Computer question - advice

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Morning, 

I run a windows 7 pc in my music studio. 

It's only got 4 gb of ram and I cant upgrade it as it's 32 bit from what I understand . 

It's got a hyperthreaded prescot chip and so it's quite old.

I am looking at upgrading .

I've seen a 3rd generation i5 pc with 16 gb of ram for 120 quid with no hard drive . 

Would I be able to just take the drive out of my old pc and put it into the new one with out any issues ?

It would save me a lot of aggravation of upgrading and re buying licenses for all my music software and other such stuff.  And it's cheaper by quite a lot  .

I'm just thinking on the fly .

Any advice would be welcome.

 Luke90 25 Nov 2019
In reply to Chive Talkin\':

You'd be able to use the drive in the new computer, so you wouldn't need to buy a new drive. But you won't be able to just plug it in and carry on using your existing Windows installation.

Given that Windows 7 is about to stop being supported, it's probably a good opportunity to upgrade to Windows 10 anyway.

There are programs that will automatically find some of your software licence keys for you, which might save some of the hassle.

In reply to Chive Talkin\':

I'd get an SSD to use as the OS drive in the new PC. Install Windows 10 on it and add the old drive in as backup. It's gonna be a pain doing the re-install but it'll be worth it in the end.

By the way, my Windows 7 Pro key activates Windows 10 Pro without any problem so hopefully yours will too.

Post edited at 09:18
In reply to Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH:

> I'd get an SSD to use as the OS drive in the new PC. Install Windows 10 on it and add the old drive in as backup. It's gonna be a pain doing the re-install but it'll be worth it in the end.

> By the way, my Windows 7 Pro key activates Windows 10 Pro without any problem so hopefully yours will too.

Ahh.  

Looks like I'll be buying a whole new system then at some point in the future.   I can't afford to buy all new software licenses for window 10 versions .  My version of Tracktion is not longer supported and all my virus keyboard interface is windows 7 etc . 

I'd like a SSD but they are more cash and I'm a poor hobo, so I'll have to hobble along as I am at the moment until I can afford to pay out.  

I'm having new stair carpet for Christmas .  It's only taken 3 years 

Bugger , 

Double bugger 

In reply to Luke90:

> You'd be able to use the drive in the new computer, so you wouldn't need to buy a new drive. But you won't be able to just plug it in and carry on using your existing Windows installation.

> Given that Windows 7 is about to stop being supported, it's probably a good opportunity to upgrade to Windows 10 anyway.

Yeah I considered that. 

> There are programs that will automatically find some of your software licence keys for you, which might save some of the hassle.

Unfortunately I don't think I'd be able to do this with my music software I'd have upgrade to  new versions .   

 Hooo 25 Nov 2019
In reply to Chive Talkin\':

It's possible that your drive might just work in a new PC. Windows has got pretty good at finding drivers and coping with major hardware changes after it's installed. That said, there's a good chance it will not work and will trash the installation in the process. So if you do give it a go make sure you back up first. But, there's not much point in doing this if you're looking to increase your RAM. If you keep the same Windows installation it will still be 32 bit and you'll be limited to 4GB. It sounds like you need to change to 64 bit, which will require re-installing from scratch. You'll need to find Win7 64 bit install media, and you might find that your product key won't work with 64 bit. Do you know if your copy of Windows is retail or OEM? It might say on the sticker. If it's OEM 32 bit you will need a new Windows licence.

Don't bother upgrading to Windows 10. you're not missing much.

2
In reply to Hooo:

> It's possible that your drive might just work in a new PC. Windows has got pretty good at finding drivers and coping with major hardware changes after it's installed. That said, there's a good chance it will not work and will trash the installation in the process. So if you do give it a go make sure you back up first. But, there's not much point in doing this if you're looking to increase your RAM. If you keep the same Windows installation it will still be 32 bit and you'll be limited to 4GB.

Ah This is as I feared .

I will have to go 64 bit then to increase my ram .

 Toerag 25 Nov 2019
In reply to Hooo:

>  Don't bother upgrading to Windows 10. you're not missing much.

He might miss things like security patches when Win7 gets retired by microsoft years before Win10 does.

In reply to Toerag:

> >  Don't bother upgrading to Windows 10. you're not missing much.

> He might miss things like security patches when Win7 gets retired by microsoft years before Win10 does.

Yeah .  If I'm going to have to upgrade to 64 bit I'm just going to go windows 10 and buy new licences and software.

I cleaned out my machine yesterday and free'd up 75 gb of HDD space due to unused sample recordings so hopefully it will be a bit faster now , it was very nearly full.  I have a fare amount of outboard effect units so I don't need so many plugins working . 

I'm sure it will suffice for the time being.    

In reply to Chive Talkin\':

Do you climb at the The Climbing Unit at all?
I think I've got an old SSD lying around somewhere. I could leave it there for you.

 Luke90 25 Nov 2019
In reply to Toerag:

> He might miss things like security patches when Win7 gets retired by microsoft years before Win10 does.

Specifically, January.

In reply to Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH:

> Do you climb at the The Climbing Unit at all?

> I think I've got an old SSD lying around somewhere. I could leave it there for you.

Wow that's very generous of you Paul. 

Thanks.

I haven't been down the the climbing unit in some time . Due mainly to cost.  I'd make a special visit though for that for sure.  It would massively help towards getting a new computer running .

Mat

Post edited at 16:42
 Hooo 25 Nov 2019
In reply to Chive Talkin\':

If it's a general purpose PC then you're probably worth upgrading to 10, but if it's just for your music and you don't use it for browsing or emails then you'd be alright sticking with 7 for a while yet. If it's going to cost a bit to upgrade your software on top of the Windows licence then it's a cheap option. I can probably find you a Win 7 64 bit licence key off a scrapped machine if you want one.

In reply to Hooo:

> If it's a general purpose PC then you're probably worth upgrading to 10, but if it's just for your music and you don't use it for browsing or emails then you'd be alright sticking with 7 for a while yet. If it's going to cost a bit to upgrade your software on top of the Windows licence then it's a cheap option. I can probably find you a Win 7 64 bit licence key off a scrapped machine if you want one.

Thank you greatly .

I'll be in touch if I do stay windows 7  and go 64 bit when I decide what I'm going to do about upgrading .

Since I've cleared half the OS drive it's lots faster than it was.  Also I've been able to back up some of my valuable studio work on the the old External WD drive to help make sure I don't loose anything , fingers crossed.

staticx 26 Nov 2019
In reply to Chive Talkin\':

I wouldn't recommend win10. Maybe you won't receive some updates but at least you won't get screwed over by said updates. I've read articles on all sorts of win10 shenanigans, like Documents folder get wiped or some things stop working.

2
In reply to staticx:

Nah, wasn't very impressed with 8 but Windows 10 has been great.


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