Recommend a OS for my old laptop

[Frankthetank1]

I have a Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437 Notebook. I tried windows 7 ultimate It was a little slow and sometimes it would just freeze and id have to restart.






Onyx Blue


AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58 1.9 GHz


Dual-Core


Yes


1600 MHz Bus Speed



AMD M690V


L2 cache


1 MB


2 GB (1 GB x 2) / 4 GB (max)


DDR II SDRAM


PC2-5300


200 GB, 4200 rpm Hard Drive



DVD-SuperMulti drive (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash supporting up to 11 fomats


Card Reader


Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Multi Media Card, xD Picture Card


15.4" TFT active matrix


1280 x 800 (WXGA)


Yes


TruBrite

[mjmacky]

I'm typing this on a Satellite C675 running Win 7 HE x64, it has a 1 GHz dual core, it runs without slowdowns or incidents. I basically have an oversized netbook, so I couldn't recommend any other version of Windows myself. Maybe you had some software issues?

[Frankthetank1]

It was given to me by my uncle it had a hard drive failure so i replaced it and installed windows 7 ultimate maybe ill try and see if home edition is more suitable.

[anon]

A friend of mine made a custom Windows 7 with the mostly useless stuff removed. If you want to check it out, send me a PM. It comes in x86 and x64 flavors, so that's not a problem.

It's what I'm using in my laptop as we speak. It works fine and fast, and the specs are way lower than what's on the first post.

[Artemis]

As others have said, the specs on your laptop aren't that bad, a dual-core CPU running @1.9Ghz with 2GB of DDR2 RAM, is way more than the minimum spec for Windows 7. The system requirements are a 1Ghz processor with 1GB of RAM for the X86 version or 2GB for X64. Given the age and the laptop, it was originally designed to work with Windows Vista,so would not be capable of being retrograded to Windows XP (the chipset isn't supported by XP). Since Vista is a dog with fleas, the only realistic choices are Windows 7 or a Linux Distro.

[Frankthetank1]

What do you think of Microsoft.Windows.Thin.PC.x86-LuLZiSO ? it's 1.32 Gigs & windows 7


A friend of mine made a custom Windows 7 with the mostly useless stuff removed. If you want to check it out, send me a PM. It comes in x86 and x64 flavors, so that's not a problem.

It's what I'm using in my laptop as we speak. It works fine and fast, and the specs are way lower than what's on the first post.

[abitoffile]

I have to mention the obvious latest Ubuntu.

[anon]

What do you think of Microsoft.Windows.Thin.PC.x86-LuLZiSO ? it's 1.32 Gigs & windows

I've had that in my download folder for a while but never got around trying it, so I can't say anything. Apparently, it's Microsoft's own approach to a "lite" Windows 7, just like WinFLP and XP. If you want to try it out, check what features are missing first.

[Votkrath]

A slimmed down modified version as people have mentioned might be good for you - XP is an option too if you are using the computer for basic stuff that a high-tech OS won't do you good. But quite honestly, I have a laptop with similar specs that runs Win 7 ultimate just fine so you should be able to as well and if you decide on Win 7 then you can always turn off the eye candy for better performance.

[Artemis]

A slimmed down modified version as people have mentioned might be good for you - XP is an option too if you are using the computer for basic stuff that a high-tech OS won't do you good. But quite honestly, I have a laptop with similar specs that runs Win 7 ultimate just fine so you should be able to as well and if you decide on Win 7 then you can always turn off the eye candy for better performance.

I know your new, but if you are going to post in the help sections it pays to read the previous posts first. As I mentioned in my previous post the motherboard chipset is not supported by Windows XP, you cannot retrograde this laptop back that far. It was designed for Vista and came supplied with Windows Vista Home Premium. Vista (bad idea) Windows 7 or a Linux Distro are the only realistic choices.

[Votkrath]

A slimmed down modified version as people have mentioned might be good for you - XP is an option too if you are using the computer for basic stuff that a high-tech OS won't do you good. But quite honestly, I have a laptop with similar specs that runs Win 7 ultimate just fine so you should be able to as well and if you decide on Win 7 then you can always turn off the eye candy for better performance.

I know your new, but if you are going to post in the help sections it pays to read the previous posts first. As I mentioned in my previous post the motherboard chipset is not supported by Windows XP, you cannot retrograde this laptop back that far. It was designed for Vista and came supplied with Windows Vista Home Premium. Vista (bad idea) Windows 7 or a Linux Distro are the only realistic choices.

Sorry and nah, I should have read it either way, whether I'm new or not. I guess it's the time (4 hours past midnight, not 8) that makes me unfocused. ;)

[yurferner]

I think windows xp will work best, even if your computer was not designed for it.

