Solved Windows 7 .... what would you do with it ?

Hi there
depending on the age of that PC W11 install may fail because of CPU and TPU requirements.

What I would do is download the relevant W11 build you want from UUPDUMP (same level as W7 -- Ultimate / pro then download W11 pro, or for Home, download W11 home), and then use Rufus to create the Windows 11 install skipping all the memory /TPM/ms non local account/sec boot stuff.

W11 in theory even on an older machine will probably run better than W7 in any case (also has superior security). Apart from anything else improvements in OS internals software techniques and optimisation over the last 10 years will certainly have helped.

Cheers
jimbo

I have an HP Stream 7 tablet that originally run Windows 8 32-bit and I clean-installed Windows 10 32-bit. It is great, too bad I cannot test Windows 11 on it. The CPU is 64-bit, but because it has only 1GB RAM HP locked the UEFI firmware to 32-bit only. This means you cannot boot any 64-bit bootloader, including Windows 11 setup. I tried to cheat by creating a hybrid Windows 10 32-bit and Windows 11 USB flash drive. This is a standard Windows 10 32-bit UEFI mode USB flash drive but with the file \sources\install.esd replaced with the respective file from Windows 11 ISO. I managed to load Setup and install Windows 11 on the device! Before I had the time to celebrate though, Windows 11 couldn't boot with an error message that a 64-bit bootloader cannot be used in a 32-bit only UEFI firmware. AAARGHH!!! I was SO CLOSE! So I eventually wiped the disk and installed Windows 10 v22H2 instead (previously it had v1809 and not enough space to upgrade). It is a little slow, but usable for web surfing, playing simple games and watching my TV series online. It just needs a lot of patience to load anything.

PS: If anyone knows how to load a 64-bit Windows version using a 32-bit UEFI bootloader PLEASE TELL ME!!!! I don't mind if it is a hacked Windows bootloader or Grub or whatever, as long as it works. Please don't point me to the useless websites describing how to use Grub 32-bit to load Linux 64-bit. I have already read these. I want to load Windows 64-bit, not Linux. Thanks!

The oldest I have even tried were two ECS motherboard GF7050/7100M desktop PCs, running XP with DDR2 (2GB).

I restored the image of Windows 11 on them. No drivers add-on (no way to find drivers for GF7050/7100). they run fine. now mainly for online video/home theater center.

The oldest possible I tried was a system with Intel Pentium 4 650 CPU (Intel socket 775, the very first 64-bit family with Hyperthreading), 2GB RAM, mechanical IDE hard disk (not even SATA). I did it only to see if it can be done, expect performance a little slower than running Windows 7 32-bit, not that bad. The slowest I have seen was a laptop with an Intel Celeron CPU (single-core, no Hyperthreading) and 2GB RAM. It was much slower than the Intel Pentium 4 650 because the single core was a huge bottleneck. Even after disabling all startup applications and all visual effects, it needed a lot of patience to use it, but still usuable for web serfing and office work. Just don't dare to open a second tab or another application. You would have to wait over a minute to finish loading before you can use it again. Think it about a sing-task computer (DOS era) with GUI.

HeHe,

IDE would be amazing slow.

That's really last century's technology.

My wife asks me sometimes how can I be so calm with our son. That is how! If you deal with slow machines you learn to be patient!

flashh4 said:

Specs:
HP Compaq DC5750 Desktop PC AMD 1.8 Dual Core Processor, 2gb Ram, 80GB Hard Drive, DVD Rom, XP Pro, Keyboard and Mouse
2.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual core 3800+

Click to expand...

I have some experience of running Windows 7 64-bit and Windows 11 on laptops with just 2GB RAM. Basically W7 runs adequately, W11 crawls. One laptop has an AMD V120, the other an Intel Atom N2600. Both have a cpu benchmark in the 300's, yours is 630.


The AMD one I've since upgraded to 4GB. In comparison to what it was like before its Windows 7 now sings.

The one with an Atom cannot be upgraded much, The Atom is limited in the amount of RAM it can address, with 4GB installed it can only make 2.99GB available to the OS. Even so, with the help of an SSD Windows 11 runs adequately on it.

Bree said:

I can't say it's fast now, but it's certainly not slow any more. It's certainly up to running a native boot .vhdx of Windows 11 now, which before was no more than a painfully slow 'proof of concept'. Now it's quite useable, in fact I posted this from it.

Click to expand...

Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware - post #1,062

flashh4 said:

Think i will just enjoy playing withW7 for awhile !! It's been a long time anyway !

