Can my PC handle Windows 7

Guys I know I could google this out but just wanted to get an advice from you all guys.

I currently run Windows XP SP3.
I have a 60 GB IDE HDD
1 GB RAM
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.3 Ghz

I'm planning to upgrade to Windows 7.0 for sometime but heard that I may need around 3 GB RAM for smooth operation.

Can someone please let me know if I can go ahead with the above configuration for Windows 7.0. Do I need to upgrade RAM at any cost? Currently can't afford.

Also about 32- bit and 64 bit OS. Which one would be better? Any issues with one of them if chosen?

Kindly advise!

^^ download this
it will do the job for you

Download Details - Microsoft Download Center - Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

You can easily go for Win 7 32bit without any upgrade.

Can I have my existing Windows XP operating system and install Windows 7 as dual operating system in other drive?

ajayritik said:
Can I have my existing Windows XP operating system and install Windows 7 as dual operating system in other drive?

yes..thats what we call Dual-Boot system... :grin:

Well, a dual boot on 60GB doesn't sound very exciting. You will be left with too little free space. Also, 1 GB RAM doesn't handle windows 7 very well, although it will work

@ajayritik:
If this gives you any relief, I should tell you that Windows 7 work fine on my Pen 4, 2.4 Ghz, 1 GB RAM. So, it should run fine on Core 2 Duo.
Although if you have DDR2 or DDR3 RAM, it if advisable that you add 1 GB RAM more. (See if you can afford one from Flipkart). But even without the upgrade, you should have no problem, as long as you don't overload memory with flood of programs.

Also, I agree with Cool Buddy, that dual booting on just 60 GB is not a good idea. Installation of Win 7 will alone take about 10 GB of hard disk space, so depending on how many softwares you are going to install, you would want to keep the partition of Win 7 to about 20-25 GB.

So plan accordingly.

IMO you should stick with Xp.

as long as use don't play games and multitask much it will work fine

Just go and install Win7 32bit. :thumbs:

F

buying win 7 and still staying on the same old rig =not a good idea

at-least upgrade HDD and ram (add 1-1.5 GB)

also what is the main purpose of your PC (please be specific)??

@ OP - increase the amount of Ram - get a 2Gb stick if you can and only then upgrade to win 7 and for 64 bit version you need to have at-least 4GB or more ram and if you are thinking about DX11 gaming then you need to get a compatible gpu around ~4k at-least ;-)

F

also which PSU and mobo do you have ?

topgear said:
@ OP - increase the amount of Ram - get a 2Gb stick if you can and only then upgrade to win 7 and for 64 bit version you need to have at-least 4GB or more ram and if you are thinking about DX11 gaming then you need to get a compatible gpu around ~4k at-least

what do you mean by this? 4Gb is not mandatory for 64bit but yeah it might be better to utilize 64 bit power

1 gb is just about acceptable. wont be able to run multiple programs at once.

2 gb is recommended.

the rest of the stats are ok.
it even runs on my pentium D 2.8 ghz with 1 gb ram

clmlbx said:
what do you mean by this? 4Gb is not mandatory for 64bit but yeah it might be better to utilize 64 bit power

when I installed Vista x64 SP1 I had only 2GB ram - the OS felt kinda slow but when I upgraded to 4GB the performance really improved in games and applications ;-)

That's why I told Op to to get 4GB ram if he is willing to use 64 bit OS but he can also keep his 1GB ram module and get another 2GB ram to utilize the full power of win 7 64 bit ;-)

topgear said:
That's why I told Op to to get 4GB ram if he is willing to use 64 bit OS but he can also keep his 1GB ram module and get another 2GB ram to utilize the full power of win 7 64 bit

yes..4GB will make windows 7 butter smooth :grin:

fz8975 said:
also what is the main purpose of your PC (please be specific)??

Too be very honest. Will be mostly used for Internet/ MS office Stuff and maybe occasionally stuff like Oracle etc

topgear said:
@ OP - increase the amount of Ram - get a 2Gb stick if you can and only then upgrade to win 7 and for 64 bit version you need to have at-least 4GB or more ram and if you are thinking about DX11 gaming then you need to get a compatible gpu around ~4k at-least

Not too much into gaming bro. The only game I liked or prefer are the Age of Empire series which I'm not playing any longer but may play sometime. Definitely not into too much of gaming.

fz8975 said:
also which PSU and mobo do you have ?

Motherboard is Intel DG965 RY
PSU is local brand. I think Enter.

R

ajayritik said:
Guys I know I could google this out but just wanted to get an advice from you all guys.

I currently run Windows XP SP3.
I have a 60 GB IDE HDD
1 GB RAM
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.3 Ghz

I'm planning to upgrade to Windows 7.0 for sometime but heard that I may need around 3 GB RAM for smooth operation.

Can someone please let me know if I can go ahead with the above configuration for Windows 7.0. Do I need to upgrade RAM at any cost? Currently can't afford.

Also about 32- bit and 64 bit OS. Which one would be better? Any issues with one of them if chosen?

Kindly advise!

Windows 7 system requirements:

If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes:

a) 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

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

c) 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

d) DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

1 GB is a bit low. It is kind of minimum required, some 1.5 - 2 GB will be fine.

PS : From personal experience.