[Dr0]

Stick with the Windows 7 you have installed and just disable the stuff you don't need, like areo, for example.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/disable-aero-on-windows-vista/

Y (http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/disable-aero-on-windows-vista/)ou can also turn off services, a quick Google search should track down a nice list of things you simply don't need.

[clocker]

All the talk about Win 7's minimum requirements is useless...neither Vista nor 7 will run well on a low spec machine (i.e., 2GB RAM)...MS simply was trying to maximize the potential buyer pool.
My Win 7 PC uses 1.3GB of RAM just sitting on the desktop, 2GB doesn't leave much headroom.

I would seriously try to install XP on a machine such as this...it can be done and if successful*, will perform better than the newer options.

*Coincidentally, I'm "downgrading" a new Win 7 PC to dualboot XP in hopes the customer can continue to use his ancient ProTools/Digi001 music editing gear.
ProTools requires a special interface card to export/import from the computer to the editing board and his early version only has XP drivers. Win 7 knew something was there but couldn't be coerced into using it, so ProTools wouldn't open/run.
We tried a virtual XP install but that relies on Win7 to tell XP what the hardware is, so it didn't work.
Fortunately, in this case I don't really care if the XP install is flawless as long as it will install the digital interface card.
Yeah, it's gonna be awkward but it might save him $2K in upgrade cost for his peripherals.
We'll see how it goes.

@Frank:
At the very least you should max out the RAM (4GB)- which will help a lot- and maybe upgrade to a SSD.
Both of those moves would make Win7 much more bearable on your lappy.

[anon]

All the talk about Win 7's minimum requirements is useless...neither Vista nor 7 will run well on a low spec machine (i.e., 2GB RAM)...MS simply was trying to maximize the potential buyer pool.
My Win 7 PC uses 1.3GB of RAM just sitting on the desktop, 2GB doesn't leave much headroom.

89559

That's me running Windows 7 with 1.5GB, and many things open - Opera with tons of tabs, Steam, uTorrent, for example. It runs quite well for me. Same goes for my laptop, which has just 1 gig, although I don't strain it as much :P

I was surprised it used way more RAM than XP, so I did a little research about it. This extra memory usage comes from SuperFetch. RAM marked as "cached" is used to increase system performance, but can be immediately given back to programs that demand it. So 7 uses the memory XP would have left unused to speed up your computer with no ill effects. (You're a pro so you must already know that, but maybe others didn't)

[clocker]

Here's Sprocket pushing a full-boat Win 7 Ultimate (with all the visual dressing) and only Chrome running.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/TM.png

[Frankthetank1]

So i have windows running flawlessly and nothing on it. What do you think id get for it if i tried to sell it on Craigslist?i paid only for a new hard drive replacement so lots of profit to be made.


I have a Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437 Notebook. I tried windows 7 ultimate It was a little slow and sometimes it would just freeze and id have to restart.






Onyx Blue


AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58 1.9 GHz


Dual-Core


Yes


1600 MHz Bus Speed


AMD M690V


L2 cache


1 MB


2 GB (1 GB x 2) / 4 GB (max)


DDR II SDRAM


PC2-5300


200 GB, 4200 rpm Hard Drive


DVD-SuperMulti drive (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash supporting up to 11 fomats


Card Reader


Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Multi Media Card, xD Picture Card


15.4" TFT active matrix


1280 x 800 (WXGA)


Yes


TruBrite

[Chewie]

Watch a few of them on ebay to get an idea what people are paying. Looking at what people are asking for isn't much of an indication of what they're selling for.
In my experience, people often pay over the odds for computer hardware on ebay because they believe it's the cheapest place to buy.

[Artemis]

Here's Sprocket pushing a full-boat Win 7 Ultimate (with all the visual dressing) and only Chrome running.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/TM.png

That's a bit mean comparing anon's POS to a quadcore with 8GB of RAM :glagpinch:

[clocker]

Coincidentally, I'm "downgrading" a new Win 7 PC to dualboot XP...yada, yada, yada.
Yeah, and it did not go well.
Long story short, I was unable to install XP on a new i3 PC.
Tried an untouched OEM .iso and four nLited variations with various slipstreamed drivers (no other mods to the OS itself).
In all cases the install blue screened after loading files and initialing the installer.

Not sure why and the point became moot when the customer bit the bullet and upgraded his ProTools, so I'm not too keen on working it further.

[Artemis]

Coincidentally, I'm "downgrading" a new Win 7 PC to dualboot XP...yada, yada, yada.
Yeah, and it did not go well.
Long story short, I was unable to install XP on a new i3 PC.
Tried an untouched OEM .iso and four nLited variations with various slipstreamed drivers (no other mods to the OS itself).
In all cases the install blue screened after loading files and initialing the installer.

