I did it again! Bought another windows 7 computer.

[TheForce]

After doing all I know to do to check whether my old dual core computer is capable of win7 64bit Pro, I went in to buy the OS and a new hard drive. I didn't want to upgrade the older machine's C drive. Walked out with a new computer for $75 more! It's just an i3 with a 500Gb drive but it runs slick as greased lightning. I now have to install my business apps which only take too long. I like that it already is easily seen and access to my other vista and win 7 computers. I can't get over how cheap these computers are. It's an i7-2120 with 8Gb ram and an Asus MB. can you believe it?- $449

 

[Frank Jr.]

Good for you! I might be in the market for one next year, maybe.... It wasn't an HP was it? If the price is right I will still buy one.

 

[TheForce]

No HP for me anymore. These are barebones components. The XP system I retired was an HP box. HP boxes are very difficult to upgrade and the OS is loaded down with lots of bloat I don't need.

 

[Frank Jr.]

No HP for me anymore. These are barebones components. The XP system I retired was an HP box. HP boxes are very difficult to upgrade and the OS is loaded down with lots of bloat I don't need.

I hear you.

 

[JAG72]

What windows performance rating did your i3 obtain?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

After doing all I know to do to check whether my old dual core computer is capable of win7 64bit Pro, I went in to buy the OS and a new hard drive. I didn't want to upgrade the older machine's C drive. Walked out with a new computer for $75 more! It's just an i3 with a 500Gb drive but it runs slick as greased lightning. I now have to install my business apps which only take too long. I like that it already is easily seen and access to my other vista and win 7 computers. I can't get over how cheap these computers are. It's an i7-2120 with 8Gb ram and an Asus MB. can you believe it?- $449

They all run "slick as greased lightning" the first month.

 

[Neutron]

Too bad they don't stay running "smooth as butter". Right Rocky?

You may have to trademark that like LER's "sux".

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Too bad they don't stay running "smooth as butter". Right Rocky?

You may have to trademark that like LER's "sux".

I have that patented - with co-ownership to Smith.


Even the mac doesn't run slick like greased lightning after a few months. OH, it still runs great, but I think the reality is ALL computers slow down a bit once the OS is fully loaded.

 

[TheForce]

Actually my old dual core was pretty fast but the problem with it was the XP OS which was becoming increasingly annoying when networked with the Vista and win7.

Jag72- It's a 4.6 on the graphics but the other tests are between 5.8 and 7 Not sure what that means but it's fast enough to chase a coon up a tree.


Needed to add 2 more hard drives for special backup. This box will be the one that will get the most use on the virtual PC. At first test run of my old Quicken and Page Maker the display was a bit sluggish. When I tested on the faster win 7 computer this was not an issue. When first installed the win xp mode and virtual PC it defaults to a half Gb of reserved ram. I soon going to increase that to 2 Gb, maybe 3 if necessary since I have plenty to spare for the apps I run. The other possibility is to add a fast Video card. I have a Radeon HD 6850 spare here I could try. Don't know whether that would help. The present is an onboard Intel HD video.

 

[Frank Jr.]

Actually my old dual core was pretty fast............
Not sure what that means but it's fast enough to chase a coon up a tree.

My HP PC that had the bad caps on the motherboard I repaired not long ago has an AMD dual core. For what I used for, it was and is speedy. It has Vista 32bit. I could upgrade it to Vista 64bit or Windows 7 32 bit, but not Windows 7 64 bit. Not really worth it for me. I keep it as a backup. It won't chase a coon up a tree though. I couldn't help but think of the late Jerry Clower when I read that. - A Coon Huntin Story - YouTube

 

[Neutron]

Why couldn't you upgrade it to Windows 7?

I didn't think you could ever upgrade between 32 and 64 bit without a clean install.

 

[Frank Jr.]

Why couldn't you upgrade it to Windows 7?

I didn't think you could ever upgrade between 32 and 64 bit without a clean install.

Shortly after I repared it I looked into it. I could go from Vista 32 to Vista 64 or to Windows 7 32 but not to W7 64 . That's what I was told by Microsoft.

Oh by the way, it would have been a complete clean install of the new OS. Anyway it would cost more than the PC is worth.

 

[TheForce]

This is more of a hardware issue than an OS issue. I currently have about 60 hard drives with client files. ( Video TV show projects ) I would like to add an IDE PCI card to one of my new 17 computers with win 7 pro so I can access these drives. I have tried using the ide to USB 2.0 adapter cables but they aren't recognized by the win 7 OS. They don't work with my Vista computer either. In recent years I began using SATA drives and these are no trouble connecting and accessing the data by either SATA / USB adapters or a sata breakout cable.

Can the PCI IDE cards be installed in modern MoBo computer as PnP device or is there a better way to connect the older IDE hard drives.

 

[diogen]

IDE/ATA drives don't support hot swap (as SCSI ones do).

The best you can do is use a drive caddy, like this.
It isn't really hot- but warm-swap, i.e. the system is halted when replacing drives.
But no reboot required.

From my experience some (very old) drives still won't be recognized without reboot.

Diogen.

 

[StevenD]

I have an old, external USB CDROM case that is IDE. I pulled the CDROM out and it works just fine with IDE drives.

 

[TheForce]

diogen- I'm aware of the hot swap limitation. It was nice with the USB 2.0 adapters but I don't need that convenience as much as just getting a card that can connect and boot up with an ide data drive. I found one for $10 at compusa and will try that. The older card I did try from Promise technologies was too old for a win7 driver. This new card also has a sata and esata port.

BTW- I have a bunch of those old drive drawers both for IDE and scsi. They were popular with me back in the 90's I think you are showing your age with mentioning those.


Edit- Just finished with the new PCI card and this one works perfectly. Good deal at $10.