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I asked a local dealer how much it would cost to upgrade my laptop to W10 from Vista, plus increase the Ram, he said it would be better to install an SSD, but the price he quoted, although probably fair, was far to much for me to afford on a basic pension and for the amount I use the laptop. So I wondered if anyone has the necessary discs and whatever else I would need to upgrade to W7, they wouldn't mind letting me have, which I understand is similar to XP which I am used to And is an SSD really necessary, and how would I know what size I need, and what my laptop is capable of running. Thank you
 
Hi

What model is your laptop?

A SSD will speed up the start up, and ram would be required for some apps or opening multiple apps at the same time.

If it is working fine as it is, and depending on age is it worth upgrading?

Also when upgrading to w10 you want to make sure drivers are available for your laptop.

Post the model and people can suggest if it is worth the upgrade. Of not you can purchase a w10 licence for check and download a copy from the net. You would need a usb drive to create a w10 install media.
 
kinda agree with above, if it had vista on it we must be looking at 10 years old. I suspect w10 will run put you are putting money in to an old bus that may end up wasted.
 
I asked a local dealer how much it would cost to upgrade my laptop to W10 from Vista, plus increase the Ram, he said it would be better to install an SSD, but the price he quoted, although probably fair, was far to much for me to afford on a basic pension and for the amount I use the laptop. So I wondered if anyone has the necessary discs and whatever else I would need to upgrade to W7, they wouldn't mind letting me have, which I understand is similar to XP which I am used to And is an SSD really necessary, and how would I know what size I need, and what my laptop is capable of running. Thank you

What can you afford? A 256GB SSD is about £25 and a 512GB around £45. AFAIK it's still possible to upgrade to W10 FOC. I really couldn't recommend using W7 because it's no longer supported (like Vista that you're running) and you're opening yourself up to all sorts of malware.
 
I think what the OP is asking for is help upgrading to W7 so they can then upgrade to W10 via the free upgrade route?
Agree SSDs are dirt cheap tho at the moment
 
Unfortunately Vista doesn't qualify for the free upgrade to W10. Any Windows version upgrade is going to cost money, and it's only worth bothering with W10, for the reason Toni gives. You can put a completely up to date version of Linux on it, of course, but that's not for everyone. With Vista, I wouldn't do anything like home banking or shopping on this laptop, as it's now very vulnerable.
 
Have a read about linux, you will never go back to windows, look for a distro like linux mint which is good for windows users moving over...
 
I believe you can buy win10 OEM key’s online for cheap, but do have to be careful where you buy them from.

I have upgraded a number of pc and laptop to win 10 from W7 and most have been straight forward, however some have been a right pain to get working and finding the correct drivers.
 
I think what the OP is asking for is help upgrading to W7 so they can then upgrade to W10 via the free upgrade route?
Agree SSDs are dirt cheap tho at the moment
There wasn't a free upgrade from Vista to W7 - you had to buy the software and upgrade key.
 
There wasn't a free upgrade from Vista to W7 - you had to buy the software and upgrade key.

have you read his original post...

So I wondered if anyone has the necessary discs and whatever else I would need to upgrade to W7, they wouldn't mind letting me have
 
Have a read about linux, you will never go back to windows, look for a distro like linux mint which is good for windows users moving over...

Moving to Linux is fine if you want a machine for browsing and basic office type thing, but you cannot run LR on it.

I know there are free Linux photo apps but if you have used one for a while moving to another is not straight forward and is a learning curve.
 
Have a read about linux, you will never go back to windows, look for a distro like linux mint which is good for windows users moving over...

Linux has its place, and Mint is a nice distro, but not all software will run under WINE and for many of us a window box is preferable. However in the case of the OP, if his computer really IS that old and he doesn't need windows specific programs then something like Mint Mate of Linux Lite would be a good way to go.
 
I believe you can buy win10 OEM key’s online for cheap, but do have to be careful where you buy them from.

