Is my old ~1995 IBM ThinkPad compatible with Windows 7

F0rk · 21 Jul 2012

I've recently found an old laptop in the back of my closet. It runs Windows '95 currently, and has some start-up problems (but isn't very slow once I get it to work). I'm not an expert at computers, but I can say that it's an IBM ThinkPad built around 1999, as it is the lowest year available in the time setup.

I want to update it to Windows 7 so I could maybe give it purpose again. Currently, it tries to use dial-up connection, has no USB ports, but does have a CD drive. It came with an external floppy disc drive.

I've searched around on Google for a day or two to see if this is even possible. From what I've seen, it's possible to jump from Windows 95 to Windows 7, but I don't know if anything about the computer itself can change that (e.g. the space on its hard drive, its lack of modern ports, its lack of wi-fi connection).

I have a full copy of Windows 7 on the CD, and I can put a CD in the laptop itself, so I see no problem there. My major fear is that I'll try to put in the disc and it automatically erases everything on my hard drive or kill the computer because it's too much strain on an old system.

Thanks for reading.

windude99 · 21 Jul 2012

F0rk said:

I've recently found an old laptop in the back of my closet. It runs Windows '95 currently, and has some start-up problems (but isn't very slow once I get it to work). I'm not an expert at computers, but I can say that it's an IBM ThinkPad built around 1999, as it is the lowest year available in the time setup.

I want to update it to Windows 7 so I could maybe give it purpose again. Currently, it tries to use dial-up connection, has no USB ports, but does have a CD drive. It came with an external floppy disc drive.

I've searched around on Google for a day or two to see if this is even possible. From what I've seen, it's possible to jump from Windows 95 to Windows 7, but I don't know if anything about the computer itself can change that (e.g. the space on its hard drive, its lack of modern ports, its lack of wi-fi connection).

I have a full copy of Windows 7 on the CD, and I can put a CD in the laptop itself, so I see no problem there. My major fear is that I'll try to put in the disc and it automatically erases everything on my hard drive or kill the computer because it's too much strain on an old system.

Thanks for reading.

No. Windows 7 has pretty heavy system requirements. If you tell me the specs of the laptop, I could tell you what the best OS for it is.

F0rk · 21 Jul 2012

windude99 said:

F0rk said:

I've recently found an old laptop in the back of my closet. It runs Windows '95 currently, and has some start-up problems (but isn't very slow once I get it to work). I'm not an expert at computers, but I can say that it's an IBM ThinkPad built around 1999, as it is the lowest year available in the time setup.

I want to update it to Windows 7 so I could maybe give it purpose again. Currently, it tries to use dial-up connection, has no USB ports, but does have a CD drive. It came with an external floppy disc drive.

I've searched around on Google for a day or two to see if this is even possible. From what I've seen, it's possible to jump from Windows 95 to Windows 7, but I don't know if anything about the computer itself can change that (e.g. the space on its hard drive, its lack of modern ports, its lack of wi-fi connection).

I have a full copy of Windows 7 on the CD, and I can put a CD in the laptop itself, so I see no problem there. My major fear is that I'll try to put in the disc and it automatically erases everything on my hard drive or kill the computer because it's too much strain on an old system.

Thanks for reading.

No. Windows 7 has pretty heavy system requirements. If you tell me the specs of the laptop, I could tell you what the best OS for it is.

Okay, thanks. I'll mess around with it to find the system details. While I'm doing that, could you please tell me what specific information you're looking for?

windude99 · 21 Jul 2012

F0rk said:

windude99 said:

F0rk said:

I've recently found an old laptop in the back of my closet. It runs Windows '95 currently, and has some start-up problems (but isn't very slow once I get it to work). I'm not an expert at computers, but I can say that it's an IBM ThinkPad built around 1999, as it is the lowest year available in the time setup.

I want to update it to Windows 7 so I could maybe give it purpose again. Currently, it tries to use dial-up connection, has no USB ports, but does have a CD drive. It came with an external floppy disc drive.

