Would Photoshop 7 from 2002 be compatible with Windows 7?

[tanyafitness]

This thing is SUPPOSED to have an SSD.

I now recall a few more details that the salesperson told me. Apparently, the SSD is integrated into the motherboard chipset and is not a separate drive in the traditional sense. Perhaps that is why it is not showing up as expected in the "computer/manage/disk management" screen shot.

The model is a Dell XPS 8500.

This is the one it SHOULD be:
The Dell Online Store: Build Your System - as you can see, it's called the 2TB 7200RPM, SATA Hard Drive 6.0 Gb/s + 32GB SSD SRT Enhancement

But perhaps this is the one I was actually sold?
The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

 

[seavixen32]

I think you are probably right Tanya, in that you do have the integrated 32GB SSD. A bit of checking up reveals that it won't show up in disk management and at 32 GB it'll just be used to boost your Windows performance.

Quote from Dell:
" The 32GB mSATA is a MiniPCIe-sized board that works with Intel's Smart Response Technology (SRT) to boot the system quickly, load apps quickly, and come back from sleep quickly. Essentially, the 32GB SSD acts like a hybrid drive with the 2TB main drive. You can't see the SSD in Windows as a separate drive, but you will feel the extra performance compared to a similar system without SRT."

It'll be as well to confirm what you have been sold, but if your system boots very quickly then it's more than likely you have the integrated SSD.

The bottom line is that you'll need to install your applications on your C drive spinner as norrmal.

If you open your box up you should be able to see the SSD fitted in a PCIE slot on your motherboard. As I see it, it's just a Windows 7 'turbocharger'.

 

[digiday]

Hi all,

I'm the originator of this thread and I was able to install and use PS 7 with no problem, but on a 6 year old Dell Inspiron with a comparatively tiny hard drive... only 160 gigs.

That PC is a spare that accompanies several other Macs and one other PC.

When I was responding originally to "Artsieladie" on this thread, who was the original person having a hard getting Photoshop 7 to open after successful installation, I had consulted with Noel Carboni, someone I consider to be the ultimate expert on this topic.

Almost exactly a year ago to the date, 06/01/2011, when Artsieladie was asking for help on this topic, I ended up asking Noel Carboni with Adobe and he said that the problem is that the large 1 or 2 TB hard drives are the problem with old Photoshop 7... that app simply doesn't understand hard drives that big, even if they are partitioned.

Carboni said that installing PS7 on an external Firewire drive would work, NOT on a Flash drive... Flash drives access the computer in a different way than Firewire drives do and even USB2 drives won't work sometimes for running software from.

Tanyafitness, Is the external drive that you tried installing and running PS7 from a Firewire drive?

If you'd like to consult directly with Noel Carboni on this topic, here is his Adobe profile page...

Adobe Forums: Noel Carboni's Profile

I hope this helps. Since "Artsieladie" dropped off of this thread before the issue was resolved for her, we can't ask her what eventually ended up working for her, if anything.

Good luck,

digi

 

[seavixen32]

Hello Digiday.

Interesting solution that's for sure.

Thanks for the update, it's appreciated.

 

[digiday]

Thanks seavixen32,

I forgot to mention, the external Firewire drive to install and successfully use PS 7 on
would have to be a smaller one, like what was available when Photoshop 7 was first released, since PS7 doesn't understand the larger 1 TB, 2 TB and larger drives that are out now.

It would apparently need to be a Firewire drive of about a 100 to 300 gig size, which are a bit hard to find now, but they are still available in limited selections at places like J&R: Audio, Video, Cameras, Computers, Cellular, Home Office, Housewares, J&R Jr., Games, Music, Movies, Musical Instruments .

digi

 

[tanyafitness]

Interesting...

OK, I will delete the "P" photoshop partition off of my C drive, re-expand my C drive to reclaim that space.

Then, I will just have to decide whether I want to go buy a newer copy of photoshop (and go through the learning curve! ughhhh), or get one of these firewire 100-300GB drives to run PS7. The one external HD I did try was indeed a USB 2.0 drive, not firewire.

Another option, I suppose, is a different program all-together, since I'm not really fond of spending $400-$1000 or whatever it is for the new Photoshops. Photoshop is really overkill for my website needs anyway, as I'm not a graphic designer or artist. All I need a program to do is batch processing of hundreds of photos at a time, performing the actions of re-sizing, rotating, adding a copyright (text) watermark/border, and perhaps the occasional sharpen or contrast boost. I don't need any of those advance features that Photoshop does well beyond those basics. Any suggestions? (yes, I know that almost every program will do those functions... but it needs to be done in a BATCH process/automation, since I'm doing hundreds, even thousands of photos at a time).

Thank you,
T

 

[seavixen32]

Have a look here: 15 Useful Batch Image Processors | Smashing Magazine

Then of course there's GIMP: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/use-gimp-to-batch-edit-your-images-windows-specific-instructions/

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Hmmm............I wonder how Photoshop performance would be through a Firewire port?

I'd be spooked of that unless I had some good information.

Of those programs in Seavixen's list, Irfanview is the one I most often see recommended. It's been around a long time.

 

[Dave76]

I have run Win7 beta on an external HDD via eSATA connection, so this should work for PS also.
Just another option for firewire, and should be faster.

You could buy a smaller HDD and add it into your case, this might be a better option if you want to keep the PS version you already have.

 

[tanyafitness]

After going through that list, I'm not sure any of those programs would do ALL of the batch things I need.... so the best option appears to perhaps give the Firewire external drive a go. For my relatively simple needs, I would think that PS7 performance via Firewire would be sufficient.

I will keep you guys posted. Thank you for your help.

 

[seavixen32]

You're very welcome.

If you need further help just post back.

 

[digiday]

tanyafitness,

GIMP is a great Photoshop substitute, especially for a completely free GNU app, but it doesn't have the batch processing abilities.

There are several cheap, smaller Firewire drives at around $160 and less on the JR.com website. I'm sure on many other sites too... below are a few links I found...

LaCie 301983 500GB Triple Rugged Portable Hard Drive in Hard Drives | JR.com
G-Tech 750GB G-DRIVE Mobile 2.5" in Hard Drives | JR.com
Search Results for firewire drive | JR.com

I figure you could find even better deals on ebay. It would still be way cheaper than buying almost anything else, software or hardware, and then you'd still have your PS7 at your side.

Cheers!

digi