A bit out of sync...

[Mark_88]

With the new technology...

A friend asked me to find her a used computer system...she has a 2.66 celeron processor with 1.5 gigs or ram that can only be upgraded to 2 gigs.

I saw a few systems similar to mine (Dell GX series) and saw that they have only a 2.0 gig processor but it is dual core (so I'd imagine it is faster than what she has) and it comes with 2.0 gigs of ram. Problem is it also comes with Windows 7 that I'm not familiar with.

Would the newer system be bogged down by 7 or could it handle it as a base. The friend only does surfing and e-mail.

I know I can upgrade the RAM to 4 gigs on my system but, silly me, I didn't get the series number (think it was actually lower than mine)...something like GX360...

This is a fairly novice user who does OK on XP...don't want to shock her too much with all these changes...lol

Anyway...any input on Windows 7 ram useage and what to expect would be appreciated...I could research it I'm sure but I'd rather hear from real live experienced users as opposed to some bot posts proclaiming the beauty of 7...blah...blah...blah

 

[BlackBII]

Win 7 will actually run faster than XP if you have the available RAM. With 2GB, the machine would run just fine on Win 7.

 

[97RangerXLT]

Yeah what ^^he said. Win 7 is the way to go. Microsoft is also discontinueing support for XP next year as it has been out for going on 12 years now.

7 is a little bit different tha xp in looks and feel but is not hard to get used to at all

AJ

Sent from the Galaxy to the interwebs

 

[Mark_88]

Thank you for the input. I've actually used and troubleshot Win7 systems years ago but only for e-mail and internet connections...didn't really pay much attention to it other than a few dozen calls.

I might check with the vendor again about the model number to see if the RAM can be upgraded just in case she manages to overload it like her last one...

 

[KnivesChau]

For an internet user a pc with celeron processor with 1.5gb ram running on XP is more than enough. But if you are going for the dual core machine, install XP on it then you don't have to upgrade the ram.

 

[Mark_88]

I think the biggest problem was the free AV program I installed is a RAM hog...I suggested buying a new AV program or upgrading to 7...it's actually still not resolved at this point...almost 4 months later...

 

[SenorNoob]

No need to buy any AV program. Just use Security Essentials. It's free from Microsoft. Works well enough, and is very un-intrusive.

 

[Mark_88]

I've heard it was good (enough) so I might try to persuade the owner to upgrade the OS...but there is a learning curve that has to be considered...and I think if she just went with a slightly faster computer it would be more than enough...

One of the limiting factors is a tax program being used...or at least the files that we have backed up in several places...so I'm tempted to simply have her keep the old computer for that purpose alone...and buy another one to play on the internet with...

A lawyer that I dealt with briefly has everything on an old archaic computer that he bought when it first came out...for about $6,000...that runs an old version of DOS...when I saw it I thought "gee, this guy is making a ton of money...why not upgrade?"...until he told me that all his legal forms are in templates that only this machine can run and he had about ten years of case files and legal wrangling stored on it that he simply could not convert to a newer format...

Can't remember the name of the computer but it was still working the last time I saw him...oh, and he got disbarred over some shady practices...after he screwed me out of $1,000...I suppose the computer is evidence now...