W7 or W8.1 on older/lower spec hardware

[blanalex]

We got this fleet of 5-6 years old computers that had a Vista COA but were running XP. We are about to migrate them and Vista is mostly out of question. We will need to buy new Windows licences and of course all we can buy now is W8/W8.1 licences.

I'm asking myself though if we're better off installing W7 even if we get W8 licences. It may seem clear for many the older OS will be easier to run on underpowered computers, but my logic is if W8.1 is optimized for tablets, it might be lighter.

This is in a K-12 education environment, with an enterprise-level network and we're talking about a thousand machines (so factor in the added manageability and features that comes with each generation of OS.) Typical configuration is Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5400 2.7GHz, 1 or 2GB memory, 80 or 160 GB SATA storage, Intel G41 integrated graphics.

 

[bgt]

8.1.1 wil run better on older notebooks/desktops. 7 is a fat OS(Vista was even worse). Just be sure to use the 8.1(update 1) disk(not install 8.1 first and then update). This a very slim OS. I know....I use it on many old laptops/netbooks.

 

[Ketchup]

Most people have said that 8 runs better on older hardware than 7, but I would assume at some point these machines will be upgraded, possibly making that a moot point in the long run.

Windows 7 support ends in 2020. 8 ends in 2023, with one caveat. In a recent article, we have learned that Microsoft is going to start mandating certain updates on 8 be installed to qualify for future updates (and possibly support, although I don't know that they have come out and said that yet).

Also think about the users and what they will feel comfortable with. If you can make 8 look and feel like something your users are comfortable with, that will be fine and dandy, but 7 is going to be the process of upgrading easier for all (you know, not just looking at the performance "numbers).

For the sake of your users, I would get 7 while you can, skip 8, which looks like Microsoft's collection of "let's try this OS, then upgrade to 9/10/Cloud OS in 2020.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Generally speaking, I think Win 8/8.1 is a bit better resource wise than Win7. Any chance you can take one machine and install 8.1 on it to see how it does? You don't need to even buy Win8.1, just download the ISO from Microsoft and you should be able to skip entering a CD Key. For the sake of comparison, I run Virtual machines with Win8.1 installed that have 2GB of RAM and they run fine.

If you're a K12 environment with 1k machines, have you directly contacted Microsoft? They might have more information for you and be able to help more than AT will

 

[SimMike2]

Get an SSD to make any computer very snappy.

 

[blanalex]

Well we have our own KMS host, so the activation keys don't matter and we're obviously going to image them, we only need to make sure KB2919355 is part of the image or part of the task sequence.

I think we'll try W8.1U1 32-bit (requires less memory) on one of those computers, see how it goes. For a thing, driver management for a specific model will be either a charm (all the drivers already part of the OS) or hell (no compatible driver for some specific device)

 

[Matt1970]

With either 7 or 8 the ones with only 1 GB of ram will be bogging down at time. 2BG is the bare minimum I recommend even for a 32 bit OS.

 

[stinger608]

Well we have our own KMS host, so the activation keys don't matter and we're obviously going to image them, we only need to make sure KB2919355 is part of the image or part of the task sequence.

I think we'll try W8.1U1 32-bit (requires less memory) on one of those computers, see how it goes. For a thing, driver management for a specific model will be either a charm (all the drivers already part of the OS) or hell (no compatible driver for some specific device)

That would be the wise choice I think. After doing one machine with all updates, do a "sysprep" to the "out of box experience" and image that install. Then you will be able to push the image forward to all the systems.
Of course in order to use the sysprep feature the initial operating system can not be a OEM type licence. Check with Microsoft on Windows 8 to insure that the volume licence can use the sysprep feature. Also I believe it needs to be the Pro version to use that feature.

If not, then one would need to purchase a good disk imaging software like Acronis or the pro version of Macrium Reflect.

 

[gmaster456]

As long as they have a minimum of 2gb of ram you should be good. I've got Windows 7 running on an old dell with a 2.8Ghz Pentium D (Essentially a dual core P4) and 4gb of ram and it runs Windows 7 flawlessly. All the latest software installed and it even plays youtube. I'd imagine Windows 8 would run even better but I didn't have an extra license. You should be fine. 5-6 years would put you in the Core 2/Athlon 64 era and those run Windows 7 with no problem.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I've used Win7 on an Atom D2550, and Win8 on a Celeron 847. (The 847 replaced the Atom because the Atom's IGP is an incompatible mess.)

With an SSD and 2GB of RAM, Netflix was a little choppy on the Atom, but Plex worked on both, and web surfing was fine.

If your systems are slower than those, I would be seriously considering new hardware.

 

[bgt]

I think we'll try W8.1U1 32-bit (requires less memory)

True, 32bit is less memory hungry. But practice wise.....I don't notice the difference with a 64bit machine. Windows 8.1.1 is an OS which uses very little memory. The old 3.5/2.5inch harddisk will be the speed stopper.
Also try to do an UEFI install(enable UEFI in bios=many older machines have this disabled) and do this by:
1st: erase the complete hdd(recovery discs included)
2nd: format the hdd with the windows installer=when you do the setup in the install(which shows you the additional drives under UEFI mode=gives you an additional recovery and EFI system partition)
3rd:install Windows

 

[Morbus]

In my experience, Windows 7 will run on pretty much anything, unless we're talking something like Pentium 4 or Athlon XP. I saw an old Pentium D940 that was running Windows 7 pretty solidly.

