Updating desktop 13 October 2018 at 9:09PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Techie Stuff 38 replies 3.2K views

hampshirebabe

I mostly use it for the internet, but there were a couple of things I tried to download that can't work with windows XP, only windows 7 but the windows 7 upgrade says I need a new graphics card.
But If I get an ssd and switch to Ubuntu that might be enough?
I'm off to work now, be back around 5. :-)

that

in a year and 2 months windows 7 will be obsolete - End of life 14, January, 2020. I would not invest time in it.

Windows 8.1, which is carp, end of life 10, January 2023

Go to https://distrowatch.com/ and pick a popular linux distro from that, if you are unsure what you want linux wise. A 100000 lemmings can't be wrong

End of the day, the best os is the one that works for you, and and one you can get along with it. For most this is windows, but does not have to be. Price-wise one is free, and the other is about £5 or less thanks to ebay

hampshirebabe

Windows is about £5 on ebay?

tonyh66

dell dimension 1100 thats a pentium 4 was it new 5 years ago when you bought it?
Probably won't run (or badly run) any newer version of windows (2GB max memory). I would download a linux disto and try it without the SSD first you might be surprised how much better it is.

hampshirebabe

It was new, but thinking about it it was probably a lot longer than 5 years ago. I've just spent an hour reading up on Ubuntu, which sounds doable, is linux disto about the same? Can I try it before I install it completely?

Ubuntu is a Linux disto, so that would do it?

that

hampshirebabe wrote: »

Windows is about £5 on ebay?

Well you download the software from ms, and get the official key from ebay for £2.97
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WINDOWS-10-PRO-64-BIT-OFFICIAL-PRODUCT-CODE-KEY-GLOBAL-INSTANT-DELIVERY/202470100680?epid=1353442741

you can buy 32/64 version for £3.77

The whole windows installation software with key for £5.38, from Australia

tonyh66

that wrote: »

Well you download the software from ms, and get the official key from ebay for £2.97
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WINDOWS-10-PRO-64-BIT-OFFICIAL-PRODUCT-CODE-KEY-GLOBAL-INSTANT-DELIVERY/202470100680?epid=1353442741

you can buy 32/64 version for £3.77

The whole windows installation software with key for £5.38, from Australia

a pentium 4 with 1GB memory isn't going to run windows 10 64bit, so this is bad advice.

mksysb

Ubuntu use Gnome3 which uses lots of memory. You should use Xubuntu which uses xfce as the desktop and will run very nicely on low memory.

DoaM

And to answer the other question ... most Linux distros have a Live CD option where you can boot from CD/DVD (or USB pendrive) and run a fully-working "demo" of the distro. You could do this with several different ones to find which one you prefer ... once you've selected it then the Live CD will let you install it on your PC. (Make sure you've backed up all your data beforehand ... and remember that your Windows programmes won't run natively on Linux).

System

hampshirebabe wrote: »

I know it needs a new graphics card

Why? Unless you are a gamer or do 3D CAD you will notice absolutely no advantage to upgrading your graphics card at all.

Given the rest of your posts it appears you have a very old PC and would benefit from getting a newer one. I would go on Ebay and buy a refurbished Dell Optiplex 790 or similar with a Core i5 CPU. Get it configured with a SSD drive if that is an option available.