I have upgraded a number of pc and laptop to win 10 from W7 and most have been straight forward, however some have been a right pain to get working and finding the correct drivers.
The cheap keys may or may not work initially, they may or may not be revoked when MS notices them, and they probably aren't being sold legally:
 
Thanks for all that I wasn't going to upgrade from 7 to 10, it was just that I understand it is similar to XP, when I bought the laptop I had the home edition which did entitle you to Windows 7, but Microsoft wanted £14 post and package, but as I had cleaned myself out buying the laptop, and not knowing the difference between operating systems, I didn't bother, a mistake I realise now. I wouldn't know how to put in aSSD although they are not expensive, even if I knew what they improved,
 
Windows 7 should run fine on a vista aged laptop assuming you can get a legit key and find all the relevant drivers. It wouldn't need an upgrade to SSD, it's more than happy running off a spinny thing. Sorry, I don't have a key though.
That said, it's out of support now, so you are at risk running 7.

We used to run W8 / W8.1 on disk based machines and I don't recall them performing badly. 8.1 is EoL Jan 2023.
You will probably hate the interface though (it's not as bad as it was made out to be, but it is very different).
Again, getting a legit key will be the problem.

I wouldn't want to run 10 on a laptop without SSD though. 1 of our W10 laptops has a disk and it's a dog compared to SSD based ones.
I'm not sure I would spend money upgrading disk and ram on a vista era laptop though.

Sorry, these aren't the answers you are looking for.
 
If it was Vista were talking age of 11 years plus. Design life of laptops are 5/6 years. Don't spend money on it.
 
I'm inclined to agree with the above but, having said that, I updated my 10 year old Sony Vaio from W7 to W10 about six months ago. It was straightforward and the laptop runs smoothly.

The only issue I've had with the Vaio was a failed HHD about two years ago.
 
personally you could give it a go, a cheap SSD is like £28 for 240gb

you can then download the w10 ISO image and burn it to a bootable usb (you will need a 10gb stick using rufus ) you will need access to another pc to do this. all available online to show how.

you can then swap the SSD with the old disk, youtube will show you how and use the bootable usb to install w10, you don't need a serial number at this point anyway, w10 will install quite happily, you can then look at sourcing a valid key, all in all you can have a pop for very little outlay.

you could just try it first with old spinny disk, but if it worked ok i would rebuild on an SSD even if the extra spend, the boost in performance is bonkers good.
 
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personally you could give it a go, a cheap SSD is like £28 for 240gb

you can then download the w10 ISO image and burn it to a bootable usb (you will need a 10gb stick using rufus ) you will need access to another pc to do this. all available online to show how.

you can then swap the SSD with the old disk, youtube will show you how and use the bootable usb to install w10, you don't need a serial number at this point anyway, w10 will install quite happily, you can then look at sourcing a valid key, all in all you can have a pop for very little outlay.

Win 10media creation tool will download it and create the bootable usb for you.
 
Win 10media creation tool will download it and create the bootable usb for you.

it will but I am not sure on the age of his laptop he may need some tweeks to the bootable USB, rufus is really good for that.
personally I have never bothered with the microsoft tool.
 
@madmardle if you want I can download the w10 iso for you and place it on a one drive link where you can grab it, it is 100% free and legal.
 
I put off upgrading till very recently, originally I took up the free Win 10 upgrade and hated the tile type things so much I removed it the same day.
With support being dropped for 7 I felt I'd better bite the bullet, now I've discovered Classic Shell I'm happy with it.
classic shell
 
I asked a local dealer how much it would cost to upgrade my laptop to W10 from Vista, plus increase the Ram, he said it would be better to install an SSD, but the price he quoted, although probably fair, was far to much for me to afford on a basic pension and for the amount I use the laptop. So I wondered if anyone has the necessary discs and whatever else I would need to upgrade to W7, they wouldn't mind letting me have, which I understand is similar to XP which I am used to And is an SSD really necessary, and how would I know what size I need, and what my laptop is capable of running. Thank you
Subject to your budget, I would seriously consider buying a used laptop. I think there are plenty of reliable firms selling ex-business computers on eBay.
 