Granted, if you have that crappy of a machine, I seriously advise you to buy yourself an upgrade, even if it's just a 60 buck CPU and 4 gigs of RAM, it'll be way faster, and you can throw your old 6600GT out, because the iGPUs kick those old dusty things into the curb.

Windows 8, on the other hand, has some serious problems with old graphics card.

 

[stinger608]

In my experience, Windows 7 will run on pretty much anything, unless we're talking something like Pentium 4 or Athlon XP. I saw an old Pentium D940 that was running Windows 7 pretty solidly.

Granted, if you have that crappy of a machine, I seriously advise you to buy yourself an upgrade, even if it's just a 60 buck CPU and 4 gigs of RAM, it'll be way faster, and you can throw your old 6600GT out, because the iGPUs kick those old dusty things into the curb.

Windows 8, on the other hand, has some serious problems with old graphics card.

Keep in mind he is talking about "a thousand" systems here.

 

[Mem]

Windows 8, on the other hand, has some serious problems with old graphics card.

Care to define serious problems?...usually it's lazy companies not supporting drivers on older hardware for newer operating systems,to be fair it's not an OS issue but the company in question when its down to drivers.

Btw blanalex I would go with Win8.1 over Win7 due to being newer OS so longer lifespan and support,also more secure security wise,also note Windows 8.1 is getting another update around September which is bringing back the old start button menu so it's not really a tablet based OS,IMHO more a hybrid OS which you can choose which way you want to use .

 

[stinger608]

Care to define serious problems?...usually it's lazy companies not supporting drivers on older hardware for newer operating systems,to be fair it's not an OS issue but the company in question when its down to drivers.

Btw blanalex I would go with Win8.1 over Win7 due to being newer OS so longer lifespan and support,also more secure security wise,also note Windows 8.1 is getting another update around September which is bringing back the old start button menu so it's not really a tablet based OS,IMHO more a hybrid OS which you can choose which way you want to use .

Yep, I totally agree on both parts Mem! Good points for sure.

 

[Morbus]

Care to define serious problems?

That I've experienced myself, crashes, ghost-reboots ad general instability.

That I've heard of and read about, that and not booting at all.

usually it's lazy companies not supporting drivers on older hardware for newer operating systems,to be fair it's not an OS issue but the company in question when its down to drivers.

It usually is, I'll admit. But I've experienced problems with an nVidia 210, which hadn't stopped being supported by nVidia at the time (its support dropped since then).

But it's very much like you put that, lazy companies not supporting older hardware on newer operating systems. Whether it makes sense for them to do that or not, that's a different question, but remember that there's plenty of old VGAs running perfectly out there. Stuff like 7900s or X1800s. Since we're talking about old computers, VGAs like that (and older!), stuff like that is a very serious reality.

 

[Mem]

That I've experienced myself, crashes, ghost-reboots ad general instability.

That I've heard of and read about, that and not booting at all.


It usually is, I'll admit. But I've experienced problems with an nVidia 210, which hadn't stopped being supported by nVidia at the time (its support dropped since then).

But it's very much like you put that, lazy companies not supporting older hardware on newer operating systems. Whether it makes sense for them to do that or not, that's a different question, but remember that there's plenty of old VGAs running perfectly out there. Stuff like 7900s or X1800s. Since we're talking about old computers, VGAs like that (and older!), stuff like that is a very serious reality.

I have only used Win8/8.1 on three different PCs I own, first has Nvidia 560Ti card which only had browser lockups on some newer drivers after 314.22s,however Nvidia found the driver problem and have fixed it(on Win7 and 8) on the last two or three official drivers(was a long thread in Geforce forums on this awhile back).

I also have 8.1 laptop that has Nvidia 650M graphics chip,that has had no issues in the last two years with Win7/8/8.1 ,again rock stable.


The last Win8 has 4870 AMD video card and again no issues on that,infact it was even installed into a Linux Mint PC I built a few weeks ago for testing.

Point I'm trying to make is you can have any OS ie WinXP,Win7,Win8 and get driver issues sooner or later,end of the day its nothing to do with the OS,I have seen issues with drivers since I first starting using Windows decades ago, its one thing that always pops up sooner or later regardless of WinXP,Vista,7,8,9,10 etc...


Have a look in Geforce.com forums and you can see no OS or owner is bullet proof to driver issues that's my point,end of the day the OS and even owners have to rely on having good drivers that are hopefully stable.


Having said all that I have had good luck with drivers in general on both Windows and Linux.

 

[ImDonly1]

IDK about you, but I just installed Win 7 on a C2D laptop for someone with 1GB ram and it was crap. RAM usage was almost 100% the whole time and nothing would load up. It was originally shipped with XP and they wanted to upgrade to 7.

I installed 4GB and it was a huge difference. The laptop is pretty good now.
I recommend 2GB minimum for Win 7. No idea about Win 8.