Troubleshoot Old pc installation. OS, Drivers, Software, etc... choise

Blitz

New Member
Thread author
Jan 27, 2015
14
Hi,
I'm in despair now, I'm trying to install old pc, searching info in internet, what software is best, what uses less resources, less lagging and etc., but not lucky. There is any guide how to perfectly reinstall pc, maybe helps somebody instaled features and programs list, or etc. I need just internet surfing, video streaming in internet, some music, and thats all, computer gonna be use by old man. Pc parameters: 2 Ghz AMD Athlon procesor, ATI Radeon 4200 HD integrated video card, 2 GB DRR RAM, 120 GB IDE HDD. Wanna use Windows 7 32 bit.
I already have 2 PC's on my job from 2000's, they are slow too, with WinXP SP3, 512 Ram... and need reinstallation too. Maybe somebody helps? Sorry for my English, and faults, I need fast response, thanks :)
 

BoraMurdar

Community Manager
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Well-known
Aug 30, 2012
6,598
Hello @Blitz
Do you have some problem installing Windows 7 on specific machine, or you don't know how to install Windows 7?
 
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Blitz

New Member
Thread author
Jan 27, 2015
14
I know how to install Windows, but I don't know what to do next. What drivers, versions, and etc. are best for my PC, what antivirus and malware use, what broweser is best, codecs, Adobe Flash player version....... In other words I need essential drivers and software, for smooth use. Maybe I'm in right way, but do something wrong.
 
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BoraMurdar

Community Manager
Verified
Staff Member
Well-known
Aug 30, 2012
6,598
I know how to install Windows, but I don't know what to do next. What drivers, versions, and etc. are best for my PC, what antivirus and malware use, what broweser is best, codecs, Adobe Flash player version....... In other words I need essential drivers and software, for smooth use. Maybe I'm in right way, but do something wrong.

Well, there's no the best software pack, I can just suggest you that you install Windows 7 (Choose edition that will fit your needs) 32bit, because of the RAM, 64bit Windows will get of use only if you have 4GB+ of RAM :

  • Update your Windows after successful installation, to let it get all important and recommended updates. It will also try to find and install all the necessary drivers for your hardware. You can open Device Manager after that, to see if all the drivers are installed successfully. If not, try to go on official website of your hardware manufacturer (AMD in the case of your graphic card) and download official drivers from there.
  • Security of the computer is essential. There are a lot of free Antivirus programs that are sufficient in protecting the computer. One of them is Avast
  • Browser is your choice. Firefox and Google Chrome are the most popular and probably, next the Internet Explorer, the most secure. Add some extensions like Adblocker to improve security.
  • If you are going to use Google Chrome and update it to its latest version,there's no need to worry about using the latest version of Adobe Flash Player. Chrome always has the latest version preinstalled in it.
  • Codec Packs will need you if you are going to play/encode/edit movies or video clips that are using third party containers and codecs, like h264, h265 HEVC, and others. K Lite Mega Codec Pack is one of good ones, if not the best.
  • Microsoft Office is the best office suite available, but it's not free. If you want a free alternative that does look alike, then WPS Office 2015 Free is a choice. Something different is LibreOffice.
  • SumatraPDF and Foxit Reader are good PDF handlers.
  • CCleaner. Probably the most downloaded software on the internet. For a reason. It will clean the junk from your system.
 
Upvote 0
Dec 19, 2014
4
Hi,
I'm in despair now, I'm trying to install old pc, searching info in internet, what software is best, what uses less resources, less lagging and etc., but not lucky. There is any guide how to perfectly reinstall pc, maybe helps somebody instaled features and programs list, or etc. I need just internet surfing, video streaming in internet, some music, and thats all, computer gonna be use by old man. Pc parameters: 2 Ghz AMD Athlon procesor, ATI Radeon 4200 HD integrated video card, 2 GB DRR RAM, 120 GB IDE HDD. Wanna use Windows 7 32 bit.
I already have 2 PC's on my job from 2000's, they are slow too, with WinXP SP3, 512 Ram... and need reinstallation too. Maybe somebody helps? Sorry for my English, and faults, I need fast response, thanks :)


Windows 7 Home Premium, 32 bit should run pretty good on the machine you are describing. You can also try Windows 7 Basic, it should run even better with this configuration.

