My grandmother's pc

tbrick

Posts: 29   +1
My grandmother has windows xp on her system. Obviously we all know the crazy and cruel things that now happen when you use windows xp. So I want to install windows 7 for her. She would like to buy it from Amazon. My question is a two part question: which basic version would she purchase, the upgrade or just the basic windows 7? Second, would I have to reformat her computer to install it or just pop the disc in and let it do its thing?
 
Lets see if I can say this without confusing you. Windows upgrade requires that you have a previous Windows license. Without a previous Windows License, you will need the full version of Windows. Regardless of whether you get the upgrade or full version, you can upgrade Windows Vista only. In other words Windows Vista is the only OS that will upgrade and have all its programs in-place afterward.

Windows XP requires a clean(fresh) install. However Windows XP can be used as a previous OS license when clean installing with Windows upgrade media.

But before you do anything, please make sure the machine is capable of running Windows 7.
 
So then I buy windows 7 for 90 buck and I can install it without having to take off her version of xp is what I am really trying to find out here?
 
Basically what will happen is since Windows 7 cannot upgrade Windows XP. When you use the upgrade(or full) media, Windows 7 will basically move Windows XP to a folder. A folder of which can be deleted at a later time. That is if you don't manually format the drive during the installation process.
 
Alright and that is a perfectly ok thing to do? she will be able to use windows 7 and get on the internet without any interference?
 
Vista is like a first attempt at Windows 7 so you can upgrade without losing any programs or documents. XP, however, is a different animal entirely and you would wipe everything out installing Windows 7. Your grandmother’s treasured photos and documents would have to be saved elsewhere first or lost forever when Windows 7 is freshly installed on the hard drive.

Now if your grandmother doesn’t have lots of personal stuff saved or any expensive software on the computer I’d consider other options. There are easy to use tablets like the iPad which are great for browsing the internet and keeping in touch. Chromebooks are another popular alternative to the PC if surfing is the main activity. There's a whole new world of tech gadgets available now.
 
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