Upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows Vista?

Hi. (this may be off-topic, so please feel free to move it) My parents currently have a Windows Vista Home Premium machine that they're using. This machine is pretty slow, and I'm fairly sure this is because it is on Windows Vista. Does anyone have a Windows 7 Home Premium or Ultimate key lying around that they wouldn't mind giving away (obviously a LEAGALLY OBTAINED key)? I'd really like to upgrade their PC so it's faster for them, but I just don't have the money right now to pay $100-120 for a key. Thanks for your help!

ThrashZone said:

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
7 is too good to be free
Go to Amazon and get it while it lasts.
Cheers.

$75-$85 is still more money than I can pay.

Vista is not inherently much slower, if at all, than Windows 7. Vista actually was quite nice with SP2. I upgraded to Win7 because I was able to get a cheap educational deal - I wouldn't have paid full freight.

If I were you, I'd do some poking around to see why it's acting slow. Maybe even do a clean re-install.

sgage said:

Vista is not inherently much slower, if at all, than Windows 7. Vista actually was quite nice with SP2. I upgraded to Win7 because I was able to get a cheap educational deal - I wouldn't have paid full freight.

If I were you, I'd do some poking around to see why it's acting slow. Maybe even do a clean re-install.

How did you get the educational deal? I am a student, so that might work out...

I'm fairly sure it's vista's fault, as I'm running with a Q6600. A dual-core laptop (maybe 6 months newer) running Windows 7 runs a lot faster than the Vista computer, even though the Vista computer is a desktop with a quad core. Both computers have pretty much the same stuff on them, so... *shrugs*

someperson said:

sgage said:

Vista is not inherently much slower, if at all, than Windows 7. Vista actually was quite nice with SP2. I upgraded to Win7 because I was able to get a cheap educational deal - I wouldn't have paid full freight.

If I were you, I'd do some poking around to see why it's acting slow. Maybe even do a clean re-install.

How did you get the educational deal? I am a student, so that might work out...

I'm fairly sure it's vista's fault, as I'm running with a Q6600. A dual-core laptop (maybe 6 months newer) running Windows 7 runs a lot faster than the Vista computer, even though the Vista computer is a desktop with a quad core. Both computers have pretty much the same stuff on them, so... *shrugs*

It was a few years ago, but basically all you needed was an .edu email address. As a professor, I had such an address with my college, and I picked up Windows 7 for $30. I also got Office 2007 Ultimate for $60 - still use both of 'em.

MS is always running various deals for students/etc. - search their website and see what they have. Windows 7, of course, is not their current version - I'm afraid they'll be pushing 8.1.

Also, your college/uni might have a deal with MS to sell MS software at steep discounts. But again, Windows 7 has left mainstream support, and they are pushing 8.1...

Vista can be made to run nearly as fast as Win7. Work through these steps first to clean up and optimize in Clean Up Factory Bloatware. You should regain native performance just by establishing a Clean Boot.

If that doesn't help then gradually work through the Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 to utilize the System resources to search for Problems and Solutions, resolve repeat errors, test hardware. By the time you've worked through both lists you should have it running much better as well as have greatly increased your tech abilities and knowledge.

Be on the lookout for a Vista disk to consider doing the same as to get a Clean Reinstall Windows 7 which puts fully in control how well your OS performs. The last we had for a download is Vista ISO - Download and Create Installation DVD or USB but it is sporadic.

Finally, now may be a good time to shrink the Vista install in Disk Mgmt, to boot and Clean Install Windows 10 Technical Preview which is remarkably stable for pre-beta and clearly the logical successor to Win7. I've been using it since Oct and haven't been back to Win7 since. If you want to get rid of it then you only need to delete it in Disk Mgmt and Extend the Vista partition. If you have any questions to do this post back a screenshot of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image