Windows 7

[Masiv]

Anyone got a copy of Win7 OS that I could have please, preferably on a USB?

I bought an SSD to speed up my sister's old laptop but my wife has put my copies of Win7 and Win10 somewhere 'Safe'. I know I can download and create a Win10 copy for free, but I think the laptop spec might not be up to it.

[FourWheelDrift]

https://tech-latest.com/download-windows-7-iso/

[NMNeil]

FourWheelDrift said:

https://tech-latest.com/download-windows-7-iso/

He will still need the license key, which will be on the disc that has been 'stored'.

[The teacher]

I've found W10 to work well on older machines. We have 8 year old desktops at my school that run W10 just fine. These were cheap desktops. SSD is the main factor.

[Kes Arevo]

NMNeil said:

He will still need the license key, which will be on the disc that has been 'stored'.

Is there not a sticker on the computer itself with license number?

[FourWheelDrift]

It's only £3 for a key anyway

7 Home Premium - https://www.allkeyshop.com/blog/buy-windows-7-home...
7 Professional - https://www.allkeyshop.com/blog/buy-windows-7-prof...

[xeny]

Masiv said:

I know I can download and create a Win10 copy for free, but I think the laptop spec might not be up to it.

On the same hardware, 10 is generally a little faster than 7, and you get security updates as a bonus.

If you're short of RAM (4GB or less) consider installing the 32 bit variant.

[Masiv]

Thanks all. Virtual pints all round.

[Funk]

Masiv said:

Anyone got a copy of Win7 OS that I could have please, preferably on a USB?

I bought an SSD to speed up my sister's old laptop but my wife has put my copies of Win7 and Win10 somewhere 'Safe'. I know I can download and create a Win10 copy for free, but I think the laptop spec might not be up to it.

Why not just clone and make things easier for yourself...!

[sgrimshaw]

NMNeil said:

He will still need the license key, which will be on the disc that has been 'stored'.

Just use Belarc or similar to get the key

https://www.belarc.com/products_belarc_advisor

[Ken P]

Don't touch Windows 10 on an older machine. It will slow it down unless it has lots of memory. Not to mention the huge update cycles.

Nothing wrong with Windows 7, which will fly in comparison to 10+.

If you're worried about a lack of security updates for Win7, I'd recommend a decent Linux distro such as Debian, Mint or AntiX using a lightweight window manager like Xfce.

[RVB]

Ken P said:

Don't touch Windows 10 on an older machine. It will slow it down unless it has lots of memory. Not to mention the huge update cycles.

Windows 10 seems to need at least 4GB and ideally 6-8GB otherwise, as you say, it might run slowly.
However, Windows 7 doesn't seem far behind Windows 10 in ideal RAM requirement - 2GB isn't enough but 4GB seems fine.

Windows 10 also seems to benefit from SSD which makes the frequent updates a lot quicker and smoother.

[NMNeil]

Kes Arevo said:

Is there not a sticker on the computer itself with license number?

Not sure, but I recently bought a laptop with windows 10 pre installed. No sticker on the laptop anywhere.
I can't tell if the key was with in a file with the pre installed software as the first thing I did was perform a low level format on the SSD to completely eradicate anything microsoft and installed Linux Mint instead.
Don't forget you now have windows 11 to look forward to
https://www.minitool.com/news/known-issues-windows...

[HiAsAKite]

Ken P said:

Don't touch Windows 10 on an older machine. It will slow it down unless it has lots of memory. Not to mention the huge update cycles.

Nothing wrong with Windows 7, which will fly in comparison to 10+.

If you're worried about a lack of security updates for Win7, I'd recommend a decent Linux distro such as Debian, Mint or AntiX using a lightweight window manager like Xfce.

Hate to say it - this has been my experience with Win10 - huge background updates hogging resources and making the machine unusable- this is most acute on machines that are only used sporadically, as nearly every time they are switched on, they need to either download or install and update, or performing various background AV scans, over which as a user you do not have any control.

Remaining offline seems to help (clearly!) - but no good if you are trying to do anything that requires the net - which is nearly everything now..

[voram]

I tried upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Felt pleased with myself at first but it wasn't long before I gave up and bought a newer machine.

[FourWheelDrift]

HiAsAKite said:

Hate to say it - this has been my experience with Win10 - huge background updates hogging resources and making the machine unusable- this is most acute on machines that are only used sporadically, as nearly every time they are switched on, they need to either download or install and update, or performing various background AV scans, over which as a user you do not have any control.

Remaining offline seems to help (clearly!) - but no good if you are trying to do anything that requires the net - which is nearly everything now..

You've just described my experience of Linux and having to go back to the 1980s with console commands added.

[ArsE82]

NMNeil said:

Kes Arevo said:

Is there not a sticker on the computer itself with license number?

Not sure, but I recently bought a laptop with windows 10 pre installed. No sticker on the laptop anywhere.
I can't tell if the key was with in a file with the pre installed software as the first thing I did was perform a low level format on the SSD to completely eradicate anything microsoft and installed Linux Mint instead.
Don't forget you now have windows 11 to look forward to
https://www.minitool.com/news/known-issues-windows...

I knew that was your post before I even saw your name

Yawnsville.

[stemll]

ArsE82 said:

I knew that was your post before I even saw your name

Yawnsville.

But it must be in the rules somewhere. The answer to any Windows question is always "install Linux". Unfortunately, it's very rarely the right answer.

Maybe 2022 will be the year or Linux on the desktop (or maybe not)