I can send you a genuine unused, boxed windows 8 (pro version possibly - I'll need to dig it out) if it's any use.

I'd suggest getting a 240gb ssd if you can afford it.
 
Thanks for all the replies, I do have a budget, just not a very big one, I could certainly afford a 240gb ssd, but I wouldn't have a clue how to install it, are there any good youtube videos on how to do it? plus the fact I have to buy a new battery as well which are quite expensive, and Kevin, I would like to take up your offer of W8 if that's ok please, perhaps a private message? The laptop by the way is an HP Compaq CQ61
 
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Thanks for all the replies, I do have a budget, just not a very big one, I could certainly afford a 240gb ssd, but I wouldn't have a clue how to install it, are there any good youtube videos on how to do it? plus the fact I have to buy a new battery as well which are quite expensive, and Kevin, I would like to take up your offer of W8 if that's ok please, perhaps a private message? The laptop by the way is an HP Compaq CQ61

Swapping the HDD is straight forward, this will help:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPnC4W49SB8


I would get a SSD install that and upgrade to Win 8 once you have the disk, this way if you have any issues you can swap over your old hd and be up and running straight away.
 
I put off upgrading till very recently, originally I took up the free Win 10 upgrade and hated the tile type things so much I removed it the same day.
With support being dropped for 7 I felt I'd better bite the bullet, now I've discovered Classic Shell I'm happy with it.
classic shell
W10 doesn't use tiles unless you're in tablet mode (which you wouldn't want on a computer).
 
The win8 activation code will also activate win 10.
 
when my old PC motherboard quit I (being on a State Pension too )
I bought a DELL OPTIPLEX 7010 computer from a firm on eBay which refurbishes PC from companies who trade-in to upgrade

WINDOWS 10 Pro installed 8GB RAM - runs Adobe Photoshop Elements fine ....for £75 ..............still running 100%.......... (y)

888506-858363-800.jpg
 
I bought this windows 7 over the weekend for a couple pound to install onto a friends laptop for their work. You get emailed a key instantly and a link of where to download the .ISO file to burn to disc. I've updated it with all Windows updates (about 200 updates) and all working fine.


If other people would do it then I'd be happy to put some money in to go towards a better laptop for you.
 
I bought this windows 7 over the weekend for a couple pound to install onto a friends laptop for their work. You get emailed a key instantly and a link of where to download the .ISO file to burn to disc. I've updated it with all Windows updates (about 200 updates) and all working fine.


If other people would do it then I'd be happy to put some money in to go towards a better laptop for you.
I’ve bought keys like that before and found they work OK at first and then they fail, presumably when Microsoft ‘notices’ them :(.
 
That's a great video sep9001, at least I know now where the hard drive is and how to remove it, I assume putting a new SSD in is just to reverse the procedure. I found a video doing just that but it was in Indian, and once I got past the slurping coffee drinking it did look like a reverse procedure. The only problem was towards the end when he put a flash drive in and did things but of course I couldn't understand what he was saying.
 
That's a great video sep9001, at least I know now where the hard drive is and how to remove it, I assume putting a new SSD in is just to reverse the procedure.

Basically yes, however the hard drive is in a caddy - note (and take phone pictures!) which way it goes in with relation to the connectors at one end. You'll probably have to unscrew the drive to release it from the caddy before putting the new in it & reversing the process.

I'd recommend making a backup on an external drive of ALL data you consider important including emails (if not on gmail/hotmail etc) browser logins as well as photos & anything else. It may also be worth purchasing a low-cost caddy for the old hard drive, so that if you need info/data later you can simply plug it in via USB.
 
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