Old Dell laptop able to run Windows 10

EveryWhere

DaveG247 wrote: »

Cheers for the comments folks, shall have a look at those links, think it might have 4GB of ram but from what I remember reading because it's only 32bit it can only use 3GB (I think). SSD had crossed my mind. As there's not much on the laptop would I be best doing a factory reset before any windows? Cheers

No.

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full-stop

EveryWhere wrote: »

There is absolutely no reason why one should install 32 bit.

So if the OP's father has an old printer or scanner attached to that laptop which does not have 64bit drivers, these items which perhaps are perfectly usable now will have to be purchased again. In addition the OP may also have some older versions of progs that may not install in 64bit o/s, so perhaps more expense in replacing these.

The OP would possibly also likely have to buy more ram as well for Win10 x64. After all the major reason for using a x64 system is precisely so that one can use >4GB ram (unless you use the PAE patch which works extremely well with Win7+).

The OP's father is using this laptop as a 'glorified typewriter'. Surfing the net, reading emails or opening up a Word document does not require a 64bit o/s nor does it require anything more than 4GB of ram.

In most cases using x64 system would be the wise choice but in this particular case, I believe that it would not only be overkill but would also most likely result in considerable additional expense which would not be required under x86.

Good luck

EveryWhere

full-stop wrote: »

So if the OP's father has an old printer or scanner attached to that laptop which does not have 64bit drivers, these items which perhaps are perfectly usable now will have to be purchased again. In addition the OP may also have some older versions of progs that may not install in 64bit o/s, so perhaps more expense in replacing these.

The OP would possibly also likely have to buy more ram as well for Win10 x64. After all the major reason for using a x64 system is precisely so that one can use >4GB ram (unless you use the PAE patch which works extremely well with Win7+).

The OP's father is using this laptop as a 'glorified typewriter'. Surfing the net, reading emails or opening up a Word document does not require a 64bit o/s nor does it require anything more than 4GB of ram.

In most cases using x64 system would be the wise choice but in this particular case, I believe that it would not only be overkill but would also most likely result in considerable additional expense which would not be required under x86.

Good luck

If that were the case, he would not be considering the purchase of new.

Similarly the program story. Which program runs on Vista 32 bit, but does not run of Windows 7 64 bit?

Also purchasing more RAM if they already have 4GB of RAM.

4GB of RAM is adequate for a 64 bit OS. No need to consider more for the intended usage.

Surfing the Net, checking emails and opening a Word document does not require a 32 bit OS.
There is no reason to install a 32 bit OS in this scenario.

4 GB RAM, 120 GB SSD and a clean install of Windows 7/10 64 bit. Twenty pounds spent, for a significant boost in performance.

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that

unforeseen wrote: »

Based on the fact that a Dell 630 with a T7300 dual core CPU runs like an absolute pig with 64 bit

What an understatement^^ - as fast as two pigs pulling in opposite directions. We had a 2Gig 630 that we were chucking away at work. I put win 10 x64 on it, it became the slowest computer ever. Even alt-tab was a chore and took about a minute or so to switch,. the mouse would not drag correctly, and when typing would accept only one character every 10-20 seconds.

64 bit Mint linux on the 630 was not great either, but better than x64 windows, but not by much.

EveryWhere

that wrote: »

What an understatement^^ - as fast as two pigs pulling in opposite directions. We had a 2Gig 630 that we were chucking away at work. I put win 10 x64 on it, it became the slowest computer ever. Even alt-tab was a chore and took about a minute or so to switch,. the mouse would not drag correctly, and when typing would accept only one character every 10-20 seconds.

64 bit Mint linux on the 630 was not great either, but better than x64 windows, but not by much.

The moral of that story is not to run a 64 bit OS on 2GB of RAM.

The OP's device reportedly has the 4GB of RAM that is recommended for 64-bit OS installation.. If under 4GB, 32-bit is apt.
4GB and over, 64-bit.

EveryWhere

In this case, you made a scenario about a printer that the OP does not have.
Equally you made up a scenario about programs that run on 32 bit, that cannot run on 64-bit without producing even a shred of evidence.

