I thought I posted this question earlier, but I can’t find it. If this is a repost, apologies.
I expect to soon acquire a Windows PC laptop. The catch is that the HD is toast and will have to be replaced. I can handle that I hope. My issue is going to be installing a new OS. The current owner says he has some Windows 7 recovery disks. I assume the laptop has an internal CD reader, but am not sure.
I plan to use the laptop for browsing and email. Perhaps simple games.
Any suggestions on what OS I should get? Any ideas on where?
I would like to install LibreOffice-or MS Office if the price isn’t too much.
Any suggestions on how to proceed would be most appreciated.
If the PC has an OEM windows COA, just reinstall windows 7 and use that COA
Most OEM PC’s the COA is locked to the computers motherboard, so windows will just recognize and activate as a factory OEM installation.
Depending on what you want out of office, you can use word excel and powerpoint free with the online versions
if the owner has the recovery discs, it should put it right back to factory, so just install new HDD, then boot from recovery disc 1 and follow the prompts
A Windows 7 OEM manufacturer’s recovery disc is typically not a Windows 7 installation DVD but a restore-to-original-factory-condition disc, which is just fine and in fact even better because the restore process is usually very fast. It might look like a normal Windows 7 install but ought to complete very quickly. Hopefully the current owner really does have the original OEM recovery DVD as otherwise you’ll have to scramble to find the manufacturer’s OEM disc somewhere else. A Windows 7 retail DVD won’t work with the OEM license.
IMHO Windows 7 is an excellent choice and I would go with that, but that’s just MHO. Given that the Windows system the recovery disc will install is probably pre-SP1, downloading and installing SP1 would be the first thing I would do.
If you have not yet bought a replacement HDD, consider an SSD. They’re really affordable these days, especially if you don’t particularly need a very big one. For modest needs such as you suggest, 256 GB or even 128 GB should be fine.
If you have the COA for the system (there may be a sticker on it with the Windows license key), you can install Windows 10. You can download a disc image from Microsoft and install from that. You may not even need the recovery CDs.
Of course then you wind up with Windows 10, but to each his own.
I thought there was some question about whether a Windows 7 key would still activate Windows 10. It’s not what I would do, but out of curiosity, are you sure that this still works, even with the free upgrade period officially over?
No, I’m not sure that would work, but you can also download a Windows 7 disc image. The page requires you to enter the product key, which, as I said, should be on a sticker on the PC.
Useful link, thanks. I can’t remember if there is a physical product difference between retail and OEM Windows 7 versions as there was with XP, but presumably if there is this site will recognize the key type and download the right version. The manufacturer’s recovery disc would still give the OP the cleanest fastest install. Perhaps the OP will let us know how it works out.
Thanks to all the advice!
Once I meet with the owner and find out what is available, I will pursue these ideas. I will be particularly interested in finding the COA. The owner isn’t one to mess around with bootleg items, so the only question will be if he still has the original documentation.
Windows 7 seems like a good idea-if it hasn’t been subsetted. Is Microsoft still producing security patches for 7? I want to keep whatever OS I get up-to-date for security patches.
An open-source and free OS like Ubuntu Linux might work OK for you - It’s not for everyone though, and if you have specific Windows programs that you rely on, you’re better off running them natively in Windows.
If you manage to get the thing running with a legitimate licensed copy of Win7, and if you can in clear conscience say that you use what Microsoft calls ‘assistive technologies’ (including the inbuilt screen magnifier, the narrator, ‘stickykeys’ and other accessibility features), you can still upgrade to Win10 for free (and the support lifetime for this OS version is longer than for Win7)
Some laptops also have the microsoft sticker with the license key on the underside somewhere. That would also let you image windows.
I do not recommend windows 10 unless you max out the laptop’s memory and replace the HDD with an SSD. It does run slower, significantly slower, than 7 on old hardware, in my experience. The memory upgrade/HDD replacement would cost you $120-$200 -> probably more than you want to spend, but it’s what you would need to do.
There are grey market sources of Windows 7 keys on Kinguin for about $20. Windows 10 as well. How can they offer it this cheap? I don’t know, but since the keys do authenticate with Microsoft, they are most likely legitimately purchased from Microsoft as bulk OEM keys and then are being resold. This is technically a violation of Microsoft’s license agreement, but this isn’t your problem.
But not in my experience. Upgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate on an older laptop and it performed better, but that was already a well spec’d system. Took up less space on the disk as well. I have also seem it run fine on a 2GB ram tablet with an Atom processor. However you may have driver compatibility issues with older hardware.
Note you can also rent Office from MS; lower initial outlay but with annual fee. You do get all upgrades though.
Concur - in my experience, Windows 8 ran typically much better than 7 or XP on the same hardware. Windows 10 ran less well than Win8, but still quicker than Win7.
Thanks for all the advice!
I am going to need it. I now have the computer in hand.
Turns out most of what I thought I had been told isn’t the case.
It is a tower, not a laptop.
The HD appears to be OK.
The OS is Windows XP SP1.
i don’t have any media, but I do have the “OEM serial number” which I assume is the COA for XP. The CPU is an AMD64x2 dual core 6000+ according to the notes I have. The HD has the princely sum of 362GB, 292GB free.
Once I locate a few more parts, keyboard and mouse, I will investigate further.
So, what advice can I get on upgrading the OS from XP?
The upgrade will very nearly be a bare-metal install. I think the Windows 7 installer has options to keep your data and settings, but as this machine is new to you, there’s not much point even trying that - a clean install is usually better anyway.
I’d actually recommend trying one of the live Linux distributions to see if you like it at all - you’re in the right place for that kind of experimentation.
If you do decide you need Windows, and you want to move away from XP (which really, you should), I would recommend Windows 10 - it’s got the longest support life, and it’s really quite similar to Windows XP and Win7 in all of the ways that really matter - and it’s better and more stable than those OSes in some aspects.
Aren’t they forcing Windows 7 users to update to Windows 10 now? That’s the impression I got when I reinstalled my computer a few months ago. I do like 7 better but oh well.
Here’s one tip about buying any version of Windows:
You will see deals on small sites, ebay, etc, that appear to be somewhat less or a lot less than the average $100+ windows price. Some of these deals are shady, selling you the windows disc but no product key, invalid product keys, key but no windows, etc. The best thing to do IMO is go to a reliable site like newegg and pay what they’re charging for the Windows you want. That is the cheapest deal that is reliable in my experience.
