Can I upgrade this PC from 2002 to Vista?

[Shaqo_Wyn]

So a family member just gave me the HP Pavilion they bought years ago because she hasn't used it in years anyway.

 

I started it up, it's snappy and works fine and even has this (to my surprise) really quiet aftermarket Cooler Master CPU cooler. 

 

Now I have no plans to put any money in this PC in terms of hardware but I am wondering about software. My goal is to keep the PC relevant for another year or two.

 

The PC has Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002 SP2 and I can't really update or anything because Windows dropped support for XP in April 2014.

 

It's got 512MB of RAM and an Intel Pentium 2.80GHz CPU.

 

My question is, can I update it with Windows Vista Home Basic which Microsoft will be supporting till 2017. According to their website, you need 480MB of RAM and a 1GHZ processor, so I should be good there. Also does it matter if it's 32 or 64 bit? How can I find out which I need?

 

Apologies if this idea of mine is plain stupid, I know plenty about modern PC's, not so much about older PC's.

 

Thanks for reading and any help you can offer!

[Katsu-K1L]

Why not go with linux?

Ubuntu Sys Req

 

Official system requirements :

• 700MHz processor
• 512MB RAM
• Minimum display resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels

you should be able to run it smoothly

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Why not go with linux?

I was hoping to keep it Windows. Since I'll probably be returning it to the family member, hopefully in a state where they can use it for a year or two.

[Katsu-K1L]

I was hoping to keep it Windows. Since I'll probably be returning it to the family member, hopefully in a state where they can use it for a year or two.

oh i see well there is

Zorin OS which is really similar to windows XP, other than that i Don't really see reason to get Vista since the thing is 7 years old and has bugs in it.

[Katsu-K1L]

he can still keep xp as most software vendors will still be keeping support for it such as firefox/ chrome and other critical apps. Windows update is just a fud.

yea of course there is that too lol

[VMaxMuffin]

The PC has Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002 SP2 and I can't really update or anything because Windows dropped support for XP in April 2014.

 

I think you should be able to update stuff, it's just that there won't be any new updates. Unless that's what you're talking about.

About Vista - you should be able to run it, but whether you really want to is another question. Given that you want to stay with Windows, I'd stay with XP, personally.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

he can still keep xp as most software vendors will still be keeping support for it such as firefox/ chrome and other critical apps. Windows update is just a fud.

Yeah, based on the replies I think I might do that. However anything from Google makes and PC keeps prompting me about the certificates or something?

 

yea of course there is that too lol

 

 

I think you should be able to update stuff, it's just that there won't be any new updates. Unless that's what you're talking about.

About Vista - you should be able to run it, but whether you really want to is another question. Given that you want to stay with Windows, I'd stay with XP, personally.

Yeah Windows did show that it was updating some stuff when I shut the PC down, but for example I tried to install openhardware monitor and Windows told me I need .NET Framework V4.0 which doesn't support Windows XP SP2. 

 

With the Asus P5LP-LE motherboard the PC has I could put a Core 2 Duo E6700 and 4GB's of DDR2 533Mhz RAM in it but I don't feel it's worth it, especially if the PC's gonna continue it's life as a glorified paperweight anyway. Think I'm going to label this a lost cause and move on with life. 

 

Thanks for the help guys!

[LogicalDrm]

I wouldn't do it. My current laptop had Vista as default. It was horrible to use, even with 1gb of ram. If you go for it, get 32bit version. But I'm with getting it to run with Linux. However its more in age for recycle than reuse.

[Guest]

mehh, vista loves ram, the hdd will never stop spinning with 512MB

[chilicheeseburger]

Don't put vista on it. Vista is a broken mess.

I'd stay with win xp or install Linux.

Now you could update it to win7 but then I'd really suggest having at least 2 gb of ram.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

I wouldn't do it. My current laptop had Vista as default. It was horrible to use, even with 1gb of ram. If you go for it, get 32bit version. But I'm with getting it to run with Linux. However its more in age for recycle than reuse.

 

 

mehh, vista loves ram, the hdd will never stop spinning with 512MB

 

 

Don't put vista on it. Vista is a broken mess.

I'd stay with win xp or install Linux.

Now you could update it to win7 but then I'd really suggest having at least 2 gb of ram.

 

Thanks! I'll look into Win7 or Linux. I might end up upgrading some of the hardware. I did some research and the max. the motherboard can take is a Core 2 DUO E6700 and 4GB DDR2. I checked on Amazon and I can get these components for around $100. Would it be worth? The owner does productivity work and web-surfing. She complains it's slow at times but she doesn't use it very often. The PassMark CPU score puts the E6700 at almost 3x times the score of the Pentium D 915 2.8GHz the PC has now.