Also about 32- bit and 64 bit OS. Which one would be better? Any issues with one of them if chosen?

You can use 64 bit OS in a normal PC too without any extra benefit. But if you have 4GB RAM or more, you will need 64 bit OS. Otherwise you won't be able to use the extra RAM.

better upgrade ram for long run. 1gb is bare minimum.

Enjoy~!

meetdilip said:
You can use 64 bit OS in a normal PC too without any extra benefit. But if you have 4GB RAM or more, you will need 64 bit OS. Otherwise you won't be able to use the extra RAM.

Can you give more details not sure about what you are saying here.

^^32bit windows can not identify or use ram more then 3.85GB or so.. if you have more then 4GB of Ram then it is better to use 64bit windows to utilize it ..

Example:- If you have 6GB ram 32bit windows will Use only around 4GB Ram .. Others is Just Waste. so in that case use 64bit windows.

I mean, even if you use a 64 bit OS on a PC with RAM less than 4GB, nothing will happen. It will work just like 32 bit OS, no advantage, no drawbacks.

^^ only advantage he can get if he can use a 64 bit app on the 64 bit OS even if he has less than 4GB ram - 32 bit apps can use mem upto 2GB but 64 bit apps can use more than 2GB ram ;-)

clmlbx said:
^^32bit windows can not identify or use ram more then 3.85GB or so.. if you have more then 4GB of Ram then it is better to use 64bit windows to utilize it ..

Example:- If you have 6GB ram 32bit windows will Use only around 4GB Ram .. Others is Just Waste. so in that case use 64bit windows.

This is partially true - 32 bit OS can use more than 4GB ram - only consumer grade OS like Win Xp, Win 7 pro or other consumer grade OS has such limitation.

32 bit windows server OSes can use more than 4GB ram - for eg. :
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 32 bit supports upto 64GB of ram and Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise 64 bit can support upto 2TB of ram ;-)

Thanks for the info!

@topgear Didn't knew that it is because of windows limitation.. I much thought that it is not possible (I thought tech. limitation) and yes I forgot about servers an didn't had much thought in it.. well thanx for info

^^ thanks guys ;-)

I currently have 2 GB of RAM. Do you think this will be sufficient for Windows 7?

My system ran well with 2 GB, but since I had too many resource consuming things, switched back to XP. But for regular work, 2 GB is more than enough.

@ ajayritik >> As you said internet & Ms office is just the work you do., than 1 gb ram is enough for windows 7 according to your configuration but for richer experience you should install 1 gb extra for smoother operations & little multi-tasking., if you can afford one., and for more clear answer find out your Ram operation speed.

devx said:
@ ajayritik >> As you said internet & Ms office is just the work you do., than 1 gb ram is enough for windows 7 according to your configuration but for richer experience you should install 1 gb extra for smoother operations & little multi-tasking., if you can afford one., and for more clear answer find out your Ram operation speed.

try running office 2007/2010 ( some power point presentation ) on win 7 with all the visual goodies turned on - the thumb rule is : for 1GB or less ram Xp is more suitable - Only think of Win7 if someone has 2GB or more ram ;-)

top gear as mentioned in my previous post now I have upgraded from 1 GB to 2 GB RAM.

^Not only RAM..windows 7 also need GPU power for Aero effects...

Zangetsu said:
^Not only RAM..windows 7 also need GPU power for Aero effects...

Sorry for being noob but what is GPU power?

topgear said:
This is partially true - 32 bit OS can use more than 4GB ram - only consumer grade OS like Win Xp, Win 7 pro or other consumer grade OS has such limitation.

True, but its hackable.

ajayritik said:
Sorry for being noob but what is GPU power?

GPU= graphical processing unit. The graphics processing power by use of a graphics card, which helps in significant improvement of visual performance and gaming. And Aero is a visula implementation in Vista/7 which required GPU to be strong enough. (not from gaming perspective)

Also, my question, why 7, why not stick to XP? Any specific reason?

dashing.sujay said:
Also, my question, why 7, why not stick to XP? Any specific reason?

Have been on XP for many years now wanted to try Windows 7.

ajayritik said:
top gear as mentioned in my previous post now I have upgraded from 1 GB to 2 GB RAM.

then you can run and enjoy win 7 but don't forget to tweak and optimize it as I mentioned on some post before.

ajayritik said:
Sorry for being noob but what is GPU power?

dashing.sujay said:
True, but its hackable.

yep, but have noy seen many people doing this and sometime normal mobo bios ( server mobo bios are different ) also limits how much ram a 32 bit OS can use and see - that's why for soem people using 32 bit OS can get 3.25 as usable under 32 bit OS and others get 2.75GB usable ram under 32 bit OS.

So for 4 or more than 4Gb ram one should use 64 bit OS and for anything less than 2Gb one should opt for 32 bit version ;-)

@ ajayritik > 2 Gb ram 667-800Mhz / Integrated graphics atleast 256 MB / 2.6 ghz Dual core CPU / Mobo with MME/SSE 1,2 support is the configuration which can run win 7-32 bit seamlessly., and so if you don't have one of these you might be lacking behind from performance & visual aspect.
Increase your PC's performance by using default utilities like Disk Cleanup & Disk Defragment and try some experiments with virtual memory.