What's the most compatible operating system for an old pc?
- Thread starter Designer1
- Start date
It is pretty obvious. Your choices come down to Windows XP, Vista 32 bit in XP compatibility mode, Windows 7 32 bit in compatibility mode, or some flavor of *nix with a virtual box or VMWare virtual machine. The VM's will slow the processing down some, but they work.
You complain that XP is dated and Vista + is uses too much in the way of resources. I am laughing. I run the software you want on an E-machines W4620. That laptop has three gigs Ram, and AMD tl-64 CPU, and a 60 gig harddrive. I also run the same software inside both VirtualBox and VMWare virtual machines on both Windows 7 and Linux host platforms allocating a single core to the VM and only 1.5 gigs of ram. Your complaint is unfounded.
Here is the trick, if you are willing to forgo some of the bells and whistles. Install the older drivers in compatibility mode for Vista +. Minus the bells and whistles (Aero, etc) XP = Vista = Win 7. You also shut off all unneeded services. Windows 8 you down load a program from MS and it returns the Metro interface to the more familiar W7. For SEO based programs you do not need the bells and whistles. You kill Aero and Metro and run the machine in a basic mode. If you do not have a good reason, other than to be kool, then you don't swap OS's without a very good reason. Reinstall the OS that came with the computer (XP) update it to SP 3, install a decent AV and Comodo firewall and you are good to go.
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HatIsBlacked
Regular Member
- Dec 30, 2010
- 227
- 57
i would recommend screwing the old pc and putting all your stuff on a win server vps
Bluefrog_1974
BANNED
- Apr 8, 2009
- 381
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We're all wasting our time on this thread, the OP clearly doesn't want any advice since almost EVERYBODY has said XP and it's been ignored. Apparently he fixes PC's for a hobby but doesn't really know much about them because if he did this thread wouldn't exist 
SEO business so busy? Buy a new machine then and dump your old one - problem solved! It's called re-investing your profits - or is it another one of those 'no really I am a success, here is my 10 year old pc to prove it, can you tell me what I need to do' threads?
Feel free to neg rep me, too many people on here want to be spoon-fed information - heard of Google? It's this lovely shiny new website which if you type in things it gives you magical information that only you can see.
I've no problems asking in here, there are so many knowledgeable people here, but don;t just ignore the advice given, especially when there are so many people telling you what to do!
This isn't meant to offend, just wake you up to the entire point of asking for help!
SEO business so busy? Buy a new machine then and dump your old one - problem solved! It's called re-investing your profits - or is it another one of those 'no really I am a success, here is my 10 year old pc to prove it, can you tell me what I need to do' threads?
Feel free to neg rep me, too many people on here want to be spoon-fed information - heard of Google? It's this lovely shiny new website which if you type in things it gives you magical information that only you can see.
I've no problems asking in here, there are so many knowledgeable people here, but don;t just ignore the advice given, especially when there are so many people telling you what to do!
This isn't meant to offend, just wake you up to the entire point of asking for help!
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november71
Newbie
- May 9, 2013
- 13
- 3
I don't understand all the hate for Vista. You can get a real copy of it off of ebay for $40. I wouldn't run it with anything less than a dual core, though. XP is great for single core machines but is much more vulnerable to hijacking and other malware.
Bluefrog_1974
BANNED
- Apr 8, 2009
- 381
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@nevember, sadly this just shows how new and impressionable you are. XP is VERY safe once you set it up correctly and, will run on any amount of cores you present to it with the provision of the correct bios update.
If you can't do this then you need to stick to out of the box from pc world and have no place running your entire business from a pc without knowing how to keep it running and up to date (without Microsoft holding your hand) - asking for trouble!
Vista, well I could write an entire book about all of the issues it has, even after updates! Not to mention that it is essentially bloat ware, why use one file when 300 will do
If you can't do this then you need to stick to out of the box from pc world and have no place running your entire business from a pc without knowing how to keep it running and up to date (without Microsoft holding your hand) - asking for trouble!
Vista, well I could write an entire book about all of the issues it has, even after updates! Not to mention that it is essentially bloat ware, why use one file when 300 will do
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Bluefrog_1974
BANNED
- Apr 8, 2009
- 381
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lol, 2000 is essentially XP. Just XP is built on NT's kernel and has a better GUI.
