Windows 7 on older computer?

Hello,

I register especially registered to here to ask that should I install windows 7 on my older computer, which at the moment lacks of speed. It usually crashes if there is 3 tabs or more running on the same time. Temperatures stay pretty cool also, so no problem there.

Specs are about this:

512MB DDR1 RAM
~200MB ATI Radeon
About 2Ghz Processor (i think)

It is package computer from HP bough on 2005. It runs on Windows XP Media Center. Also, if I would install windows 7 on it, can it be installed on the same partition to save the older files and pretty important documents?

Any experience on these? Im afraid that my RAM does not cover the needed specs for Win7.

Even if it's possible to run Windows 7 on your system (considering your deficiency in RAM, among other things) it would be a very difficult process that would probably cause you more problems and frustration than pleasure. I think you're better off not installing Windows 7 and saving yourself a lot of aggravation.

I see. Though before this I searched some threads saying that Win7 is running smoothly on their old laptops.

Ill wait for some more replies before making my decision.

Of course. It's always good to get a consensus of opinion. But for whatever it's worth, the issue is NOT that your computer is older, it's that, as you said yourself, your specs are not sufficient to run Windows 7 at all, let alone without constant problems.

beman36 said:

it'll run fine! but You wont be able to run the aero theme and use a basic theme, I have seen se7en on a pent 3 no problems...but I would recomend picking up an XTRA 512mb ram...

Extra 512 DDR1 RAM = 60$

How can 512 MB of DDR1 RAM cost $60? In the UK you can pick it up for £13 which is about $21.
Jak3

Jak3 said:

How can 512 MB of DDR1 RAM cost $60? In the UK you can pick it up for £13 which is about $21.
Jak3

Well, I have to consider it. The fact is that the computer is used generally for banking and as work machine. However, it would still require some power.

JaidynM said:

As you will see in the following link, Windows 7 requires at least 1GB RAM to run smoothly.

Windows 7 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Of course, you can install it if you want, but I strongly recommend against it. My old computer (which was extremely out-dated) had about 1GB RAM and it was all over the place. Trust me, it is VERY frustrating when your computer freezes for a couple of minutes when you open more than 2 programs.

You also say in your System Specs that you have Windows 7 Ultimate too. Is this on a different computer? Is it possible to use the other computer?

Sure, Windows 7 is great but for your sake, please stick with XP. :)

Yes, I run on my gaming computer with Win7, but the discussion is about the older computer.