Win7 > Win10

EveryWhere

Gers wrote: »

I can't take out the old disk etc - and don't think that spending on a new one is worth it for the use the machine gets.

Don't understand the car analogy.

Yes.

Haven't got anything on usb sticks - again, don't understand what you are asking.

Why can you not take the old disc out? The G72 has a dedicated hatch for the storage drive, so you it would take you less than ten minutes to swap the HDD for a new SSD. Someone with experience would take less than five minutes.

https://www.7dayshop.com/products/silicon-power-s55-2-5-7mm-sata-iii-internal-ssd-550mb-s-120gb-sp120gbss3s55s25 £15 to bring an old laptop up to spec, to keep it in use for years to come.

https://www.7dayshop.com/products/patriot-memory-burst-ssd-solid-state-drive-2-5-sata-iii-internal-240gb-pbu240gs25ssdr for a bit more capacity, but not likely to been needed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2T3n95Y4ks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2T3n95Y4ks

Gers

EveryWhere wrote: »

Why can you not take the old disc out? The G72 has a dedicated hatch for the storage drive, so you it would take you less than ten minutes to swap the HDD for a new SSD. Someone with experience would take less than five minutes.

Probably because I lack the experience and confidence! However, I found the video enlightning and interesting so thank you for it. I'll watch it again.

LHW99

There is no problem keeping Windows 7 if you only want it for photos on its hard disk - we have "legacy systems" from windows 98, still working.
The issue will be if you need to go online, as that can expose it to nasty's.
That said, firewalls & anti-virus software will support Windows 7 for some time yet, and if you don't use it for email or wide-ranging surfing you probably won't encounter too many problems. In a few more years its likely other parts will begin to give up and it will have to be replaced anyway.
May be best to prepare by working out how to store things you really want online now, so they can be accessed from a new computer / re-downloaded.

that

LHW99 wrote: »

The issue will be if you need to go online, as that can expose it to nasty's.

Put the free Sandboxie on and run any browser (I would say any web application, or normal application too, if you do not want permanent changes) through that https://www.sandboxie.com/

Nothing is 100% perfect, but it is very good, and I empty my sandbox every week - just in case.

Gers

I decided to be safe rather than sorry so took the laptop to a computer repair shop with instructions to clone, install W10, install a SSD and upgrade RAM. Turns out that the graphics card was preventing W10 installing.

Ended up buying a relatively inexpensive Leveno for the irregular use.

cbrown372

Gers wrote: »

I decided to be safe rather than sorry so took the laptop to a computer repair shop with instructions to clone, install W10, install a SSD and upgrade RAM. Turns out that the graphics card was preventing W10 installing.

Ended up buying a relatively inexpensive Leveno for the irregular use.

I did the same on Black Friday and bought a new Leveno for around £120, well worth it.

EveryWhere

Gers wrote: »

I decided to be safe rather than sorry so took the laptop to a computer repair shop with instructions to clone, install W10, install a SSD and upgrade RAM. Turns out that the graphics card was preventing W10 installing.

Ended up buying a relatively inexpensive Leveno for the irregular use.

How was that outcome safe, rather than sorry?
I think that you decided to be sorry rather than safe.
There is nothing preventing Windows 10 from installing. The problem was your misinterpreting the advice here.
No one suggested that you should clone the drive.Nor any mention of spending more on RAM.
Upgrading over Windows 7 is the issue. So if you make a clone of the HDD and then try to upgrade over that, you end up doing exactly the same thing as if you didn't clone and tried to upgrade.
You needed to run a clean install of Windows 10 to the HP's new SSD. £18 and job done.
A job that you could have done easily yourself.

It's one thing saying that you aren't tech savvy, but it shouldn't be an excuse for inaction.
You need to actually follow the advice, rather than going off to do something completely different.
All you did it waste more money than was necessary. For no good reason other than groundless fear.

Even if Device Driver Signature turned out to be an issue during upgrade or clean install, it's an easy fix;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8_M3OZwSvE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8_M3OZwSvE

Gers

Did you read my message?

No need for your ticking me off. I appreciate help and advice, especially from random strangers on the web, when I ask for it. However I also take advice from computer engineers face to face.

DCFC79

Gers wrote: »

Did you read my message?

No need for your ticking me off. I appreciate help and advice, especially from random strangers on the web, when I ask for it. However I also take advice from computer engineers face to face.

At the end of the day you did what you did, it was your choice.

Gers

DCFC79 wrote: »

At the end of the day you did what you did, it was your choice.

Thank you!

Ten characters.