Solved What OS would run the best/fastest on my PC

[Sporus]

i have a dell inspiron n5010 and it has an i3 processor and 4gb RAM it is 64bit capable

which of the following would run best/fastest?

win7 32 or 64

or

windows XP 32 or 64


would a 32 bit run faster on my 64 bit machine or not at all?

 

[nash04]

What size of HD do you have and do you have XP SP1 & SP2 since you can not get them anymore thru MS. I for one prefers XP over 7 but since I can not locate/retrieve SP 1&2, had to install 7 which is also very good but we all know about bugs with new OS, lol!

 

[PooMan UK]

Then install Service pack 3, it contains all the patches/fixes etc that were in 1 & 2

Learn how to install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)

XP SP3 standalone

 

[Corazon]

No speed difference between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, however you're better off with 64-bit as it will allow full use of your 4GB RAM (and beyond, if you can upgrade your hardware with more RAM). 32-bit Windows will limit you to roughly 3.25 to 3.5GB, possibly less.

Just go with 7. XP is with one foot in the grave.

 

[nash04]

Then install Service pack 3, it contains all the patches/fixes etc that were in 1 & 2

Learn how to install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)

XP SP3 standalone

Tried to download SP3 but Microsoft stated that I could not since I did not have SP1-2 installed.

Will try your way this weekend. Thanks

 

[KazeNoKoe23]

What size of HD do you have and do you have XP SP1 & SP2 since you can not get them anymore thru MS. I for one prefers XP over 7 but since I can not locate/retrieve SP 1&2, had to install 7 which is also very good but we all know about bugs with new OS, lol!

Windows 7 is now 2 years old, and was relatively bug free at its launch compared to earlier Windows releases.

To the original question, go with 7. XP's 10 years old, and has no business being installed on relatively modern hardware.

 

[badger906]

Also xp is limited to dx9 so if you ever plan/do dabble a little in gaming your limited to old tech, then again most modern games run in dx9 for compatibility reasons...

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

 

[marsmimar]

Then install Service pack 3, it contains all the patches/fixes etc that were in 1 & 2

Learn how to install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)

XP SP3 standalone

Tried to download SP3 but Microsoft stated that I could not since I did not have SP1-2 installed.

Will try your way this weekend. Thanks

If you really, really want to keep XP, here's one more download source for service packs:

Service Pack Center - Microsoft Windows

You can also buy an installation CD from Microsoft to keep it on hand indefinitely.

How to obtain the latest Windows XP service pack

 

[pparks1]

Don't go with Windows XP at this point unless you have a very solid reason to do so. For example, 1 piece of software that you absolutely cannot live without doesn't run and it's critical to have it. And even then, I would do 7 as a base OS and perhaps run the old software under XP Mode, or a virtualized XP of some sort.

As far as Windows 7 32 or 64 bit. Most likely, you won't see a difference. 64bit has the "potential" to be faster based on using native 64bit applications and very large datasets....but this isn't the sort of thing that nearly all home users will run into. However, 64bit will allow you full access to your 4GB of RAM, so I would lean that route. Of course, if you have any peripherals that required 32bit drivers...they won't work under 64bit. So, be sure that you can live without the hardware or software that might not be 64bit compatible.