Click to expand...

My advice would be that unless you upgrade the RAM to at least 4GB (preferably more) and can fit an SSD then you should stick with Windows 7.

Many thanks for all the responses ! I am going to check the specs that is on an old W7 that i upgraded a year ago & compare the specs ! Back shortly with those Specs !!

Finally got the specs of the old laptop i upgraded from W7 to W11 about 2 yrs ago, compare these 2 computers !

Agree - if you upgrade the ram and install a cheap SSD it's worth upgrading to Windows 10 at no cost. If you can't upgrade the ram I wouldn't bother. Linux maybe?

Windows 10 and 11 have the same performance as Windows 7 with the same drivers and applications. Surely some more bloatware may be running in the background in Windows 10 or 11, but once you disable it from startup and reduce the visual effects, performance is comparable to Windows 7 or even better. Go ahead and install Windows 11. If you don't like it you can format and install Windows 7 instead. Don't rely on Windows Update. Download all drivers from manufacturer in advance and save on a USB flash drive. This will maximize performance since most drivers automatically installed from Windows Update don't take full advantage of the devices capabilities. In my Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 hybrid tablet/laptop I saw a huge performance difference once I had manually updated all drivers from manufacturer. I would first update BIOS and then install Windows 11. Then install the chipset drivers before any other drivers. Even if Windows have already found most drivers, replace them with the latest official drivers from manufacturer.

Is it this one? Says it was originally on XP with 1gb ram. But can take 4gb ram. I think it would tediously slow with 2gb ram unless the processor was faster. I've had Windows 10 on atom processors with 2gb ram and it works but still tediously slow.

Thanks everyone for the tips & other info ! I am just going to leave it running with W 7 for now ! Appreciate it ...............

Windows 7

flashh4 said:

Thanks everyone for the tips & other info ! I am just going to leave it running with W 7 for now ! Appreciate it ...............

Click to expand...

Sometimes the worst decision is no decision!

I hope you do not use things like online bank accounts, Amazon etc.

No matter what people say, Windows 7 is no longer secure.

@cereberus
Sometimes the worst decision is no decision! ....... i disagree .. no decision is the worst decision !

I hope you do not use things like online bank accounts, Amazon etc. ..... after cleaning computers for over 25 yrs i know when all OS were unsuported

Click to expand...

. i think i am smarter than that ! I have never used on line banking & never had my card numbers on any computer ! Never !

Click to expand...

Just because Microsoft stopped providing security updates, doesn't mean there aren't third party antivirus software that can keep Windows 7 secure. I just don't like when several applications start displaying a message that Windows 7 is EOL and stop getting new versions. Also I play some Windows Store games that cannot play in 7. If there was no difference in the applications and games I use in 7 and 10/11 I would probably still use 7 because the interface is nicer.

Huh

spapakons said:

Just because Microsoft stopped providing security updates, doesn't mean there aren't third party antivirus software that can keep Windows 7 secure. I just don't like when several applications start displaying a message that Windows 7 is EOL and stop getting new versions. Also I play some Windows Store games that cannot play in 7. If there was no difference in the applications and games I use in 7 and 10/11 I would probably still use 7 because the interface is nicer.

Click to expand...

That old chestnut.

3rd party software only protects against viruses not security holes in the software. The point is such holes need to be patched by MS and that no longer happens.

I have deleted it on every pc belonging to me, and family members. A side effect is I rarely have to fix viruses due to people blocking security updates. The wannabee ransom attack only affected Windows 7 users and dumb people who blocked Windows security updates on Windows 10.

Re. interface being nicer - that's a good joke LOL.

Depends on the browser most likely for the online banking... but other than that... W7 For Life

Security holes may let malware get in, but the antivirus should take care of these. Besides I am careful not to click OK on every popup window I see. Hence I minimize the risk. The interface was nicer, I prefer the 3D Windows 7 icons over the flat Windows 8/10/11 icons. I also like the 3D effect on the window title and on the taskbar.

spapakons said:

Security holes may let malware get in, but the antivirus should take care of these. Besides I am careful not to click OK on every popup window I see. Hence I minimize the risk. The interface was nicer, I prefer the 3D Windows 7 icons over the flat Windows 8/10/11 icons. I also like the 3D effect on the window title and on the taskbar.

Click to expand...

But that is my point - AV does not protect you against all malware. AV is just one part of overall protection, and these days not that big an issue.

Common Sense is also important as you say.

In the end, your choice but do not kid yourself W7 is as secure as W10/11.