Upgrading XP to Windows 7

VoucherMan

I've recently bought some old XP machines off eBay (IBM/Lenovo T43 & T60) for the kids. Primarily for homework but they no doubt get used more for surfing.

Just been reading about the forthcoming end of support for XP in 2014. I'm hoping these laptops will still be going strong in a couple of years. They seem fairly indestructible, but I'm assuming they will become increasingly vulnerable when XP support comes to an end so I've been looking into upgrading them. I've run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor which reckons the laptop (the T60 at least - I've not checked the T43 yet) is okay to run Windows 7.

I could get the student edition fairly cheap and I'd probably get some more RAM just to be on the safe side.

Although the upgrade advisor says the laptop will run Windows 7 it doesn't give any indication of likely performance.
Anyone know how well a laptop like this would run on it?
Rough specs - Lenovo Thinkpad T60 Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz Laptop 1GB RAM 80GB HDD

If the laptops are to last beyond the next couple of years I can either:-

Upgrade now if performance is likely to be as good as XP

Wait until nearer the time to upgrade (Windows 8 perhaps)

Keep using XP and hope that writers of malicious code lose interest in all those unprotected machines and move on to other targets.


Any recommendations on the best option?
A new/ replacement is not an option for now. If they want a new one they can either save up some pocket money or wait until they've finished school/uni and got a job, though if the laptops can't be reasonably upgraded or safely used in a couple of years I'll probably reconsider.

TakeThis

Keep them as they are for now...at least get the two years out of them.
With decent security measures and by not letting them use the Admin account by default, they aren't going to be the first on anyone's list.

If the T43 has Drivers, then it will run Windows 7, though you'll need to increase RAM.

victor2

I'd agree with TakeThis - continue to run XP for now.
If you do move to Windows 7, they'll probably be OK with a bit more RAM, so long as the Upgrade Advisor doesn't highlight any issues.
XP isn't going to disappear overnight no matter how much notice MS give about ceasing support for it. By 2014, you might have succumbed to your kids nagging you for newer computers anyway!

agrinnall

I think I read recently that MS are discontinuing student editions - although that may have been Office rather than Win 7.

GunJack

The T60 will run W7 as it is now. The T43 will need a min 1GB RAM, otherwise it should be fine too.

BUT....kids, schoolwork....it's unlikely they'll be using W7 in school, XP is far more likely...so that's just ANOTHER reason to keep them on XP until dragged kicking'n'screaming to W7

W8 - forget it IMHO

TakeThis

They both need an extra GB of RAM for Windows 7. Save your money for now. Saying that, you might want to buy extra RAM now in the case of it being scarce in a couple of years.

Currently £11.38

VoucherMan

TakeThis wrote: »

you might want to buy extra RAM now in the case of it being scarce in a couple of years.

Currently £11.38

Always the cheapskate.

I found some for £6.00. Second-hand obviously, but I've never had and problem with used stock from eBay yet.

TakeThis

VoucherMan wrote: »

Always the cheapskate.

I found some for £6.00. Second-hand obviously, but I've never had and problem with used stock from eBay yet.

I just didn't want to suggest it and then for you to have problems with memory errors or the like.

Did you check to see if your laptops actually have a free slot? If they are using 2 x 512MB, you may end up having to buy more anyway.

The T60 goes up to 4GB RAM, so you might want a differing config for that one when the time comes.

VoucherMan

TakeThis wrote: »

Did you check to see if your laptops actually have a free slot?

I did a Crucial scan.

1GB in one slot, the other slot is empty.

TakeThis

VoucherMan wrote: »

I did a Crucial scan.

1GB in one slot, the other slot is empty.

Excellent.

The T60 was probably supplied with DDR2-667-PC2-5300, so don't get the same as the T43 for that machine, as it will clock down to the speed of the slower module.

googler

Just because MS is withdrawing 'support' for XP, doesn't mean it will stop working, or that you won't be able to get help from anyone.

How many people call MS for 'support', anyway?