Windows 7 [SOLVED] Windows 7 (Ultimate) on old netbook?

[Winfried]

Hello

I bought a second-hand Asus EeePC 1001PXD which sports an Atom N455 processor and 2GB RAM.

While Linux had multiple issues, XP worked right away.

However, as XP is no longer supported, I was wondering how Windows 7 would run on that hardware, either Home or Ultimate.

Thank you.

 

[Neemobeer]

Yes it should be able to run Windows 7. It looks like it supports 1 SO-DIMM DDR3 memory stick. While the manufacturer site states it only supports a 1 or 2GB stick I can almost guarantee it will support a larger stick and they should be pretty cheap.

 

[Winfried]

Thanks.

Indeed, it does currently have 2GB of RAM. Can I really add bigger sticks?

Actually, since it shipped with W7 Start, I'm more concerned about performance. Does anyone have W7 running well on such a slow CPU?

 

[Neemobeer]

Don't know how well it will run with an Atom it may not run that well and yes you can probably add more RAM. I've gone over what the manufacturer has listed for hardware plenty of times without issesu. Which Linux distro were you running?

 

[Winfried]

I tried a few lighweight distros (LXDE, ElementaryOS, Porteus, LinuxLite, SparkyLinux, etc.) but all of them had issues with either wifi, sound, etc. In XP, everything just worked, and the UI is consistent across applications.

Looks like 2017 still won't be the year of the desktop Linux

 

[Neemobeer]

Linux would still probably be the best option. Perhaps Mint would work better. If you do go the Linux route again. Feel free to ask Linux questions in the Linux forum here I can help with that too.

 

[Winfried]

Wouldn't Mint be too fat for such a slow CPU (+ possibly 2GB if it turns out it won't take more) ?

 

[Neemobeer]

No

 

[Winfried]

Booting Linux Mint 18 Mate off a USB keydrive, it boots a bit slower than XP, but it should be as fast from the hard drive.
The UI definitely looks better than LXDE, but I have the same issues I had with the other distros:

• Wifi fails authenticating
• Likewise, no sound through speakers, but OK through headphones (after downloading VLC)

I'll see if there are known solutions to those problems; If not, I'll stick to XP.

Thank you.