RIP XP

[RED-DOG]

If you are going to change you might as well move to Windows 8.1.

Will my old laptop cope?

[Longines]

Make and model number Tom?

[titaniumbean]

If you are going to change you might as well move to Windows 8.1.

Will my old laptop cope?

System requirements
Windows 8.1
If you want to run Windows 8.1 on your PC, here's what it takes:

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2 (more info)

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)

Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

[Cf]

Unless your hardware is ancient no reason to not go with 8.1 as far as I'm aware.

[titaniumbean]

it's claiming 20gb hdd space there but win7 takes up absolutely chunks

+ the fact of if you don't own a tablet win8 is gash, each to their own though

[RED-DOG]

Make and model number Tom?

It says Dell Vostro 1710  

Is there any reason to install Windows 8 over Vista? (I can probs get Vista cheap)

[titaniumbean]

Make and model number Tom?

It says Dell Vostro 1710  

Is there any reason to install Windows 8 over Vista? (I can probs get Vista cheap)

Click Start, then right click on computer, and select properties.

That will tell you your system specs.

[RED-DOG]

.

[Longines]

Make and model number Tom?

It says Dell Vostro 1710  

Is there any reason to install Windows 8 over Vista? (I can probs get Vista cheap)

Vista support ends in 3 years time. You can make Windows 8 look and work just like Vista/7 if that's an issue.

The 1710 specs look fine, you should be OK with Vista, 7 or 8.1.

[Graham C]

If you go with 8.1, this is the first line from the MS website

To upgrade to Windows 8.1 from Windows Vista or Windows XP, you'll need to install it from a Windows 8.1 DVD and perform a clean installation. This means you won't be able to keep any files, settings or programs when you upgrade.

Not sure if other versions are the same but something to take in to account.

[titaniumbean]

ya that should handle it fine, as usual it depends what you use it for but if it's nothing too strenuous then you should be good to go. A external HDD will let you back it up to wipe/install an OS from fresh.

[RED-DOG]

If you go with 8.1, this is the first line from the MS website

To upgrade to Windows 8.1 from Windows Vista or Windows XP, you'll need to install it from a Windows 8.1 DVD

How else would I do it?

[tikay]

I've been looking into it this morning Ralph.

My laptop is about 6 years old and in perfect condition, plus it has a nice 17in non reflective screen that I requested when I bought it. Ironically, I also requested XP instead of Vista, because Vista was having a lot of problems at the time.

I now have the option of installing Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8.

From what I can gather, Vista will run smoother on my ageing lappy because it's not so resource hungry and it will be cheaper to buy. (Apparently windows 7 / 6 has a lot of stuff to support technology that I will never use).

I'm also told that Vista pretty stable now that the bugs have been ironed out.

So... it seems like a done deal really. I'm just waiting to see what tikay thinks. That said, all advice / opinions will be welcome.

Yes.

[Graham C]

If you go with 8.1, this is the first line from the MS website

To upgrade to Windows 8.1 from Windows Vista or Windows XP, you'll need to install it from a Windows 8.1 DVD

How else would I do it?

Most software you can download and install from Windows like any other program.  The bit I was meaning to point out was that you would lose all the files on your computer so make sure you do a decent back up of everything first.  Just something to be aware of in case you didn't realise.

[Graham C]

I've been looking into it this morning Ralph.

My laptop is about 6 years old and in perfect condition, plus it has a nice 17in non reflective screen that I requested when I bought it. Ironically, I also requested XP instead of Vista, because Vista was having a lot of problems at the time.

I now have the option of installing Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8.

From what I can gather, Vista will run smoother on my ageing lappy because it's not so resource hungry and it will be cheaper to buy. (Apparently windows 7 / 6 has a lot of stuff to support technology that I will never use).

I'm also told that Vista pretty stable now that the bugs have been ironed out.

So... it seems like a done deal really. I'm just waiting to see what tikay thinks. That said, all advice / opinions will be welcome.

Yes.