Windows 7 old laptop

mav79

Hey all, just wondering if its possible to put windows 7 on an old laptop.
The laptop is just used for watching tv online, downloading music and just general surfing. Its a HP laptop with vista. T1600 @ 1.66Ghz and 1 Gb Ram. Its running pretty slowly and if i go back to factory settings i still have all the HP applications running in the background.

old_aussie

Hi,

I have Windows 7 running on a similar spec'd laptop.

I couldn't get a few drivers to install off the recovery disc, but when connected to the net Windows 7 found them in notime.

Windows 7 will run better on that laptop than Vista.

Nothing wrong with Vista if you have 4 Gig of RAM, AND a video card.

Give it a go.

And let us know how it turns out. :cool:

BostonB

When XP and Windows 7 run better on less hardware than Vista. Theres no point to put Vista on anything IMO.

If you are careful with what you install, and what services you leave running, then W7 should work fine. Turn off all the blink etc. My only issue with W7 is that it loves to access the hard disk a lot more than XP ever did.

Lord Khan

Vista, is like the Suicide Booth in Futurama...

XP Pro / Win 7 are both the same (not the same, but the timing should be roughly albeit with the difference is in a few seconds in some) if you have that 2-4 GB memory.
However, XP Pro if you just want to run it for vids imho

Voodu Child

The difference in performance between Vista SP2 and Win7 is negligible. 1GB is not enough for either of them to run smoothly for the average user.

A clean install of Win7 will run better, but primarily because of the clean install. If you have a spare Win7 licence lying around, by all means go for it. But if you don't, the money would be much better spent on more RAM.

Upgrade to at least 2GB RAM and give your computer a general software cleanup. Uninstall unused apps, put on one light A/V (try Microsoft Security Essentials), defrag, etc.

mav79

Cheers for the replies, have windows 7 so will give it a try. Reading through other threads think the new AVG is whats causing the trouble. will try NOD32.

BostonB

I switched from AVG to MSE for that very reason, AVG was killing the performance of older machines for me.

Overheal

I put Windows 7 on my laptop, upgrading it from Vista. Its definitely a direct improvement over Vista in every imaginable way, but, its not like the laptop is a primary device for me anymore, and I somewhat regret laying down the $100 to put a license into it, in hindsight. At the time it was my only PC but that only lasted another 6 months before I went with my new Build. If you upgrade it as part of a Family Pack (3 license) it would seem worth it alright.

I've heard nothing but good things about Nod32, btw.

hearny

Before you put Windows 7 on it why not try one of the many free versions of Linux, e.g. Ubuntu.

Its free and performance wise a much better option on that spec.

I have been using and selling Eset Nod32 about 5 years now and have had very few problems with it, I never recommend anything else.