Personally, on machines with little resources I use Bit Defender free, because it uses very little resources in addition to be easily used by an old man or people which are not very computer savvy. For movie streaming you can use Popcorn Time, works great for me and automatically updates, therefore little to no intervention is involved on the user's behalf.

Internet Surfing is a whole other story, if he likes to have a multimedia readily available, you can try Torch which is a Chrome fork, but the plus to this little browser is that he will have music readily available, he can use it to download torrents, play games and he can share on various social forums. Besides, you can use all of Chrome's add-ons.

WPS is excellent for word processing and spreadsheets, it's free, uses very little resources and it's 100% compatible with MS Office, including Office 2010.

Hope this helps!!!
 
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Paul B.

Level 4
Verified
Dec 21, 2014
186
The best thing you can do is up your RAM from 512MB. Even lowly netbooks have at least 1GB RAM. SSDs are very fast, but they cost.

Win XP is lighter and faster than even Win7 Starter, though W7 Starter has a nicer interface.

Linux is another choice. I keep going back to ubuntu. There are lighter ones out there, but I don't find much difference in performance. HOWEVER, if you really want to strip down and fly, give Puppy Linux a try. You can run it off a CD or USB stick to see if you like it. The new edition, Precision, is very attractive as well.

Whatever you use, go with a 32bit version. If it's Windows, after the install uninstall things you don't need, and disable autoruns and even hardware that you don't need.
 
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jamescv7

Level 85
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Honorary Member
Mar 15, 2011
13,070
Your specifications is already at the minimum needs to install Windows 7 with (2GB Ram). The drivers will that should not be a problem since Windows updates will attempt to download the compatible needs unless you have CD's to install them.

For you next one, since @Paul B. mentioned Linux then highly suggest if cannot upgrade to much larger capacity of RAM then try Puppy Linux.

http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview and Getting Started.htm

Known to handle this OS for such newer and older computer machine with the use of RAM.
 
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I

illumination

@BoraMurdar has responded with the best sound advice.. Personally when i fresh install an operating system such as your doing, i try to install the drivers first then update windows. I will look up the Computer manufacture "Brand Name of System" then go to their support section and enter the model number of the system and see if i can pull up its list of drivers.. I will then manually install them. If you need help looking this up, we can assist you.
 
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Blitz

New Member
Thread author
Jan 27, 2015
14
Hmm, maybe problem is not in software, but in hardware. I remember my old and my friends pc's. We had problems with psu, overheated, or demaged CPU, HDD, and other things, but I don't know how to check hardware properly, if it is not dead. Lowest windows experience index is 2.6 for windows aero, other things is from 3.9 to 5.2. I think pc must run good, but something is wrong. Slow internet, programs without internet, I think runs normaly. I somewhere found less resourses using antivirus like kompas and malware sandiebox. Browser: K-melion, this software is good enought for use, or not? I also try this guide I think pc runs faster. Thanks for previous replies :)
 
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Blitz

New Member
Thread author
Jan 27, 2015
14
What version is best for older pc? Starter, Home Basic or Home premium? I somewhere read the Starter version is for low end netbooks, with 1.2 GHz CPU, 1 GB ram, weak VGA, and small size HDD.
 
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Paul B.

Level 4
Verified
Dec 21, 2014
186
I think much of the difference among them is marketing rather than structural. That is, the features are there but locked. Starter is going to save you resources out of the box by being non-Aero, but you can pare down the others to approach the frugality of Starter. IIRC, Starter can't utilize more than 2GB of RAM.
 
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jamescv7

Level 85
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Honorary Member
Mar 15, 2011
13,070
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Blitz

New Member
Thread author
Jan 27, 2015
14
Better enable, or disable windows 7 updates? It's normal that I have process like svhostexe, system idle process and other, who eats pc resourses?
 
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