Windows 7: upgrading from XP to 7 with a Pentium IV HT. stupid or smart?

I currently run a 3.0 GHz Pentium IV HT that runs well on XP. I think the processor was built especially to be run with that OS. However, I'm thinking about upgrading to 7 and while everything looks compatible thus far, I haven't been able to figure out whether HT will work with 7. Should I just stick with XP?



- T$

You'd be fine upgrading to Windows 7 though I recommend you have to 2 GB of RAM and a decent video card to make the experience more enjoyable. You can technically get away with 1 GB of RAM and a cheap video card and it would still work only you wouldn't get all the Aero goodies and you couldn't run as many applications at the same time.

My computer at work has this CPU with 1 GB of RAM and I have an ATI Radeon HD 4650 in it and it runs fine with a dual-monitor configuration.

HT will work with Windows 7. However you may have driver compatibility problems with your Motherboard.

HT technology works very well with Windows 7. The best idea is to run the upgrade advisor which will alert you to any hard ware incompatibilities. Common things it warns about on older systems are RAM and video cards.

i saw no notices about the compatibility or incompatibility of my ram, mobo, or anything else for that matter with exception to a few oddball programs. can i assume the absence of such to mean compatibility?

i also just received this comment

"However I would not recommend installing Windows 7 on hardware that old as you cannot find compatible drivers - which means that you use the older ones; causing BSODs.

You can certainly give it a go, just do not be surprised if it runs slow and you get problems."

i can't tell if there will be any truth to that though

Well, depending on the PC you have, just ensure drivers are available for your chosen flavor of Windows 7. For example in my case, although my work computer can technically run Windows 7 64-bit, we run 32-bit because of lack of drivers from HP for 64-bit for that PC.

And yes, it could mean it but in your case, I would suggest you use 32-bit to avoid issues.

Pretty much. I can't garuntee it will be the fastest computer on the block and you will need to find replacments for those programs if you use them, but you can find a free version of almost any kind of software these days. They won't be exactly the same, but you can still get the job done.

ah. installing 7 seems like more of a hassle if my mobo isn't supported i may just stick with xp

Well, don't know exactly what your motherboard is so not sure if it would be compatible or not.

Other people on here have upgraded to 7 with the same or worse specs that what you have. If I were you, I would do a image backup of your hard drive then install 7. If you run into any major issues, then you restore from the system image and have everything exactly as it was before.