Win 7

[Vivian Smith]

Hi again,
If I decided to upgrade to Windows 7, do you know if my older programs, like graphics programs and games that work with Win XP would also work with Win 7? In other words would it also have a compatability mode for older games and things so I wouldn't have to lose out on them? Also, is AMD still the best to go with with an NVidia graphics card? Thanks for any ideas. I am thinking of it but can't afford to upgrade all my graphics programs. Thanks again for any time, it helps me very much!

[Midknyte]

If I decided to upgrade to Windows 7, do you know if my older programs, like graphics programs and games that work with Win XP would also work with Win 7?

You would need to check them individually. There is compatibility mode, but it's not a guarantee.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10436...-in-windows-7/

AMD vs Nvidia is a constant battle. If you know your price range, that would help.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gpus,4380.html

[Vivian Smith]

Thanks very much, these links are great too. I don't have a lot to spend. I bought all my things for my Win XP for $520 a very long time go. A PC tech put it all together for me. It included several fans for the AMD processor and cards, power supply, motherboard, video card and sound card, so I really cannot go any more than that. I only need to be able to download music for listening, and do art in my paint programs, so I don't need a huge change. I only play a small handfull of PC games and none at all online. The drive I have now is 80GB total and I work fairly well on it, though I could use a bit more space. I would think 100 or 120 drive would be fine, unless the new Win7 OS will be too enormous--I don't know how much things change over time. My poor motherboard seems to be getting very dusty and I'm concerned about losing it. I may as well buy a new DVD drive too since all of it probably needs upgrading, or is it better to buy a whole PC that's already put together these days? I like using the very best I can afford though. I truly believe that my decision to buy the best parts and put it all together is the main reason this PC has lasted for so very long. I have seen that Win 7 is more affordable for me and I also most likely will not be online with my PC anyway. I depend a lot on what people who really know computers tell me because I'm clueless where "techie stuff" is concerned. Thanks for so much help lately, it is very much appreciated! Have a great day. Also my graphics card has been Nvidia GEForce FX card.

[Midknyte]

I would think 100 or 120 drive would be fine, unless the new Win7 OS will be too enormous

I don't recommend installing Win7 on anything much smaller than 100GB. That doesn't leave a lot of space for data.

or is it better to buy a whole PC that's already put together these days?

Yes. If your system is that old, it would probably run pretty slow with Win7. Remember that Win7 is more resource intensive than XP. Most systems would come with Win10 now, so there is even less chance that your old apps will run on it.

For the amount of money you would spend on just the Win7 license and a new hard drive, it doesn't make sense to upgrade. Chances are you'd need to increase the RAM. Systems are also moving away from optical media, so I wouldn't spend money on a new DVD drive either.

[Train]

XP , well 4 GB of ram would be nice.

Win 7, I usually pick up refurbished computers with it already installed.
Examples:
http://www.walmart.com/browse/3944_3...%3ARefurbished
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...096&isNodeId=1

[europanorama]

if hhd and winxp and 4gb, nothing below 2tb and systempartition with programs only 100mb. mine is 70gb. and 30gb used. system running now smoothly.
will upgrade my dualcore to win7-32 first leaving these 4gb and 256 ssd. then upgrading to win7-64 on 8gb-ram and a new 256 or even 540gb SSD if the experts tell its better.
i also have a much older pc with 80gb-winxp-drive. found on street. should have replaced and reinstalled right from the beginning. snail-mail- unbearably slow.

[Train]

I like 200 GB for C:\ when using Win 7 and Win 10.

[Vivian Smith]

Thank you very much for the replies!
I'll consider all this. Have a great day.