I've searched around on Google for a day or two to see if this is even possible. From what I've seen, it's possible to jump from Windows 95 to Windows 7, but I don't know if anything about the computer itself can change that (e.g. the space on its hard drive, its lack of modern ports, its lack of wi-fi connection).

I have a full copy of Windows 7 on the CD, and I can put a CD in the laptop itself, so I see no problem there. My major fear is that I'll try to put in the disc and it automatically erases everything on my hard drive or kill the computer because it's too much strain on an old system.

Thanks for reading.

No. Windows 7 has pretty heavy system requirements. If you tell me the specs of the laptop, I could tell you what the best OS for it is.

Okay, thanks. I'll mess around with it to find the system details. While I'm doing that, could you please tell me what specific information you're looking for?

I really just need the model number, but if you can, find the Processor (or cpu) information as well has the hard drive size and GPU (graphics processor or graphics card) information.

F0rk · 21 Jul 2012

windude99 said:

F0rk said:

windude99 said:

No. Windows 7 has pretty heavy system requirements. If you tell me the specs of the laptop, I could tell you what the best OS for it is.

Okay, thanks. I'll mess around with it to find the system details. While I'm doing that, could you please tell me what specific information you're looking for?

I really just need the model number, but if you can, find the Processor (or cpu) information as well has the hard drive size and GPU (graphics processor or graphics card) information.

I looked around for a bit on the computer, but all I could find was the RAM space. I've seen some videos on YouTube which show a menu like that. It looks a lot like the setup menu, though I'd rather not reset the computer if possible (it takes a few tries, like I said in the first post). Would any of these be identical among computers of the same kind?

Also, it said at one point that it was designed for Windows NT and Windows 98. I don't know if that allows us to skip this, or if that means nothing. It just seemed important.

windude99 · 21 Jul 2012

There should be a model number somewhere on the laptop. My 1996 Ibm Thinkpad 760XL has the model number on the top right of the keyboard.

Zepher · 21 Jul 2012

Bet it's a pentium 166mhz with 8mb of ram and a 800mb hard drive.

Found a page with a certain 1995 model as well as an updated model with win95 standard,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_ThinkPad_760

IBM ThinkPad 760XD - This model, released in 1996 and 97, received the more recently developed 166*MHz Intel Pentium I MMX Processor. A far improved model version of the 760. This model featured 48 MB RAM standard and a CD-ROM standard. Offered a 2.1 GB and 3.0GB hard drive option and came pre-installed with Windows 95. This was the last of the 760 series made. The 760XD is also used on the International Space Station.[1]

F0rk · 21 Jul 2012

windude99 said:

There should be a model number somewhere on the laptop. My 1996 Ibm Thinkpad 760XL has the model number on the top right of the keyboard.

Mine says 600E at the top-middle-left of the keyboard, but I feel like the model number would be longer and/or have something nearby it that says "model..."

On the back, there is a completely preposterous amount of numbers, none of which showed any clear indication as to their purpose. If it's one of them, could I maybe have something to help me find it? Perhaps they all follow some kind of set rule, like 3 groups of 4 numbers, hyphenated.

windude99 · 21 Jul 2012

F0rk said:

windude99 said:

There should be a model number somewhere on the laptop. My 1996 Ibm Thinkpad 760XL has the model number on the top right of the keyboard.

Mine says 600E at the top-middle-left of the keyboard, but I feel like the model number would be longer and/or have something nearby it that says "model..."

On the back, there is a completely preposterous amount of numbers, none of which showed any clear indication as to their purpose. If it's one of them, could I maybe have something to help me find it? Perhaps they all follow some kind of set rule, like 3 groups of 4 numbers, hyphenated.

You could probably run Windows 200 or maybe even XP. Windows XP is still getting security updates from Microsoft until 2014.

Zepher · 21 Jul 2012

ThinkPad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Your 600e is listed in the above link