Windows 7 - Will my laptop handle it?

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jasonwaiheke

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Topic # 105040 26-Jun-2012 10:10

Not sure if this should be posted here or in the laptop forum, but here goes anyway.

I have a Dell Lattitude D630
Intel Core Duo CPU

T7100 @ 1.80GHz

1.79GHz, 1.99GB of RAM

with what looks like some sort of built in graphics card - Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset Family

will it run Windows 7 & Office 2010?

i am currently running Office 2007 and windows XP, with some performance lag.

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 646229 26-Jun-2012 10:14

Yes it will.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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freitasm

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Reply # 646234 26-Jun-2012 10:19

The "performance lag" is probably due to some of these:

- low memory (run it with 4GB, although a 32 bit OS will only see 3G, but better than 2GB)
- disk fragmentation
- too many programs running on start up
- too many toolbars and crapware installed
- missing Windows Update
- malware

Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure)

jasonwaiheke

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Reply # 646240 26-Jun-2012 10:31

Will it perform Ok? will i be able to use Aero? the specs shown are as you see them when you right click on my computer and click properties and the details show in the bottom right hand corner.

freitasm

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Reply # 646252 26-Jun-2012 10:44

It will work ok, but I suggest a fresh install. This means YOU MUST BACKUP YOUR DOCUMENTS, PICTURES, MUSIC AND OTHER FILES.

I can't stress enough YOU MUST BACKUP YOUR STUFF.

Will it get Aero? Probably, but I am not sure it's an advantage. I would worry about putting an extra 2GB on that laptop and making sure you have all the drivers available from a USB key BEFORE you start the install.

Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure)

Phexx

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Reply # 646263 26-Jun-2012 10:58

I have a laptop with a single core celeron 1.6Ghz, 2.5gb of ram and 128mb integrated video. Run windows 7 fine. If it does lag, you may have to turn some off some of the visual features.

Take Mauricio's advice - see if you can up the ram, and make sure you backup all your stuff. Also, special note on his comment on the drivers, I moved to windows 7, forgot the drivers, was a real hassle to get them off the website afterwards.

Mazzie

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Reply # 647944 29-Jun-2012 03:21

Why don't you download and install the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, it's free and will tell you if your graphics card will support Aero or not. I wouldn't worry too much about your drivers, most of them can be found somewhere or other if they are not incorporated in the Windows updates. You will have to do a clean install, not an upgrade and make sure you back-up everything in your My Documents folder. However, when doing a clean install of W7 it will save your files as Windows_old so you can get stuff from there, (not programs though) Better to back stuff up, just in case.

Good Luck!

DrStrangelove

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Reply # 648296 29-Jun-2012 15:53

The Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 supports 64bit OS which removes are restrictions on memory (within reason) so you can make full use of 4GB should you choose to install it.

One could even go straight to Windows 8 64bit OS as your CPU supports it. Windows 8 has no more resource requirements than Windows 7 from what I know and may even have system improvements over Windows 7 with memory scheduling/management.

There's no reason the system with at least 4GB of memory shouldn't perform well with Win7 or Win8 using a few core applications.

I run Win7 on P4 Prescott 3.2GHz and SU7300 1.6GHz (64bit) CPU and don't have problems.
I have seriously high spec'd HW accelerated GPU's in both systems which also helps, BUT even with your Integrated Intel GPU you shouldn't have any problems.

Maurico spelt out the main areas for a slow system response.

Skolink

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Reply # 648304 29-Jun-2012 16:13

We have an almost identical laptop Dell D560 (I think), with 2Gb RAM. Windows 7 (64bit) ran very well untill recently (it now has less than 50% memory available on bootup and is thrashing the disk, but that's another topic).

The thing I like most about Win7 vs WinXP on the laptop is that power management actually works! The laptop used to be extremely hot, even when sitting idle, now it is fairly cool. Sleep and Hibernation actually work with Win7, rather than WinXP where it would freeze or blue screen.

mattwnz

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Reply # 648343 29-Jun-2012 17:29

I've got windwos 7 running fine on a netbook with an atom 1.6 procesor, with aero, and it is ok. In fact I think it performs better than xp.

ottenpat

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Reply # 648347 29-Jun-2012 17:49

I have this exact configuration(D630-4GB Ram, Win 7 64bit, Office 2010). It runs very well with no issues

Patrick