New desktop PC

Cisco001

It is unlikely you can get something with video card for £500
My suggestion is get something with AMD Ryzen 5 4650G
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/punch-technology-contender-silver-matx-ryzen-5-4650g-8gb-240gb-ssd-radeon-w-pdt-702-1059/version.asp

pbartlett

How big is the HDD and how much data do you want to keep?

First thing to do is go here, download Windows 10 (choose 'download tool now button' and burn it to a DVD.

Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

I would suggest making a bootable USB drive but not sure if your desktop can boot from USB, so a DVD is safer. If your desktop can boot from USB stick then by all means create that rather than a DVD.

Once you have bootable drive (DVD or USB), open up your PC, remove the HDD and replace with a new SSD. Re-boot the PC from the media and install Windows 10. 

You will then need to check windows has activated successfully. Normally it will, or if not then enter you W7 product key and again normally that will be accepted.

derrick

HereToday said:

You need to identify the device properly; not just the components. Does it have a brand name?

All I know is it is a HP.

debitcardmayhem

I can't remember what win 7 version shows but

Click Start.  Type msinfo32 in the Search box.

Right-click msinfo32.exe in the search results, and then click Run as administrator

That may give you lots of info

forgotmyname

Windows 10 is still "EVIL" but its something you may have to suffer.

Plenty of addons to make it look exactly like windows 7.   Classic Shell is the main one and 7+ Taskbar Tweaker
is another. 

Messed with mine a LOT. Removed myphone and Cortana and lots of other stuff. Removing the myphone / yourphone? Foxed
windows update which offered ask later or skip for now. I used to block updates also, but now use 10Pro which gimes me better
control without having to do that.  Install Win 10 and those 2 programs and you can get it to look like Win 7 or even Windows 98
if thats what you like. Maybe that is just me?

HereToday

derrick said:

HereToday said:

You need to identify the device properly; not just the components. Does it have a brand name?

All I know is it is a HP.

https://support.hp.com/ie-en/document/bph07555

derrick

HereToday said:

You need to identify the device properly; not just the components. Does it have a brand name?

This is the product code:

VW202ET#ABU

This is webpage when putting in product code:

https://icecat.biz/en/p/hp/vw202et-abu-le1901wi/compaq+pro-pcs-workstations-6000+pro+sff+%2B+le1901wi-8000588.html

It is the horizontal model. 1000GB

Neil_Jones

forgotmyname said:

Windows 10 is still "EVIL" but its something you may have to suffer.

Plenty of addons to make it look exactly like windows 7.   Classic Shell is the main one and 7+ Taskbar Tweaker
is another. 

Messed with mine a LOT. Removed myphone and Cortana and lots of other stuff. Removing the myphone / yourphone? Foxed
windows update which offered ask later or skip for now. I used to block updates also, but now use 10Pro which gimes me better
control without having to do that.  Install Win 10 and those 2 programs and you can get it to look like Win 7 or even Windows 98
if thats what you like. Maybe that is just me?

Its just you, and 10 is not "evil", what hyperbole.  Skin it if you must, but one day you'll have to go to work/school/library/somewhere else where your skins are not available/able to be used and you'll have to use the stock 10 way of doing things whether you like it or not.  I'd suggest getting used to it now.

HereToday

derrick said:

HereToday said:

You need to identify the device properly; not just the components. Does it have a brand name?

This is the product code:

VW202ET#ABU

This is webpage when putting in product code:

https://icecat.biz/en/p/hp/vw202et-abu-le1901wi/compaq+pro-pcs-workstations-6000+pro+sff+%2B+le1901wi-8000588.html

It is the horizontal model. 1000GB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfG0-YJKvTQ
covers fitting the SSD..
You'll need a SATA cable: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=sata+3+cable&_dcat=74941&_sacat=74941&vbn_id=7023531666&LH_PrefLoc=1&_fsrp=1&_sop=2&_blrs=recall_filtering

and you'll need to create installation media in order to install Windows 10 to the new SSD:

Creating the Windows 10 USB flash drive

You will need a USB Flash drive of at least 8 GB in capacity. Make sure that there is nothing on it that you need.

1. Visit the  Microsoft Media Creation Tool website
2. Click Download Tool Now.
3. Save the Application.
4. Plug your USB Flash Drive into the PC where you saved the application.
5. Run the Application.
6. Accept the EULA
7. Select Create installation media for another PC and click Next.
8. Choose the correct settings for your version of Windows 10
   1. Language (Country)
   2. Windows 10
   3. 64-bit (x64)
9. Select the Flash Drive and click Next.
10. Select USB Flash Drive and click Next.
11. Click Next.

Allow the application to complete. You will be prompted when it is finished and has successfully created the bootable drive.

Username03725

OP if you fancy a new PC go and buy one. Updating old ones and trying to keep them going is fine for hobbyists and people who understand this stuff but if you're asking the sort of questions you have, that approach is probably not for you. 

If there's a Currys PC World handy go in there and have a look at what they have for your budget. A 500GB hard drive will do unless you plan to store hundreds of photos or digitise your music collection and keep it on the PC, in which case go for a 1TB disc, but you'll need to have a backup strategy anyway so either cloud storage or an external drive to keep things safe. Almost everything comes with an SSD these days, you'd want 4GB RAM as a minimum and ideally 8. RAM is pretty cheap these days but sellers use it to differentiate on price points, as they also do with processors... The CPU you probably want is an Intel i5. i3 is a bit slow, i7 is more than you need for what you've described. Cheaper PCs come with an AMD CPU - as a rule of thumb these aren't as good as Intel, but may do for what you want. On board graphics are fine for most use, if you have specific video or gaming needs you'll already have an idea of what you want.

I'd suggest you buy something with that sort of spec, either online or from Currys PC World. People will scream that CPCW are the last place you should go but I've had my last two from there, both have lasted well and performed very well as mid-spec compromise PCs. I do a lot of development on it (i5, 8GB RAM, SSD) and it's just fine. Avoid buying their extra insurance package though, it's not worth it.

And for the guy who believes Windows 10 is evil I can only say Tosh. It's just an OS, it's regularly updated and although you might have a problem getting older applications and peripherals to run on it, if you aren't trying to to do the equivalent of driving a Ford Anglia on the M25 you should be ok. As above, millions just use it on a day to day basis and it works fine. Insisting on sticking to an outdated version means always being out of step - W10 is fine and doesn't take much if any getting used to. Go with it, don't spend your life fighting against it.