Why no update for my old Windows?

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  • EveryWhere
    EveryWhere Posts: 3,249 Forumite
    donnajunkie wrote: »
    I simply have no faith or confidence in doing it. I realise this most probably is wrong. I have had issues upgrading various bits of tech in the past. The system is 12 years old. As soon as I have the funds it will be replaced. Also my printer does not work anymore so i will get a package that includes a printer if possible.

    The age matters not and you'll have someone holding your hand all the way if you have a Smartphone in which to keep in contact.

    £27 is not much and you can have a much faster system that may last for a good few years.

    I'm still using a twelve year old laptop that I upgraded with a cheap SSD.

    Do you imagine that you are the only one here who didn't have any confidence at first?

    With a little help, there are many here who can do a lot more than they first imagined.

    Before you start, you put together a plan. Take a look at everything first, see where it has to go and create the installation media, all with some help.
    Then once all is confirmed, make the order, fit the parts(in a few minutes) and install the OS.

    It's easy once you know how and you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it earlier once you see how speedy the old system.
  • EveryWhere
    EveryWhere Posts: 3,249 Forumite
    poppellerant wrote: »
    I can see why SSD drives and RAM upgrades have been recommended to you, because they can give you a great deal of relief from slow hard drives, especially on ageing systems. However you didn't ask about hardware upgrades and given that this is a money saving forum, it seems ludicrous to throw good money after bad. Do bear in mind however, you might be able to transfer a SATA SSD drive to another PC, so all is not lost.

    I would also exercise caution about buying cheap Windows 10 licenses. I will provide you this link for reading, but basically if something seems to good to be true, it often is. I expect other posters will pipe up saying how their threepence licenses has been running for ages - but I am just making you are aware of the issue. You might be able to buy one just long enough to tide you over until you upgrade.

    Your post seems exceedingly negative.

    How would spending up to £27 on bringing an old PC up to spec be "throwing good money after bad"?
    Why would you describe something eminently sensible as "ludicrous"??

    I rescued a twelve year old laptop with a single core CPU and old HDD(that was almost unusable, buy spending £26 on a dual core CPU and SSD.
    Now I have a laptop that runs Windows 10 Pro that I can leave at a holiday apartment so I don't need to travel with a laptop.

    The OP's PC has a much better basic spec, so with the proposed inexpensive upgrades it will fly in relative terms.

    As to your scaremongering about Windows 10 licences.....
    Just about everyone knows that Windows 10 will work fine even without a licence.

    Even in the worst case scenario of accidentally buying a dodgy licence and it being deactivated after a year or two, one can simply buy another for a couple of Pounds.
  • donnajunkie
    donnajunkie Posts: 32,412 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Niv wrote: »
    You may as well give it a go if you are prepared to buy a new machine, what's the worst that can happen? You break a 12 year old pc you wanted to replace anyway?


    You can download a copy of win 10 off the Microsoft website (an iso) and do a clean install. No need to activate windows 10 so it will be free. While not activated some personalisation cant be done and there is a little message on the bottom right of the screen but that's about it. I have not found it limiting at all to date.

    And be left with no computer until i have the money for a new one.
  • donnajunkie
    donnajunkie Posts: 32,412 Forumite
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    custardy wrote: »
    How many 'packages' of a PC and printer have you seen in recent years?

    Havent looked much but I have seen deals that include a printer. If i dont find one i am happy with then i will just have to get the printer separately.
  • EveryWhere
    EveryWhere Posts: 3,249 Forumite
    donnajunkie wrote: »
    And be left with no computer until i have the money for a new one.

    Wow...you are really pessimistic. :)

    You can be reassured that the path I am recommending is completely reversible.

    So if for some unfathomable reason you are unable to proceed further than fitting the SSD, you can simply reconnect the old HDD and everything will be as it was.

    This is why I recommend fitting of an SSD, as it leaves your existing drive untouched and ready to be reattached at any time should you be unhappy.

    Once you are happy with the upgraded system, you can move your old data over, in exactly the same way you would do if you bought a new system.

    But this way you won't have to buy a new system, as the upgraded system sounds like it will be adequate for your needs for years to come.
  • Niv
    Niv Posts: 2,468 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    donnajunkie wrote: »
    And be left with no computer until i have the money for a new one.



    Well the compromise is as Everywhere says, pop in a cheap SSD, then install windows 10 for no additional cost. If it goes wrong you just pop your old hard drive in. Heck, if you live near me I will give you a harddrive as i have a few doing nothing but haven't thrown them out because there is nothing wrong with them (not SSD but would be free).
    YNWA

    Target: Mortgage free by 58.
  • giraffe69
    giraffe69 Posts: 3,558 Forumite
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    It wouldn't be as cheap but you could buy the parts and pay for someone to fit them if you don't want to do it for yourself. If you don't do this or deal with it yourself or buy a new machine it is not easy to see what advice you can be given that will help.
    If, of course, this was just a whinge about Vista and lack of updates then job done.
  • donnajunkie
    donnajunkie Posts: 32,412 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    giraffe69 wrote: »
    If, of course, this was just a whinge about Vista and lack of updates then job done.

    Posts 1 and 17 are quite clear arent they?
  • EveryWhere
    EveryWhere Posts: 3,249 Forumite
    Meanwhile....this video is for the OP, to demonstrate the difference on a similarly old device(2008);

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G1JLdVod14


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G1JLdVod14

    It will give them an idea of the huge difference in performance, such a simple upgrade can bring.

    ..and since a particular poster is concerned about the OP spending £7 that he might not be able to recoup in a year or two, there is the option of 4 x 1 GB of RAM for £3.99.
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Memory-Ram-4-Desktop-PC-DDR2-667-PC2-5300U-240-DIMM-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-2x-GB-Lot/322702734848

    So, now just perhaps £24 for the full upgrade.
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863 Forumite
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    I got my current laptop in January 2013. It came with 4GB of RAM. The first upgrade I made was to add another 4GB to make 8GB of RAM - this made a noticeable difference (on Windows 7).

    I updated to Windows 10 when it came out - I've had no noticeable problems. Over time the system slowed down - this was the same with W7 as with W10.

    A few months ago I replaced the HDD with an SSD and did a fresh install of W10. It's like having a new laptop ... On button to login screen in 15 seconds, whereas before it would be at least a minute+ (I removed the DVD drive and put the old HDD into a DVD-style caddy, so I now have both an SSD C drive and internal HDD D drive in my laptop ... the DVD I plug in via USB on the rare occasions I need to use it).

    To the OP - going the SSD route will be much better value than buying a new machine. So unless your current machine's hardware is failing then I'd echo the others who are recommending the SSD route.
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