You also stated that installing a 64-bit OS "would also most likely result in considerable additional expense"...... which of course is absolute nonsense.

Why would installing a 64-bit OS on a 4 GB RAM system, cost more than installing a 32-bit OS installed to a system with 4GB of RAM?

The cost is exactly the same. So 64-bit should be the choice for a system with 4GB of RAM or more.

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unforeseen

The point that was trying to be made is not that the CPU can't run 64bit but that it is grossly underpowered when doing so even with 4Gb. I know from experience with D630 & 4Gb on a better spec CPU than the OP's and that does include fitting SSDs

Theory may say it will run, and it does, but it is not a usable platform in any sense of the word. Whereas using 32bit makes it usable as a platform for the basics of Internet, mail and word processing.

EveryWhere

unforeseen wrote: »

The point that was trying to be made is not that the CPU can't run 64bit but that it is grossly underpowered when doing so even with 4Gb. I know from experience with D630 & 4Gb on a better spec CPU than the OP's and that does include fitting SSDs

Theory may say it will run, and it does, but it is not a usable platform in any sense of the word. Whereas using 32bit makes it usable as a platform for the basics of Internet, mail and word processing.

First of all, you should should understand the difference between address space and RAM.

So 64 bit will simply make better use of the RAM because it has more address space, even if processes use more RAM.

Latitude D630 is from 2007. Studio 15 from 2009.
They are not the same device. The D630 can have issues with SATA if you don't know what you are doing. So perhaps the issue was not related to the RAM at all.

My laptop is from 2007 and running Windows 10 Pro 64 bit. Not only am I currently using it as an entertainment centre, but I have around 100 tabs open, as I'm helping people all over the world with their technical issues.
So I have at least some small idea of the issues involved.
.
Perhaps you can explain the reason why you think "underpowered" has any place in this discussion. My CPU benchmark is under 1000. I'm sure the CPU of the D630 has a higher benchmark.

So perhaps you can explain why my system with a lower CPU benchmark, 4GB of DDR2 RAM and Windows 10 64 bit can do so much as compared t your Latitude D630.

You claim that your device with a 64 bit OS and 4GB of RAM is unusable. User error perhaps?

Let's look at your other claims...Internet, mail, word processing. For your theory to have any basis whatsoever, those processes would have to be maxxing out the RAM on a 32 bit system for there to be any adverse effect when swapping to a 64 bit system. Are they?

On my system, currently I'm utilising 82% of RAM. Most of that is being taken up by multiple Browsers with perhaps 100 tabs being open. VLC player is running, playing music from my library. Tiny underpowered CPU is running at 30%.

No slowdown at all.

How is my 2007 device capable of such superhuman feats on 4GB of RAM and a 64 bit OS?

I also have a Toshiba laptop from 2009 with 4 GB of RAM, SSD and Windows 7 64 bit. Certainly more capable than this device and this device is absolutely fine for everyday usage.

So perhaps the issue is with the Latitude D630 or your lack of experience in setting it up.

In general, 64 bit is the way to go if you have 4GB of RAM. You might find that some laptops with 32 bit installed will address somewhat less than that. Some people with a 32 bit OS installed will complain of only 2.5GB of RAM being usable. Address space.

If your system is having problems running any OS on 4GB of RAM, look to other issues.

I reiterate, 64 bit OS for 4GB of RAM.

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Gloomendoom

I run 32 bit Win 10 on a 2007 vintage Dell 6400 (2Gb ram) with no problems at all.

EveryWhere

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I run 32 bit Win 10 on a 2007 vintage Dell 6400 (2Gb ram) with no problems at all.

With just 2GB of RAM, 32-bit is recommended

Your CPU is capable of only a 32 bit instruction set, so would recognise perhaps only 3.25GB of RAM even if you installed 4GB.
Nevertheless, I still recommend the installation of 4GB since it costs as little as £7.50 delivered for 2 x 2GB DDR2-667 SO-DIMM.