upgrade from windows xp to windows7

andrew129260 said:

----- Integrated graphics with upto 64mb shared memory for video -----

With that crappy integrated graphics in there, I disagree. I think upgrading to a cheap $50 graphics card would be worth it.

Depends on what your using it for though. But even web browsing these days opening multiple tabs would studder horrendously on that integrated gpu. Watching youtube videos? Forget about it.

I disagree, again. If they plan on doing anything with this pc, (involving more then simple document creation) they need to upgrade the graphics. No modern programs or websites will work well on that low end gpu. There will be a ton of lag.
If they are going to buy a $150 ssd on top of more ram might as well buy a new pc.
A simple new cheap graphics card will improve things tremendously. And windows 7 will run like crap on integrated graphics, especially with such low ram. Its up to 64mb of ram for gpu, that's up to. Can't address any more.

Also the user states they already have a 160GB sata 7200 rpm drive in there system specs. If they already have a hard disk, no point in upgrading to a ssd. Sure they could, but they would not notice much improvement. The video card is what brings everything on the screen, if you got a fast ssd and a crappy graphics card from 2001 you won't notice much of a improvement.

No, just format it and install windows 7. Make sure you backed up your data first and read the link I gave you on upgrading from Windows XP to 7. You will lose all your files if you don't back up.
You cannot directly "upgrade" xp to windows 7 and keeps all your files and settings. You must format the drive wiping out xp and then install windows 7.

READ THIS BEFORE CONTINUING:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...ows-7#T1=tab01


See here for more details:

Clean Install Windows 7


I am curious, what hardware upgrade path did you choose? Did you upgrade the graphics card?

Please read the links thoroughly that I gave you. When you clean install windows 7 it will format your drive leaving only 1 partition. When you install windows 7 it will install with 1 partition (although it does create a separate system reserved partition but that's not important) All of this is explained in the tutorial.

That one partition will be where everything is stored. Operating system and programs. You will lose everything when you install windows 7. I highly suggest getting the graphics card FIRST before installing windows 7.

Again, all information is in the links I gave you. Go back and read them completely.

You're not a bother.
The 3 links I gave you were pci express 2.0 low profile cards. Meaning they don't take up much room and are low powered. As long as you get one of the three cards listed there your fine.

Thanks for the kind words :)

A bigger hard drive is possible, question is do you need it? Another question is do you want it to be faster or have more storage?

If you have the money now you should look into a solid state drive. If you want more capacity then speed, you can get a larger hard drive sure, no problem.

But, I did say this before: If you are going to buy a $150 ssd on top of more ram might as well buy a new pc.

I personally would not have gotten more ram and a better hard drive on top of the video card,

(the video card is a cheap update, but dumping more money then that into it I felt wasn't worth it)

I felt like a new cheap pc would be a better option. Since you have already done this however, go for a solid state drive for faster speeds, or a bigger capacity hard drive if you need the room and space.