Worth re-formatting Core2-era rig? Or sell new rig? (Necro updated)

[Iron Woode]

I disagree with that.

Using, an install media that MS provides,
to upgrade install Windows 10 on a Windows 7 system, as MS specifies,
and having that upgraded OS "activate", according to MS servers...

Every step of the way, MS supplies / allows it to happen. I don't see how this is any way an "exploit". MS could turn it off at any point, at any step of the procedure. The fact that they haven't, seems to IMPLY that it's still a valid procedure.

I think I got a handle on this issue.

You are installing win 10 using win 7 keys on a custom made system. Win 7 is supposed to upgrade to win 10 using windows update. Since that is not happening any more, you are skirting that issue with created media while taking advantage of MS servers activating the license.

I am not trying to annoy you. I am just trying to understand what is being discussed.

 

[PliotronX]

Between the C2D hate and IANAL lectures, I'd say the thread has run its course, VL. I wish you luck whichever way you go on the project.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I disagree with that.

Using, an install media that MS provides,
to upgrade install Windows 10 on a Windows 7 system, as MS specifies,
and having that upgraded OS "activate", according to MS servers...

Every step of the way, MS supplies / allows it to happen. I don't see how this is any way an "exploit". MS could turn it off at any point, at any step of the procedure. The fact that they haven't, seems to IMPLY that it's still a valid procedure.

 

[mikeymikec]

VL, admittedly I've scan-read the thread, but I don't see anywhere the 'why' for all of this. What is actually the problem?

Are they complaining that the computer is slow? What are they asking for (and why)?

People in this thread saying that a C2D is too slow is pointless. It's the customer's expectations that count here. If the customer isn't complaining about things that are likely to point at the CPU's performance, then the CPU evidently isn't the problem. People have different expectations and needs.

 

[Raduque]

I didn't read the whole thread. If nobody else suggested SSD over anything else, let me be the first: SSD OVER ANYTHING ELSE. CPU is good enough, RAM is fine, but HDD is what holds PCs back now.

 

[VirtualLarry]

People in this thread saying that a C2D is too slow is pointless. It's the customer's expectations that count here. If the customer isn't complaining about things that are likely to point at the CPU's performance, then the CPU evidently isn't the problem. People have different expectations and needs.

Well, that's part of it - my personal understanding of how slow a C2D is compared to modern CPUs.

There was a performance complaint made by my friend, that the machine is too slow for watching Twitch.tv streams.

That's probably due to Flash Player, but my friend recently informed me that on his personal machine, they switched to HTML5 player, so he can watch 1080P streams full-screen again, without performance problems.

I guess I was just thinking how cheap it would be to drop in a C2Q, which I've admittedly already spent $15 on from ebay.

I also agree that it's past time to put in an SSD, the 500GB HDD is 5 years old.

 

[NeoPTLD]

Presently, my single biggest bottle neck is the WAN speed.

 

[NeoPTLD]

Does Windows 10 still accept Windows 7 keys for clean install?

lulz

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, looks like it didn't need a re-format at all. Went over there today, had a fake Facebook "your security has been violated" page, "call this number". Locked the browser. I let my friend handle it, since he knew what to try right off, and that way I didn't have to charge them.

He used Task Manager to kill the browser, and I told him to re-boot to see if it came back. It didn't. So I assume it's probably gone. If they report any further issues, I can go in with a manual malware removal tool.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, that's part of it - my personal understanding of how slow a C2D is compared to modern CPUs.

There was a performance complaint made by my friend, that the machine is too slow for watching Twitch.tv streams.

That's probably due to Flash Player, but my friend recently informed me that on his personal machine, they switched to HTML5 player, so he can watch 1080P streams full-screen again, without performance problems.

I guess I was just thinking how cheap it would be to drop in a C2Q, which I've admittedly already spent $15 on from ebay.

I also agree that it's past time to put in an SSD, the 500GB HDD is 5 years old.

Well, I'm going to re-visit this thread. Friend once again complained, when visiting his GF's place, that her PC was too slow for watching Twitch.tv streams.

In fact, he couldn't at all, until I had him install Flash Player (Netscape edition) on the PC.

Anyways, probably not too long after this thread, initially, I donated parts for my friend to build an FM1 APU rig, with 8GB of DDR3 and a 120GB SSD. The FM1 APU may have been slightly slower than the C2D-era CPU, or maybe it was about a wash but it was still a dual-core. Fast-forward to last week, my friend was over there, and was again complaining that it wouldn't watch Twitch streams without pausing, so I went over and upgraded to a quad-core FM1 APU that I had picked up months ago for that purpose.

It at least allowed him to watch 720P archives on Twitch, but he again had trouble later on, watching a live stream at 720P60. Which is weird, sort of, because the FM1 APUs are supposed to be able to decode H.264 @ 720P60 or 1080P30, in hardware. So maybe the PC wasn't configured right in software.

I've proposed building a 2200G rig, for $400, with 16GB DDR4 and a 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD, they said "too expensive". Also looking at maybe utilizing a G3258 @ 4.0Ghz, plus a GT 730 2GB GDDR5 card. Could re-use RAM and SSD in that case, and possibly not have to re-install Windows 7 64-bit.

Also looking at re-built refurb units, there is a Celeron G3930 Kaby Lake dual-core, 4GB / 500GB HDD, for $125, and a Core i3-7100, 8GB DDR4 / 1TB HDD / Windows 10, for less than $200, "used". (Not even "refurb".)

Edit: Oh, and using the most recently-released Media Creation Tool (for 1803), I made a USB drive, and installed a fresh new SSD into a couple of laptops that shipped with Win8.1 Pro keys in BIOS, and they installed and activated Win10 Pro. Didn't have to do anything. Guess that settles it, MS is still allowing upgrades, from legit licenses.

 

[mikeymikec]

Which graphics card does the FM1 rig have in? If not, try that first? If you have a modern one spare that is.

Is the twitch performance same on all browsers?

 

[sdifox]

Err Llano should not have problem streaming. I am leaning more towards malware or software config.

For reference, I was driving my 1080P projector without issues on an Opteron 165 back in the days.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Which graphics card does the FM1 rig have in?

None. It has a built-in VLIW4 iGPU, running on dual-channel DDR3, maybe 1333 speed.

Err Llano should not have problem streaming. I am leaning more towards malware or software config.

That's kind of what I would have thought. Is there some software switch that you have to manually flip, in Flash Player, to get it to use hardware acceleration, on Firefox, in Win7 64-bit?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Do they use any Windows apps besides the browser? If not, maybe a Chromebook would be best for them.

 

[mikeymikec]

That's kind of what I would have thought. Is there some software switch that you have to manually flip, in Flash Player, to get it to use hardware acceleration, on Firefox, in Win7 64-bit?

I've never seen Adobe Flash Player not run in hardware accelerated mode, every time I've checked (and TBH it's a long time since I've last checked) it's always been enabled. There used to be a trick I used, something along the lines of right-clicking on a Flash clip and selecting something like 'about Adobe Flash' or some settings option that would provide a tick box for hardware acceleration.

When I was looking for information on a different point I was just about to make just now, I found this:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1175551
It has the option I'm talking about.

I'd also check whether FF is running in graphics hardware acceleration mode. I'd probably go with Process Explorer and monitor GPU usage during a clip's playback.