Not sure why and the point became moot when the customer bit the bullet and upgraded his ProTools, so I'm not too keen on working it further.

I have tried in the past retrograding newer hardware back to XP (mostly while Vista was making everything go backwards), and from my own personal experience with several different chipsets, the results aren't usually that great. By that great I mean buses or system devices simply not being recognised and weird happenings from the system locking up completely when trying to go into sleep mode to neat things like the soundcard/audio devices being totally unrecognised.
Sneakily enough later 'lite' versions of Windows XP like the netbook versions for Dell, HP etc had additional drivers which cover alot more newer chipsets/devices, so it is not that the devices are incompatible, just the Microsoft is trying to force you to upgrade your OS when you purchase new hardware. A kind of planned obsolescence similar to the automotive industry.

[clocker]

like the soundcard/audio devices being totally unrecognised.
Sneakily enough later 'lite' versions of Windows XP like the netbook versions for Dell, HP etc had additional drivers which cover alot more newer chipsets/devices..
Very clever.
I have access to a few netbook .isos and it never occurred to me to try them.
Ah well, I actually was dubious from the get-go and the effort was mostly to convince the customer I wasn't leaving him stranded as he slowly reached the conclusion that his ten year old software wasn't going to cut it.
Once he fully understood the inanity of crippling his new hardware with XP, all my interest in the project evaporated.

[BitMan55]

Xp 32 bit

[zonta]

linux mint debian with xfce

[Frankthetank1]

never heard of that but right now i am running windows 7 thin PC and blacktack 5. both are working great and am learning how to use Linux.

[anon]

never heard of that but right now i am running windows 7 thin PC and blacktack 5.

I was thinking of using Thin PC for my last reinstall, but settled for Windows 7 SP1 Lite v3 by ivankehayov. The image fits in a CD and hasn't given me a single problem so far. The only downside is that you have to download all updates afterwards and that can take a while.

[Sandiekid]

Where would I get this custom win 7 sounds interesting for old computer.



A friend of mine made a custom Windows 7 with the mostly useless stuff removed. If you want to check it out, send me a PM. It comes in x86 and x64 flavors, so that's not a problem.

It's what I'm using in my laptop as we speak. It works fine and fast, and the specs are way lower than what's on the first post.

[Artemis]

Where would I get this custom win 7 sounds interesting for old computer.



A friend of mine made a custom Windows 7 with the mostly useless stuff removed. If you want to check it out, send me a PM. It comes in x86 and x64 flavors, so that's not a problem.

It's what I'm using in my laptop as we speak. It works fine and fast, and the specs are way lower than what's on the first post.

It depends how old the computer is, some hardware is not supported, so if you give some more information about the computer itself it would help?

[anon]

Where would I get this custom win 7 sounds interesting for old computer.

Shoot me a PM once you're able to, and I'll give you the links.

In the meantime, you can try ivankehayov's Windows 7, available on Demonoid. v4 was available now.

[Sandiekid]

Asus motherboard m2v gt7300 graphics card 2gb memory am2. CPU

Not sure how to send you pm anon but friended you cheers

[Artemis]

Asus motherboard m2v gt7300 graphics card 2gb memory am2. CPU

Not sure how to send you pm anon but friended you cheers

That chipset is fine I was meaning older chipsets i.e. NForce2 etc. things that are no longer supported under Windows 7 but your motherboard chipset is fine.
In order to pm you need to be a member for for at least 15 days and make 15 posts in order to become a member and no longer a noob. At that point you will also have pm privileges on this board. Please don't spam the board in an effort to get the 15 posts as so many members tend to do, there are many discussions you can join.

[anon]

In order to pm you need to be a member for for at least 15 days and make 15 posts in order to become a member and no longer a noob.

For PMs, 5 posts is enough.

It's easy to mix them up, I think the requirements have changed at least half a dozen times since I joined.

[Artemis]

In order to pm you need to be a member for for at least 15 days and make 15 posts in order to become a member and no longer a noob.

For PMs, 5 posts is enough.

It's easy to mix them up, I think the requirements have changed at least half a dozen times since I joined.

I've been round longer, the rules change so much then when you quote them someone says don't you know? Well gee I do know.... but thanks Anon I do get this question too, and guess what, rarest of rare we seem to have a nice genuine new member to welcome to the board, not some spamtard on their way through......

[hamasha]

i think xp would be great

[pootystomp]

i think xp would be great

Thank you for your comment on a 1 year old post, definitely enlightening.

[anon]

I remember that prior to the crash, one of these spammers made a post recommending "Ubandu OS"... and Art told him to fuck off in an epic way :D