Upgrade vista to windows 7?????

debitcardmayhem

flopsy1973 wrote: »

Hi
The service tag is BKM5M3J

thanks

Seven days later ... is the thread still live? probably flopsy1973 but it appears it's not a priority for you:D

prowla

flopsy1973 wrote: »

How would i do the upgrade you talk about here i still have the original dell disk that came with the laptop ????
All i want is to make the machine more useable as it is very slow at the minute.
also the other reason i wanted to get rid of vista was that i couldnt download windows office on to it

Thanks for any help

The Vista disk won't install Windows 7 - you'd need to get a Dell Windows 7 disk.

To be legal, you would have to have a Windows 7 licence, which generally is supplied on a COA (Certificate of Authenticity) sticker which has a licence key XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX on it.

You can find these on ebay, or alternatively if you know someone who is throwing away an old Dell then it might have one on it which you could scavenge.

Microsoft offer a free upgrade to Windows 10, but only for people who have Windows 7/8/8.1, so if you've got Vista or XP then that's no good.

One note about reinstalling the OS; I would recommend backing up your files (photos, documents, etc.), as they could get wiped as part of the process.

prowla

From your service tag, your machine is a Dell 1525, which is a 1.83 GHz Core2Duo processor, and you've got 2 GHz memory; that is not the fastest machine in the universe anyway, but it should be OK for Internet & Office.

One thing about these machines is that the battery is a weal link, and they can tend to go really slow if the battery is bad. Does it run without being plugged in?

NiftyDigits

The laptop is perfectly serviceable and the upgrade can be run as a clean install, but I don't want to spend time putting together instructions which will then be met with inaction.
Main options:
1.Clean install to existing hard drive, which will involve removing all important data from hard drive prior to install.
2. Clean install to SSD. Place existing hard drive in a portable caddy costing £3.50.
3. Clean install to SSD, upgrade RAM to 4GB. Place existing hard drive in a portable caddy costing £3.50.

All would improve the current slow condition, with no.3 bring the biggest improvement.

If flopsy1973 confirms that she would like to go forward with one of the above, I'll produce a step by step guide.

Typical prices:
Toshiba SSD - Q300 - 120 GB £33.99

4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-800MHz PC2-6400 Non-ECC Unbuffered CL6 SoDIMM 1.8V £17.50

Will perform like another machine altogether.

Chrishazle

I've done most of the above to my wife's Dell Inspiron 1720. There are good videos on Youtube for installing the RAM, the chips are in 2 different places but the videos are superb (I'd never messed with a laptop before!). I found that the HDD bay on the underside of the laptop had bays for 2 HDD's, I had to buy a holder as well as the second HDD.

First thing is to make a list of all the software you have installed - Control Panel - Installed Programs will list most of them for you, as will clicking on "All Programs" on the golf ball.

I bought Win7 pro from Ebay, copied all the "private" files to an external hard drive, put the Win7 DVD into the drive and followed the instructions for a clean install (which reformats (completely wipes) the C drive before installing Win7 - took time but was easy. You also then have to reinstall any other software you have, like broadband, internet browser etc. It takes time but is not difficult.

flopsy1973

NiftyDigits wrote: »

The laptop is perfectly serviceable and the upgrade can be run as a clean install, but I don't want to spend time putting together instructions which will then be met with inaction.
Main options:
1.Clean install to existing hard drive, which will involve removing all important data from hard drive prior to install.
2. Clean install to SSD. Place existing hard drive in a portable caddy costing £3.50.
3. Clean install to SSD, upgrade RAM to 4GB. Place existing hard drive in a portable caddy costing £3.50.

All would improve the current slow condition, with no.3 bring the biggest improvement.

If flopsy1973 confirms that she would like to go forward with one of the above, I'll produce a step by step guide.

Typical prices:
Toshiba SSD - Q300 - 120 GB £33.99

4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-800MHz PC2-6400 Non-ECC Unbuffered CL6 SoDIMM 1.8V £17.50

Will perform like another machine altogether.

Yes would like to do this option 1 sounds the best for me iv only got photos on drive that i can copy to disk.

Regarding the battery on other post it does need the charger
plugged in to work battery dont last long

Many thanks

NiftyDigits

flopsy1973 wrote: »

Yes would like to do this option 1 sounds the best for me iv only got photos on drive that i can copy to disk.

Regarding the battery on other post it does need the charger
plugged in to work battery dont last long

Many thanks

You take too long to come back to the thread. As you can imagine, no one can be doing with waiting a week or even two before you respond.

So simple instructions: Download, save 1525_A17 and then run by right clicking on the saved file and choosing Run As Administrator. Follow the prompts. Once complete and the machine rebooted, you can install Windows 7 from boot using this reinstallation disc Though likely by the time that you return to the thread, that disc will be long gone....or you may decide to purchase the extra RAM and upgrade to the 64 bit OS. I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks...:whistle:

A new battery will cost from £10.

flopsy1973

prowla wrote: »

The Vista disk won't install Windows 7 - you'd need to get a Dell Windows 7 disk.

To be legal, you would have to have a Windows 7 licence, which generally is supplied on a COA (Certificate of Authenticity) sticker which has a licence key XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX on it.

You can find these on ebay, or alternatively if you know someone who is throwing away an old Dell then it might have one on it which you could scavenge.

Microsoft offer a free upgrade to Windows 10, but only for people who have Windows 7/8/8.1, so if you've got Vista or XP then that's no good.

One note about reinstalling the OS; I would recommend backing up your files (photos, documents, etc.), as they could get wiped as part of the process.

I do have the COA as stated above from another PC so doing it this way do i need a disk ? also is it better to run some sort of anti virus before i do the reinstall? or will the reinstall completely wipe any viruses i may have on laptop

many thanks

pappa_golf

try going here https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows7 , scroll down and enter your product key , if it is valid you can download a win 7 iso file


after you have done this , return and people can give instructions on "burning" this iso to a pendrive or cd/dvd

NiftyDigits

flopsy1973 wrote: »

I do have the COA as stated above from another PC so doing it this way do i need a disk ? also is it better to run some sort of anti virus before i do the reinstall? or will the reinstall completely wipe any viruses i may have on laptop

many thanks

So simple instructions: Download, save 1525_A17 and then run by right clicking on the saved file and choosing Run As Administrator. Follow the prompts. Once complete and the machine rebooted,.....see PM