Solved Older Laptop Upgrade

[mccoady]

My son bought a Satellite Pro A210-EZ2203X (XP Pro Service Pack 3) back in 2008 and has mainly been in storage... he doesn't remember if it came with a Windows or driver's disk but if it did he can't find them. Here's my questions:

1. I have an extra Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade license that I would like to install but would I run into any problems not having the original XP Pro disk since I would be doing a Windows 7 Clean Install?

2. Should I have any trouble not having a driver's disk since I can get them from here Model Content Page

3. I'm not that familiar with AMD CPU's and this has a AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-60; 2.0 GHz, 512KBx2 L2 Cache; 2GB RAM but it appears to me it might be rather slow.

Considering the CPU would there be a noticeable improvement in adding another 2GB of RAM or would I be wasting $50-$60 for a 2x2GB kit?

 

[Arc]

Run Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - Download - Microsoft Windows to make it sure that the hardware etc are capable with windows 7 home premium or not. if so, Download the home premium iso form Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River « My Digital Life . For installation and activation , follow the (option three mainly) tutorial http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html .

 

[karlsnooks]

Follow the accurate and complete advice you received from Archie.


My only question is:

I have an extra Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade license that I would like to install

Where is the 25 character Product Key for the Win 7?
Where did you get the the extra license?
Where is the Win 7 DVD for this "extra" license?

 

[mccoady]

Yeah I already ran Windows Upgrade Advisor and the laptop is compatible.

I guess I wasn't very clear I have a Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Family Pack (3 User) and I have one install left to use thus I have a license and physical disk.

What about adding RAM or not?

 

[karlsnooks]

mccoady,
Install the maximum amount of ram that the laptop permits (probably 4 GB).

 

[karlsnooks]

McCoady,

Upgrading the processor is probably impossible. You are talking about a laptop and, as a general rule, they are designed to tight and close specifications. In other words, forget that idea.

What you can do is to replace the HDD with a SSD.
Hdd=hard disk drive
Ssd=solid state drive.

128 GB SSD will be enough.

The SSD will bring a very measurable and noticeable performance increase. I use on in my laptop.

Replace the HDD with a SDD BEFORE installing Win 7. This will make the drive upgrade smooth and effortless.

karl

 

[Arc]

Yeah I already ran Windows Upgrade Advisor and the laptop is compatible.

I guess I wasn't very clear I have a Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Family Pack (3 User) and I have one install left to use thus I have a license and physical disk.

What about adding RAM or not?

If you install the 32 bit version, your existing 2 GBs of RAM is enough there . As you have a pgysical installation media, you need not to download it, install it follow the (option three mainly) tutorial Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version .

 

[karlsnooks]

Archie,
2s GB is enough, but 4 GB is much more enjoyable.

I had only 2 GB in this laptop when I first installed Win 7 32bit.
The upgrade to 4 GB brought improvement in performance.

I now have 64 bit Win 7 installed, but I cut my teeth on the 32 bit version.

 

[Arc]

Archie,
2s GB is enough, but 4 GB is much more enjoyable.

Yes that's right

 

[bobkn]

My son bought a Satellite Pro A210-EZ2203X (XP Pro Service Pack 3) back in 2008 and has mainly been in storage... he doesn't remember if it came with a Windows or driver's disk but if it did he can't find them. Here's my questions:

1. I have an extra Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade license that I would like to install but would I run into any problems not having the original XP Pro disk since I would be doing a Windows 7 Clean Install?

2. Should I have any trouble not having a driver's disk since I can get them from here Model Content Page

3. I'm not that familiar with AMD CPU's and this has a AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-60; 2.0 GHz, 512KBx2 L2 Cache; 2GB RAM but it appears to me it might be rather slow.

Considering the CPU would there be a noticeable improvement in adding another 2GB of RAM or would I be wasting $50-$60 for a 2x2GB kit?

1. No problem. You'd launch the upgrade from within XP. The only issue would be if you ever needed to install the upgrade copy of Win7 on a blank drive. (There are work-arounds for that.)

2. Looks OK, although I wonder why there seems to be no graphics driver for an nVidia device for X64.

3. I have a similar vintage notebook with a QL-60 CPU. The rated performance is similar. It's entirely usable.

I doubt that you'd see a major performance improvement in taking the RAM to maximum (4GB). However, I did that with my old Cmpaq CQ50-105NR, and it runs Win7 X64 Home Premium well enough. (I needed to run some 64 bit software.)

I also have a 120 GB SSD (a hand-me-down) as its boot drive. That was the most significant upgrade possible for it. Whether it'd be worth $100 to you to get that, I can't say.

 

[karlsnooks]

bobkn,
The preferred approach, as given by Archie, is:
Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

 

[DocBrown]

Run System Info for Windows (Free Version) to see what is the maximum memory your MB can take.

Buy SIW Pro or Download SIW Home Edition

 

[karlsnooks]

Or you can look at the specs: the max for this laptop is 4 GB.

 

[mccoady]

Thanks for all the info guys for now I think I will just install Windows 7 and then consider adding more RAM afterwards. As far as buying a SSD for it I don't think I want to spend that much on this laptop.

That has given me an idea though about maybe replacing my standard 250GB hard drive on my Dell Studio 15 (1535) with a SSD... while it's also a 2008 model it has a little better CPU and 3GB of RAM. It has been upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 Home via a Clean Install.

I've always wanted to try a SSD but have been scared off because I wasn't sure what all the install entailed since I know it can't be the same as a regular drive.

Could someone give me detailed instructions on how I would go about replacing my standard drive on my Studio 15?

Also maybe you could recommend some drives at various storage/price points that have good performance, reliable, and provide good value.

 

[karlsnooks]

Since your new questions are completely off of the topic of the thread.
Mark the thread as solved.

Post a fresh msg stated you new questions.

thanks,

PS. this will also result in you getting more and more accurate responses

 

[bobkn]

bobkn,
The preferred approach, as given by Archie, is:
Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

Yeah, that was the "work-around" I referred to.

Not sure why I didn't provide the link. Perhaps I forgot that I wasn't in one of the Microsoft forums. Some of their moderators will delete any mention of procedures that Microsoft does not support. (Some of the approaches above can be used to install Win7 using an upgrade license without having a qualifying older OS in hand. Unlikely to land anyone in jail, but it's a violation of the license agreement.)

 

[Brink]

True it could be used like that, but as long as they meet the requirements in the red warning box in the tutorial it's supported. Otherwise they are violating the EULA.

 

[gregrocker]

It isn't necessary to run the Win7 Upgrade DVD from XP. When you boot the Win7 DVD it will see XP and allow use of Upgrade version key during install. So there is no need to do the workaround in Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version which is made available by MS for those who replace HD's or otherwise don't want to have to reinstall the qualifying XP.

Only if you wipe the HD or use a new HD is it necessary to do the workaround.