Need comprehensive OS upgrade advice

**Good Companion** · March 17th, 2012, 03:47 PM

I've got a total of 6 computers in the house. Their specs are as follows:

Desktop
Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H
Intel i3-540 (3.06 Ghz)
Corsair 4GB DDR3 PC1333
LG GSA-H10N 16x DVD-RW DL
Hitachi 750 GC SATA HD
WD 160 GB IDE HD

Wife's laptop
Toshiba Core 2 duo

Server
AMD Athlon XP 2800+
MSI KT3 Ultra 2 motherboard
1.768 GB RAM (PC 3200)
Western Digital WD1200JB-00DUA3 120 GB IDE HD (formatted NTFS)
Maxtor 6Y160P0 160 GB IDE HD (formatted NTFS)
WD 1 TB SATA HD (formatted NTFS)
Khypermedia 52x32x24x CDRW
Khypermedia 8x4x32 DVDRW
Realtek RTL8185 54M Wireless LAN Network Adapter
ADMtek AN983 NIC (wired)

2 Kids desktops
Dell Dimension 9100
P4 3.0Ghz
2 GB RAM

Cube Pc (basic HTPC)
Intel P4 (3.0Ghz)
1 GB RAM

Desktop, wife's laptop and server run WinXP Home. Cube PC and kid's PCs run WinXP Pro.

With Microsoft dropping WinXP support in the near future, I'm thinking it's time to upgrade to Win7. I realize Win8 will be out soon, but I'm hoping to capitalize on the timing to get a good deal on Win7.

Since the kid's computers are used only for web surfing and MS Office, I'm thinking of leaving them at WinXP. Same for the Cube PC.

For the desktop and wife's laptop, I'm thinking of buying the family pack license. That would give me 3 licenses.

Installing on the desktop is a no brainer. The only question is 32 bit or 64 bit. I read something yesterday that all CPUs in the last few years are capable of either. Is this correct or how can I confirm that mine can?

On wife's laptop, I'm told. It's about 4 years old, but wife likes it and does not want a new one. That said, I know that when I do replace it, the new one will come with at least Win7 if not Win8.

On the server, it's used as a print server and for sharing files. Is it worth it to upgrade to WHS or will Win7 do everything I need? Or do I just leave it at WinXP and wait until I need to replace the hardware with a real server?

Any other compelling reasons to upgrade the kids' machines?

**RicheemxX** · March 17th, 2012, 04:07 PM

Well you aren't likely to find any deals on W7 even when W8 comes out, and we don't know when that will even be. Software isn't like hardware, they don't drop the prices on license much when there are new releases. If you shop around and keep an eye out around back to school and major holidays that is when you usually find the smoking hot deals.

32 bit or 64 bit - The laptop and newer desktop you'd probably want to go 64bit, anything else you'd have to check the specs on. The server I'm pretty sure is a 32bit chip and I'm not sure on the P4s. Honestly I wouldn't upgrade them no matter what. W7 use a bit more resources so you might see a bit of a performance hit if you did.

Another thing to think about on the laptop is driver support. You may or may not be able to find the drivers for everything you need and W7 can be a bit fickle. So you might want to keep that in mind and look around to see if you can get the drivers before you take the leap.

**Steve R Jones** · March 18th, 2012, 07:30 AM

End of support doesn't mean you have to stop using XP... You'll be able to install it and get updates for years to come.

But, be sure and check this out:
Windows 7 Compatibility Center

**RicheemxX** · March 18th, 2012, 05:24 PM

Yeah you def. don't have to upgrade, its not like XP will suddenly self destruct. MS just won't offer support, technical assistance, security updates ect. The end of lifecycle effect the enterprise level much more than it does the consumer level.

With the older systems unless there was an absolute necessity to change the OS I'd go ahead and leave it until you start to cycle in new hardware. Then you'd probably want to upgrade everything.

You definitely want to make sure that have a current install disk, however with SP3 slip-streamed in or at least have a hard copy of SP3 just to have it on hand.

**Good Companion** · March 21st, 2012, 01:17 PM

I definitely appreciate that I could continue to use XP for years to come. I'm concerned about losing the security updates, although perhaps that's misplaced since I have a Win2k laptop in our kitchen for looking up phone numbers and it hasn't had any issues.

Creating a current install disk sounds like a great idea.

The main desktop and wifey's laptop are both compatible with Win7. I can get a family upgrade license (3 pc's) from aafes for $79.99, or a little less if I catch a tech coupon.

My thought on upgrading is to take advantage of improvements in ease of use since XP. Is that mistaken?

Thanks for the advice!

**RicheemxX** · March 21st, 2012, 02:35 PM

W7 is a bit more user friendly for the avg person. For power users its a bit of a PITA since some of the advance features are a bit obscured but once you learn some of the ins and outs its nice.

Aside from that on the newer systems W7 has better support for newer dual and quad core processors. Since you are already upgrading you can go 64bit so you can take full advantage of more than 4gbs of RAM.

You'll also have a little more long terms app and driver support. Win XP is still the top OS out there so it isn't going anywhere but at some point companies will start to drop support.

Compare Windows - Microsoft Windows

**SpaceSquad** · March 21st, 2012, 05:28 PM

The Core2 Duo and i3 should be run on a 64bit OS. As alluded to before - 32bit OS' can only support 4GB of TOTAL memory (ie. you have a 512MB video card - you now have 3.5GB system memory).

The Athlon XP will not run a 64bit OS. The P4s MAY if they have Intel64 built in (Some Prescotts...and Cedar Mill for sure).

I would personally upgrade the Desktop and Laptop only. If you feel you need to ditch XP...and you're willing to experiment, there are many free HTPC OS' out there. Same goes for the server...various Linux flavours that would suit your file-sharing needs, etc.

**Good Companion** · July 15th, 2012, 10:50 AM

Folks:

With the imminent introduction of Windows 8, I wanted to revive this thread from the dead to see if anyone's opinion has changed.

To answer a few questions, the kids Dells specs are here. I appreciate that the specs don't identify the specific chip, so I'll try to remember to run cpu-id on them to get a better idea.

To clarify my interest in upgrading, what I've read suggests that Win 7 will ideally run faster than WinXP, even on my old equipment. Also, it will continue to get security updates. Those are my two biggest reasons for upgrading.

Regarding Linux, I tried to install Linux on a lark in the past and couldn't figure out how to get the NIC set up properly to access the internet. 20 years ago I would have put the hours in to figure it out, but with a family, that time is spent elsewhere.

So, here's the $64,000 question: With MS's Win8 upgrade offer of $39.99 per license, is it worth it to upgrade either the kids machines, mine or wife's? In light of my ability to get the Win7 family pack of 3 licenses for $79.99, should I do that? Or, should I wait for a Win8 family pack which will hopefully be similarly priced? Or, none of the above?

Thanks in advance!

**SpywareDr** · July 15th, 2012, 12:43 PM

IMO, no touch screen = W7.

**Taxmancometh** · July 15th, 2012, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by Good Companion

I'm concerned about losing the security updates, although perhaps that's misplaced since I have a Win2k laptop in our kitchen for looking up phone numbers and it hasn't had any issues.

I've been using XP for years without any updates and I'm fine. I just run a good anti-virus program and firewall (Avira and Comodo). The thing with picky Avira is that it doesn't like Comodo, but I install Comodo after Avira.

As far as Win 8 goes, it sucks if you are not using a touch screen. It's more for that. Better to stick to Windows 7.