Is it a bad idea to install a fresh copy of Windows 7 on an XP system?

jimbo45 said:

Alexander Moore said:

Honestly, I think between 2 and 4GB. I'm gonna guess you'll say 32 bit is better to install than 64? I didn't think it'd really matter performance-wise except in systems that have enough power (memory etc) that there's a difference between them. I figured in systems with low memory and hardware it won't really matter. Is there cons to installing x64 software on a low-end system?

Her current Windows version is 64 bit anyway, though.

I can't get into the system because it's filled with crappy Chinese software and viruses and takes 30 minutes to boot up. As-is, it's garbage really.

Hi there
remember older computers might not be 64 bit capable.

Cheers
jimbo

It has a Vista Basic sticker on it and he has XP 64-bit on it as well.

Okay, so I've got the Win8 ISO on a DVDRW and tried booting it up on her computer. Her disc drive spins it multipe times (speeding up then slowing to a halt, then speeding up again) lot but nothing really happens. I know this usually means it's attempting to read a disc that it can't.

Note that the DVDs I have are Memorex 4.7GB DVD-RW ones that I got around 5 or 6 years ago. They're still in perfect condition though. I burned Windows 8 Enterprise to the disc.

Anyway, it skipped the DVD boot because of it and booted Windows XP normally. From there I tried running it from My Computer, and it just showed the DVD as blank.

So, the problem seems to be that her computer can't recognize the ISO on the DVD. Any ideas on what the problem is?

Also, I finally was able to get to her system specs in from the BIOS using a key I wasn't aware of that HP systems have. Her computer only has 1024MB of memory and her processor is around 1.2Ghz AMD Athlon x2. Should I try Win7 instead?

Edit: It runs fine on my computer, but won't on her's.

Win7 is mostly driver complete in the installer and quickly updates drivers when you run all rounds of Important and optional Windows Updates, after enabling Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware.

So put your network LAN driver for Win7 into your backup so if it isn't provided during install you can install it first to get online and do all of your Updates.

Then any drivers missing after all rounds of Important and Optional Updates can be supplied from the HP Support Downloads webpage for your model. There usually are only a few.

The steps for doing the install are in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

If you want to shrink your XP partition to try a Dual Boot first, we'll help you later remove XP or Win7 once you decide: Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

In addition if you'll look over these same steps for Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7
there are many tips, tools and methods to assure you get and keep a perfect Win7 install.

Update : It runs fine on my computer, but won't on her's. My computer asks to run the startup or open to view files when I insert the disc. Her computer appears to be unable to read the disc altogether.

gregrocker said:

Win7 is mostly driver complete in the installer and quickly updates drivers when you run all rounds of Important and optional Windows Updates, after enabling Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware.

So put your network LAN driver for Win7 into your backup so if it isn't provided during install you can install it first to get online and do all of your Updates.

Then any drivers missing after all rounds of Important and Optional Updates can be supplied from the HP Support Downloads webpage for your model. There usually are only a few.

The steps for doing the install are in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

If you want to shrink your XP partition to try a Dual Boot first, we'll help you later remove XP or Win7 once you decide: Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

In addition if you'll look over these same steps for Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7
there are many tips, tools and methods to assure you get and keep a perfect Win7 install.

I'm trying to install Windows 8 now, but this is a 1GB system, so I need to put the 32-bit version on it seems.

Overall, her system just barely meets the Windows 8 minimal requirements. Should I use 7 instead?

I would run 32 bit Win7 on less than 4gb RAM, or try it to see.

Where did you get Win7 and how is it being activated?

Alexander Moore said:

Update : It runs fine on my computer, but won't on her's. My computer asks to run the startup or open to view files when I insert the disc. Her computer appears to be unable to read the disc altogether.

Are you referring to the Win7 installer? Are you aware that you are to boot it to install Win7? The box you're getting means its being run from the OS.

Please look over the steps for Clean Install Windows 7.

How to Boot A Computer from CD or DVD - YouTube

You should also have already run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to find out how Win7 will run on each PC.

Yes, I attempted to run it while in boot, but her computer will not read the ISO, so it skipped to booting from the HDD normally.

I'm just trying to figure out why my computer can read the disc fine and her's can't even recognize anything on it. Her DVD drive seems fine. I'm going to burn the x86 version to another DVD and give it a try instead. Maybe the x64 version won't boot because her system doesn't meet the minimal requirements of the x64 version?

Her system just barely checks out for the 32-bit version of Windows 8, after all. But I don't see much difference between Windows 7 requirements and Windows 8 requirements.

I'm suspicious that her system has a Vista label with XP inside. Something tells me that someone took the original hardware, put some crappy hardware in there, and sold it off to make a better profit. This required them to downgrade the system to XP since nothing better can be supported on such a crappy system.

Just a hunch. Might be wrong though. I'm not even sure if her GPU supports DX9.

Does your PC boot the disk and it loads correctly?

Burn the confirmed ISO (confirm size) to DVD using ImgBurn at 4x speed.

Or you can try flash stick install writing ISO to stick using UltraISO Software To Create Bootable USB Flash Drive

I asked you where you got Win7 and how you plan to activate it.

I used the Windows Burner the first time around so this time I'll use IMG Burn.

I'm trying Windows 8, not Windows 7.

My computer runs it fine, her does not. But I don't want to upgrade my system. At least not until I figure out all the pros and cons of upgrading from 7 to 8.

I don't have any flash drives with the capacity to store Windows.

Does her machine run at all?

If so, you could try copying the iso to her machine and burning it from there.

Sometimes works, when a disk can be read perfectly in one machine but not at all in another.

Wenda.