entire security industry is built on MS vulnerabilities.

But lately I've been told of Linux users catching viruses too. Just a matter of time, I sp'ose.

Linux, Mac, android, etc are built on a diffident type of platform and are not as vulnerable to viruses, so don't fret. I've been hearing the misguided mantra "Microsoft gets more viruses because more people use Microsoft" for years now. However, something like 50-70% of the kids in college today use Mac for years now and it is not an issue with viruses to Microsoft's extent.

An infallible case in point, who has the market now on portable devices? Does your iphones, ipads, etc etc use Microsoft? No. So if there was any truth to the viruses being targeted at the greatest users, you would hear of them getting more viruses now. However, when Microsoft 8 OS comes on the market with their phones and whatnot, I predicted "all of a sudden" (long after cell phones were out), viruses will come to phones later.

Like I always quip, it's going to be awfully frustrating for your teenage daughter to be stranded on a deserted back road, and then when she tries to call home on her Microsoft 8 phone, gets porn websites instead because of a virus. But I bet you'll hear more of that once Microsoft enters the scene more. People won't put up with such a new, and unexpected behavior of their devices.

One last thing ---- don't confuse a virus with a Trojan. The horror stories that Microsofters love to tell about a Mac getting a virus was usually a case where someone deliberately installed an application that they thought was benign, but in fact was hostile. That's what a Trojan is ---- a program that you think is legitimate but is in fact destructive. However, one has to manually download such a program--- it can't do it automatically. In Microsoft's case, you can click on an innocent picture such as I did one time of a rat and the whole computer in an instant, without my knowledge and without my consent went bonkers, and it took several days to finally fix it myself. Those are viruses or worms. So the "viruses" that Mac's and Linux and other OS's besides Microsoft gets are more than likely Trojans.

[ikester7579]

I agree with you, and like Linux on a dual-boot. I use AutoDesk software which was built around Windows and just doesn't seem to operate as well anywhere else. Again, Logos software likes Windows best.

I've been using the AVG suite for over three years and can't remember when I've had malware. It's too bad an entire security industry is built on MS vulnerabilities.

But lately I've been told of Linux users catching viruses too. Just a matter of time, I sp'ose.

Get an Nvidia card. they have a setting in their control panel called physx, that you can play with to balance the load between your cpu and video card. It's great for older PCs. mine works better with it set to the cpu taking most of the load. Then again it's pretty good processor. but I think that's only because I did not buy a high end card. Just one to get buy and play the older games.