Upgrade to Windows 7, worth it?

[Stujw70]

Hi All,

My home computer currently runs with Vista and to be honest is a complete pain in the backside. It grinds to a halt pretty much every time we try to use it online. I have run firefox in the past but have gone back to IE, but on both fronts it has ground to a halt.

It only really gets used for photos, banking, word processing etc

Just wondering on the collective thoughts of whether upgrading to windows 7 is likely to improve the usability of a 5 year old computer?

I would love a Mac, but funds don't really stretch that far and would prefer not to have to replace the actual computer if poss.

Any thoughts appreciated

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Well, from a non techy user all I can say is that Windows 7 is sooooooooooooo much better than Vista that no discussion is even needed on that score.

However, will it run well on a 5 year old computer? Dunno It needs, I think, a reasonable amount of memory and processing power (or was that Vista?).

As usual, somebody who knows what they are talking about will be along in a bit I'm sure

Andres

 

[Engineer]

Hi All,

My home computer currently runs with Vista and to be honest is a complete pain in the backside. It grinds to a halt pretty much every time we try to use it online. I have run firefox in the past but have gone back to IE, but on both fronts it has ground to a halt.

It only really gets used for photos, banking, word processing etc

Just wondering on the collective thoughts of whether upgrading to windows 7 is likely to improve the usability of a 5 year old computer?

I would love a Mac, but funds don't really stretch that far and would prefer not to have to replace the actual computer if poss.

Any thoughts appreciated

I use Windows 7 professional at work all day long - it is definitely better than Vista, still has some niggly issues (they are designed that way on purpose) but on the whole it works reasonably well.

 

[AndyB1050]

7 is better and less messy than vista and may solve your problem but not a majordifference. Your problem could be solved by reinstalling vista as it will clean up your computer back to when you bought it. Do you run any cleaning software, try downloading and running ccleaner in normal and registry mode. Try defragging your hard drive as well. If that doesn't work i'd do a complete reinstall of. vista. Don't forget to back up everything 1st. That will put it back to factory fresh

Hope this helps

Hi All,

My home computer currently runs with Vista and to be honest is a complete pain in the backside. It grinds to a halt pretty much every time we try to use it online. I have run firefox in the past but have gone back to IE, but on both fronts it has ground to a halt.

It only really gets used for photos, banking, word processing etc

Just wondering on the collective thoughts of whether upgrading to windows 7 is likely to improve the usability of a 5 year old computer?

I would love a Mac, but funds don't really stretch that far and would prefer not to have to replace the actual computer if poss.

Any thoughts appreciated

 

[Stujw70]

Ok thanks gents, good to hear it's potentially better.

Shall have a go at cleaning the things up this weekend, i have used cc cleaner in the past aswell as registry repair pro, defrag etc.

Never done a full install of a OS, but might be worth a try, assuming i still have all the discs etc

 

[Myke Rocks]

Maybe I've got it wrong, but:

In my experience, vista is an abortion on every computer I have ever come across.
7 is Vista fixed, and working as it always should have.
Myke

 

[jkersh1]

In between backing up your files and reinstalling Vista, you might consider installing the Linux-based Ubuntu.

The current version 12.04 here:
http://www.ubuntu.com/download

Version 10.04 is a stable version with the Gnome (Windows like vs Mac) optional interface.
http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/

With Ubuntu you can run it from the install disc, and try it before you commit to install it. You can also dualboot with Vista, but that is more involved. You can run most Windows apps from WINE (not an emulator), but Ubuntu includes or has available open source apps that do the same things. Firefox has a Ubuntu version, OpenOffice or LibreOffice are MSOffice work-alikes.

 

[Stujw70]

In between backing up your files and reinstalling Vista, you might consider installing the Linux-based Ubuntu.

The current version 12.04 here:
http://www.ubuntu.com/download

Version 10.04 is a stable version with the Gnome (Windows like vs Mac) optional interface.
http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/

With Ubuntu you can run it from the install disc, and try it before you commit to install it. You can also dualboot with Vista, but that is more involved. You can run most Windows apps from WINE (not an emulator), but Ubuntu includes or has available open source apps that do the same things. Firefox has a Ubuntu version, OpenOffice or LibreOffice are MSOffice work-alikes.

Gosh i think i understood some of that, shall read it a few more times. See if it makes more sense

As you can guess, computers are a bit of a mystery to me beyond surfing

Stu

 

[hank]

If all you are doing is photos, banking, word processing e.t.c try Ubuntu, it comes with all the software you need already installed plus almost anything else you might need is available free from the software centre.

You can install Ubuntu alongside Vista in a dual boot configuration using Wubi, this gives you the choice of which o.s to use when you boot your machine. If you find that you are not getting on with Ubuntu it can be uninstalled with the add remove programmes thing in the Vista control panel.

There are lots of how to Wubi videos on youtube to help you.

I installed Ubuntu 11.04 alongside Vista on my wife's laptop as she was complaining about it being being too slow. At first she was a bit unsure of the new os, but now that she has started using it she almost never uses Windows. She reckons installing Ubuntu has given her a brand new machine, Vista takes 4 minutes to boot while Ubuntu is up and running in 70 seconds.

 

[redcastle]

I've done several vista machines and it is very poor. but if your going to reinstall after you have the drivers on and it's ok make sure you install service pack one and then service pack 2 and any subsequent updates before loading any anti virus or other programs.
It does make a difference to how the thing performs subsequently.

Also check how much RAM you have and go to www.offtek.co.uk to see how much more you can get in the thing. RAM is cheap at the moment and again makes a big difference.

you should get another 18months or two years out of it.

no affiliation with offtek bye the bye

 

[Stujw70]

Thanks for the input gents. Spent a while just trying to get the thing to turn on earlier and spent the whole time going in circles via the start up repair.

Gave up and took it to a old friend who works with computers