[SOLVED] Can I upgrade to Windows 10 with HP Compaq 6000 Pro MIcrotower?

[Maghdalena]

I have Windows 7 Professional 64 bit. As everyone who uses Windows knows, that Windows 7 is reaching the "end of life/support next January, so need to think about what OS to use.

I was thinking of Dual-booting and have a partition of 878 GB reserved, but before I spend the money for a new Windows license, I want to make sure that my computer is actually compatible with either Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. Here is what I have:

Computer: HP Compaq 6000 Pro
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo e8400 running at 3.0 GHZ
BIOS Legacy boot
Bios Instructions; MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, Intel 64, NX, VMX. I believe there's an option to enable PAE as well,
RAM; 8 GB upgradable up to 16 Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333 MHZ
My BIOS is HP Brand, version: 786G2 v01.09 as of 8/23/2009
I have virtualization and it is enabled
No video card, just the integrated graphics and sound via the Motherboard. I think it's a Intel Q45/Q43 Express Chipset
PSU: 320 W
2 TB Western Digital Hard Drive
3 TB Seagate External Hard Drive (where all my files are redirected/moved. (I wouldn't even know how to partition an external drive)

What I need to know is would it be better, realistically to go for the Windows 10, 8.1 on the partition that I've set aside for it? Or would I be better off with Linux Mint, which I was originally planning to go with, with my hardware? I have Windows 8.1 on a VM. I can't install it because I don't have a license key, but other than that it's OK as far as stable. I don't know about Windows 10 right now. I don't really know how to install 8.1 without a license key in a VM so I can "test it out before installing it on "hard metal"

Also, I'm not sure that it's on topic or not , but I've heard some really scary stories about major updates in Windows 10 causing issues like being "bricked out' How big a thing is this? How often does it happen and are there workarounds for it so I can get in? Is this a common problem, that is, does it happen every time, or is it rare, or what's the percentage of people that get bricked out of Windows? And does Windows 8.1 have similar update problems bricking out of Windows? This is the only computer we have, so I want to know how often this actually happens, if at all. I know that there's an "End of life" with Windows 8.1 (2023), but that Windows 10 updates tend to be "rolling' So how often does this actually happen and can I schedule them so it's convenient for me?

Would a separate drive be better for each OS, that is Seven (I use the PrintMaster 18, which uses .Net Framework 1.1 which is incompatible with 8.1, but not 7, so I use it on that. I'm kind of married to that program. Would bricking affect one drive or both drives.

I know these are a lot of questions, but I just don't want to buy the license till I'm sure what will work. I don't mind the start screen for Windows 8.1. Hopefully, by the time 2023 rolls around, we'll have the money for a new computer, but we don't now.

Any help would be really appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely yours,
Katherine Logan

 

[COLGeek]

Win 10 (which would be far superior to Win 8.x) will run on this venerable rig. You may even be able to upgrade for free using your current product key.

Video drivers are likely to be an issue since what you have is so dated. The basic drivers included with Windows will work, though.

Backups are a must, especially before doing anything to the OS and storage devices. Your PrintMaster program, if I recall, will not work on Win 10. That could be an issue for you.

You could just stick with what you have until you can afford a new rig.

 

[USAFRet]

Win 10 should run on this.
I have a similar vintage (2009) laptop running Win 10 just fine. Slow, but it was slow when it was brand new.

Before you do anything major, backup backup backup. And know how to recover from that.
Just so you have fallback position.

Even though the official 'free upgrade period' ran out long ago, it still works.
You should be able to upgrade the existing Win 10 license for free.

As mentioned above, some of your old applications may choke with Win 10.

Articles about Win 10 'bricking' a system are almost always the result of:

1. Faulty hardware to start
2. People that have gone way off the reservation with some very odd software config
3. Sudden power loss during a major upgrade
4. Clickbait scare articles

Win 10 is very very stable.

 

[Maghdalena]

Win 10 (which would be far superior to Win 8.x) will run on this venerable rig. You may even be able to upgrade for free using your current product key.

Video drivers are likely to be an issue since what you have is so dated. The basic drivers included with Windows will work, though.

Backups are a must, especially before doing anything to the OS and storage devices. Your PrintMaster program, if I recall, will not work on Win 10. That could be an issue for you.

You could just stick with what you have until you can afford a new rig.

Thanks a lot. I assume by video drivers, you mean drivers for video cards. I don't have one of those and don't plan to get one as my PSU won't support it as it's only a 320 W BTX, and proprietary. It looks good so far in the VM It took a long time setting up, but it looks pretty stable and isn't crashing. Of course, I expect a performance lag, being a VM.

All our files are on our external Seagate HDD. Do you mean backing up the Windows 7 files too, like with an image or are you talking about the files that are on the Seagate. I redirected those to the Seagate, and have no intention of putting the Windows 10 on that drive. It'd probably be on a second Hard Drive or SSD drive. I prefer an SSD drive, personally.

As for PrintMaster 18, that's why I'm keeping my Windows 7 Installation on the HDD that I have, so I can use PrintMaster, lol.

Also, I'd be interested in learning if you've had any trouble with the updates, including and especially the "Anniversary updates" Have you had any trouble downloading and/or installing, or issues after restarting such as being "Bricked out' Any ideas on how often this happens or to what percentage of people have this problem.

I'll be happy and looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Katherine "Maghdalena" Logan

 

[Maghdalena]

Win 10 (which would be far superior to Win 8.x) will run on this venerable rig. You may even be able to upgrade for free using your current product key.

Video drivers are likely to be an issue since what you have is so dated. The basic drivers included with Windows will work, though.

Backups are a must, especially before doing anything to the OS and storage devices. Your PrintMaster program, if I recall, will not work on Win 10. That could be an issue for you.

You could just stick with what you have until you can afford a new rig.

Just one more question... When you talk about video drivers, are you talking about integrated video or video cards, because my computer only has integrated. As far as Printmaster 18, I've heard it's probably safer to get Windows 7 in a virtual machine under Windows 10, I guess. Still a little twitchy about upgrading.

As far as backing up, all my files are on an external hard drive and my libraries are pointed to the hard drive, but I was advised to disconnect the hard drive when upgrading to be on the safe side. Could someone answer my question is if the video drivers are for cards, or for the integrated video drivers?

Thanks, Maghdalena

 

[USAFRet]

Also, I'd be interested in learning if you've had any trouble with the updates, including and especially the "Anniversary updates" Have you had any trouble downloading and/or installing, or issues after restarting such as being "Bricked out' Any ideas on how often this happens or to what percentage of people have this problem.

No major update or release version, for any OS, is 100% successful for 100% of the installed base.
iOS, Android, Linux, Windows....with every single OS, there are some systems that have an issue.

In my experience, on all the systems I've touched...Win 10 has been better than all previous OS's from Microsoft.

People today look back on Win 7 with rose colored glasses. Forgetting all those headaches.