I need some help, deciding witch OS to use

[reble]

This is on a Dell Inspiron 15-3541 laptop, right now the OS is Win 7 Home 32bit.
I payed online for a game called "Postal Redux" from Steam. I keep running into errors in trying to download the game. The Steam support told me that the game requires 64bit to be installed before it will even download let alone run. Now I have some what older (sound card driven) ham radio digital decoder software that I use. That doesn't like 64bit. They need 32bit to run. I have a 2nd laptop, a Sony VGN-NS110E OS Win 7 Home 32bit. I can put the ham radio prog's on the Sony laptop. But I still have a dilemma. Do I Install Win 7 home 64bit that I know just about inside, out and blindfolded. Or Win 10 Pro 64bit, that I barley know. OOO Win 10 is on a self booting USB flash drive. 1 other point that I have to make. The 32bit cd of Win 7 is showing it's age, a few scratches on it. I have had Win 7 since about a year after it came out on the market. The Win 7 64bit cd is fine because I have only used it a few times.

 

[samuria]

We need to know system specs generally 64 bit is for PC with more than 4 gig of ram but it will run on less as 7 isn't supported soon 10 would be a good idea

 

[reble]

I made up the file "msinfo32.nfo" for Steam Support at there request. That's how they found the problem with the game. I am attaching the file.

We need to know system specs generally 64 bit is for PC with more than 4 gig of ram but it will run on less as 7 isn't supported soon 10 would be a good idea

 

[SIW2]

Not difficult to get fresh installation media for 7x86, if you need it. You have 4gb ram on that machine. It should be able to run 7x64, if you want.

Up to you if you prefer win10. Your decision.

 

[reble]

The problem that I have with Win 10 is the desktop is so different then I am used to. I was trying to fix an other laptop that had Win 10 Home 32bit on it. I lost the paper with the Win log on password. And that laptop had no legacy/CSM support in the bios. It could only boot from the HDD or a bootable USB flash drive, and before that I have never made a bootable USB flash drive. So none of my Windows self booting password recovery software (on cd) would work. That was my 1st time messing with Win 10. The Win 7 64bit cd is in new conduction, it only has been used about 2 or 3 times. It is just a question of, 1 it has to be 64bit to run "postal Redux" and 2 witch would be better Win 7 64bit or Win 10 64bit. I just don't know.

Not difficult to get fresh installation media for 7x86, if you need it. You have 4gb ram on that machine. It should be able to run 7x64, if you want.

Up to you if you prefer win10. Your decision.

 

[samuria]

What are the specs needed for the game as lot need more ram an may not run well on 4gig. Getting more memory is a good move for games anyway. Sooner or later you will have to use ten as there will be no more driver's for Sevan. Ten is bang up-to-date and free upgrade every 6 months you soon get used to it and you can customise it to be like 7

 

[SIW2]

The problem that I have with Win 10 is the desktop is so different then I am used to. I was trying to fix an other laptop that had Win 10 Home 32bit on it. I lost the paper with the Win log on password. And that laptop had no legacy/CSM support in the bios. It could only boot from the HDD or a bootable USB flash drive, and before that I have never made a bootable USB flash drive. So none of my Windows self booting password recovery software (on cd) would work. That was my 1st time messing with Win 10. The Win 7 64bit cd is in new conduction, it only has been used about 2 or 3 times. It is just a question of, 1 it has to be 64bit to run "postal Redux" and 2 witch would be better Win 7 64bit or Win 10 64bit. I just don't know.

You could try both. Create 2 partitions. Install 7x64 on first and win10 x64 on second. Skip product key when installing.You get 30 day trial on win7 before you need to enter key - win10 was indefinite period the last time I looked.

 

[johnhoh]

10 vs 7 depends on how much tweaking you are inclined to do. You can make Win10 look and work pretty much identical to Win7 but it takes hours of tweaking effort what you may find frustrating. I don't see why you wouldn't just put win7 x64 on the machine as your next step. Once its installed you are going to need to bring your drivers up to date, then bring windows up to date. A quick way to do that is to go here and run the Dell "detect drives" button to update your drivers.

Access Denied

Then download and run the Windows Update Update Minitool here

Download Windows Update MiniTool - MajorGeeks

 

[SIW2]

I would use dism++ for updating.