Vista, well I could write an entire book about all of the issues it has, even after updates! Not to mention that it is essentially bloat ware, why use one file when 300 will do
There is very little difference between Vista and W7. With Vista you have to make a registry edit to speed the delay on the GUI up and it displays as fast as W7. The only real difference I could find is that large file transfer in Vista is slow. Even though slow with large file transfers, it is still faster than Linux is with large file transfers. None-the-less, with Windows I prefer XP or W7 to Vista.
twistedtrick
Power Member
- Aug 21, 2009
- 674
- 395
Windows Server 2003 absolutely!
Windows XP a close second.
Windows XP a close second.
november71
Newbie
- May 9, 2013
- 13
- 3
-Bluefrog
Um. I'm new to this forum, not new to computers. If you ever get a job working on other people's computers you will notice that people still running XP are more likely to have malware on them than people running Vista or 7. I didn't say Vista isn't bloated compared to XP. I have XP running on a P2 266mhz 128mb RAM thinkpad, and it runs great.
The real problem is that Microsoft has this pattern of obsoleting technology that is still mostly viable. You get into all kinds of driver and compatibility problems when you try mixing older PCs with new Microsoft operating systems, and newer PCs mixing with older Microsoft operating systems. My rule of thumb is use the license that came with your PC; you already paid for it and it will probably work the best.
XP was primarily designed to run on single core machines. If you got an older Socket A computer you can't just run some miracle bios update and put a quad core chip in it. You're also limited by the amount of ram older computers support. You also get into problems with video cards because the amount of AGP video cards that support HD video are limited, a bit buggy, and expensive.
The only new computer I ever had was in the early 90s when my dad bought our family a 386/16mhz with DOS on it. We used to have to make a 3.5" boot disk to use less ram to play games on it. Counting laptops, I have dozen computers in my apartment right now, because I buy them broken and fix them in my spare time. A lot of the computers come without hard drives or have Windows broken on them, so I reinstall the operating system they were designed for and that I have the license for. If I don't have a Windows license for a computer I but linux on it, but even then I put the version of linux that is the most suited for it minding CPU and RAM limitations.
Um. I'm new to this forum, not new to computers. If you ever get a job working on other people's computers you will notice that people still running XP are more likely to have malware on them than people running Vista or 7. I didn't say Vista isn't bloated compared to XP. I have XP running on a P2 266mhz 128mb RAM thinkpad, and it runs great.
The real problem is that Microsoft has this pattern of obsoleting technology that is still mostly viable. You get into all kinds of driver and compatibility problems when you try mixing older PCs with new Microsoft operating systems, and newer PCs mixing with older Microsoft operating systems. My rule of thumb is use the license that came with your PC; you already paid for it and it will probably work the best.
XP was primarily designed to run on single core machines. If you got an older Socket A computer you can't just run some miracle bios update and put a quad core chip in it. You're also limited by the amount of ram older computers support. You also get into problems with video cards because the amount of AGP video cards that support HD video are limited, a bit buggy, and expensive.
The only new computer I ever had was in the early 90s when my dad bought our family a 386/16mhz with DOS on it. We used to have to make a 3.5" boot disk to use less ram to play games on it. Counting laptops, I have dozen computers in my apartment right now, because I buy them broken and fix them in my spare time. A lot of the computers come without hard drives or have Windows broken on them, so I reinstall the operating system they were designed for and that I have the license for. If I don't have a Windows license for a computer I but linux on it, but even then I put the version of linux that is the most suited for it minding CPU and RAM limitations.
Bluefrog_1974
BANNED
- Apr 8, 2009
- 381
- 83
lol if your machine is still socket 462 then you may as well use it for a doorstop. Actually do a bit of searching, XP was designed in beta for a server environment - you know, multi core machines
I can see that you want to turn this into a pissing contest and I'm way too busy to start discussing the relevance of your comments.
You know what, good luck, you obviously know way more than everybody on here.
I can see that you want to turn this into a pissing contest and I'm way too busy to start discussing the relevance of your comments.
You know what, good luck, you obviously know way more than everybody on here.
Techxan
Elite Member
- Dec 7, 2011
- 3,091
- 3,620
I don't call you out on many things, but you have lost your mind.
"Windows 98 is secure" --said no one, ever.
Let me put that in perspective: In the History of Humankind.
Besides, Ubuntu is better.
I would recommend either using a dated version of Windows, (eg Windows XP or Vista) or go Linux which can severely improve performance of your computer since it does not use resource intensive components which Windows does. Plus, most distributions are open source and can run Wine, (Windows EXE's on Linux).