View attachment Dism++.zip

 

[Megahertz07]

This is what I would do:
- Buy more memory. DDR3 1600 is easy to find.
- If you have (4+0)G buy one more stick, same brand, type and specifications.
- If you have (2+2)G buy a (4+4)G DDR3 1600 kit.
- Buy a 256G SSD. Will cost you around US$30

If your laptop came with Win 7, it has a COA sticker under it or under the battery. You can use it to install Win 7 Home 64.
The best thing would be to do a win 7 64 fresh install on the SSD. As your HDD disk has less than 100G, a 256G SSD will be fine.
Leave the HDD for untouched till you have everything working well on the SSD.

 

[reble]

I turned over the laptop. There is only 1 memory slot. It takes DDR3L. The Info on the memory it self is as follow:


4GB 1RX8PC3L


12800s-11-13-B4


HMT45156BFR8A-PB NO AA 1516

This is what I would do:
- Buy more memory. DDR3 1600 is easy to find.
- If you have (4+0)G buy one more stick, same brand, type and specifications.
- If you have (2+2)G buy a (4+4)G DDR3 1600 kit.
- Buy a 256G SSD. Will cost you around US$30

If your laptop came with Win 7, it has a COA sticker under it or under the battery. You can use it to install Win 7 Home 64.
The best thing would be to do a win 7 64 fresh install on the SSD. As your HDD disk has less than 100G, a 256G SSD will be fine.
Leave the HDD for untouched till you have everything working well on the SSD.

 

[reble]

By the way this laptop came with Win 8 installed. But I only had Win 7 Home, both 32 and 64 bit at the time. So I installed the Win 7 Home 32bit. I also found one 1600 DDR3L and a bunch of 8gb's and 16gb's memory sticks on eBay. If the 1600gb is gone by tonight. Will one of the 8gb sticks or 1 of the 16gb sticks be enough?

 

[SIW2]

Will one of the 8gb sticks or 1 of the 16gb sticks be enough?

Win7 x64 runs ok with 4gb. Nowadays 8gb might be better- but that depends on what you are doing .


How much memory does the Dell Inspiron 15 (3541) Laptop take?

You can upgrade your Dell Inspiron 15 (3541) Laptop to up to a maximum memory capacity of 8GB Memory.
How many total memory slots to install memory?

The Laptop has 1 Slot to install memory, already with 4GB standard memory installed. For best Inspiron 15 (3541) Laptop performance use the maximum amount of 8GB

Max Supported Size
8 GB
Technology
DDR3L SDRAM
Speed
1600 MHz
Form Factor
SO-DIMM 204-pin
Slots Qty
1
Empty Slots
0

An SSD might be a more effective upgrade.

 

[johnhoh]

By the way this laptop came with Win 8 installed. But I only had Win 7 Home, both 32 and 64 bit at the time. So I installed the Win 7 Home 32bit. I also found one 1600 DDR3L and a bunch of 8gb's and 16gb's memory sticks on eBay. If the 1600gb is gone by tonight. Will one of the 8gb sticks or 1 of the 16gb sticks be enough?

A handy way to check your memory compatibility is to google "crucial yoursystem" or "crucial yourmotherboard". So I just googled "crucial Dell Inspiron 15-3541" which led to this page

RAM & SSD Upgrades | Dell Inspiron 15 (3541) | Crucial.com

which shows only 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB sodimms. From this we conclude that your system will not accept a 16GB sodimm.

 

[Megahertz07]

Buy a HMT45156BFR8A-PB NO AA 1516 to put on the second memory slot. (Don't forget to take the charger and battery off the laptop)
HMT451S6AFR8A-PB-PC3

Buy a 256G SSD Crucial-MX500-250GB SSD

Replace the HDD with the SSD and do a Clean Install Windows 7 Win 64bits on the SSD

 

[SIW2]

there is only one slot.

 

[Megahertz07]

there is only one slot.

Yes there is only one slot. Sorry.
Buy a DDR3 PC3-12800 - CL=11 - UNBUFFERED - NON-ECC - DDR3-1600 - 1.35V to replace the existing one. (Don't forget to take the charger and battery off the laptop)
DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800), 8GB, Laptop Memory, Memory, Components - Newegg.com

 

[reble]

Well I would like to thank you all for your input. But I am going to have to stick with what I have for the time been. Right now I have to stretch every penny to the point it is screaming in pain to make ends meet.


Steve

 

[Sravani75]

I would also use dism++ for the updation of OS.