Question Does my motherboard support Windows 7?

[alirwez]

Hello guys,
I hope you're all doing well

I've got a pretty old system, it's currently running WinXP but I was wondering if I could upgrade it to Win7 maybe?
Here are the specs:

Motherboard: MSI MS-6788 865PE
CPU: Intel Celeron D 320 2.4Ghz
RAM: 1GB DDR (2x512MB)
GPU: 128MB Nvidia FX5200

I've tried booting it up from a USB flash drive containing the following ISO: WIN7X86.MULTi6.JAN2022.iso
but as the computer starts up it shows nothing but a blinking white dash at the top left corner of the screen

And even when I tried running the setup.exe from the USB through WinXP an error box appears with the message:
setup.exe is not a valid Win32 application.

So what could be wrong? And what would be the steps fix this problem?

 

[USAFRet]

1. However you're trying to invoke that setup apparently isn't a good file.

2. Even if you do get it running, 1GB RAM will be painful to the point of unusable.

 

[thestryker]

Sounds like the setup executable is probably 64 bit so perhaps the ISO you're using doesn't have proper 32 bit support.

I certainly agree that running it with 1GB DRAM is probably going to be a bad experience barring a lot of work lightening up the OS.

 

[alirwez]

1. However you're trying to invoke that setup apparently isn't a good file.

2. Even if you do get it running, 1GB RAM will be painful to the point of unusable.

I've tried recreating the boot USB using Rufus, which I've noticed has changed the format of flash drive to NTFS (it was FAT32) and the partitioning to MBR but got the same blank screen except there is some text now:

A disk reading error has occured
(Press Alt+Ctrl+Del to restart)

I should probably mention that I also have access to a 64-bit version of the same ISO but I don't reckon it would be supported by that system

 

[alirwez]

Sounds like the setup executable is probably 64 bit so perhaps the ISO you're using doesn't have proper 32 bit support.

I certainly agree that running it with 1GB DRAM is probably going to be a bad experience barring a lot of work lightening up the OS.

Well, the place I obtained it from mentioned that it's a 32-bit installation ISO.

 

[USAFRet]

I've tried recreating the boot USB using Rufus, which I've noticed has changed the format of flash drive to NTFS (it was FAT32) and the partitioning to MBR but got the same blank screen except there is some text now:

A disk reading error has occured
(Press Alt+Ctrl+Del to restart)

I should probably mention that I also have access to a 64-bit version of the same ISO but I don't reckon it would be supported by that system

Where, specifically, did you get the ISO for this Win 7?

 

[alirwez]

Where, specifically, did you get the ISO for this Win 7?

I have an old DVD which contains Win7 but since this system doesn't have a DVD reader I couldn't really use that, so I downloaded this ISO from an Iranian website.

 

[USAFRet]

I have an old DVD which contains Win7 but since this system doesn't have a DVD reader I couldn't really use that, so I downloaded this ISO from an Iranian website.

You're at the mercy of whatever that Iranian website is serving you.

Finally....even if you do get this running, what will you use it for?

Possibly consider a Linux install?

 

[alirwez]

You're at the mercy of whatever that Iranian website is serving you.

Finally....even if you do get this running, what will you use it for?

Possibly consider a Linux install?

Yes, that's certainly true. I was thinking maybe I'd use it for browsing the internet, Microsoft Office, listening to music, watching videos, and possibly to install some old Call of Duty titles?

 

[thestryker]

You really should be able to just start the install from windows if it's the correct version (32 vs 64), but you can still try some of the stuff here if you're sure it's the proper version: https://superuser.com/questions/272119/a-disk-read-error-occured-when-reading-bootable-usb

 

[lordmogul]

Will it work? Yes
Will it be enjoyable? Not really.

You'd want at least 2 GB, better 4 GB to have any usable room left. And any system that can comfortably run Windows 7 should run Windows 10 as well (as long as you have an SSD) which would give you at least 2 more years of Windows support and probably a bit more for installed software.

You won't find any drivers for that 865PE board, only what Windows gives you.

And the Celeron D isn't great either. It wasn't even good when it released.
The "D" in the name doesn't mean dual core, that is good old single core goodness, but from the incredibly low IPC Netburst generation, and additionally massively cut down.
On top of it it neither supports x86-64, nor NX bit or SSE4

Instead of doing anything recent with that I would turn it into a ca 2005-era retro rig for old games that don't run well on modern systems.
Chrome has already ended updates on Windows 7 and Steam will stop at the end of this month. The OS is indeed still usable, but won't get any security fixes. Software that still runs are on limited time. And running it on hardware that was pretty much obsolete when the OS it released won't help either.

 

[alirwez]

Will it work? Yes
Will it be enjoyable? Not really.

You'd want at least 2 GB, better 4 GB to have any usable room left. And any system that can comfortably run Windows 7 should run Windows 10 as well (as long as you have an SSD) which would give you at least 2 more years of Windows support and probably a bit more for installed software.

You won't find any drivers for that 865PE board, only what Windows gives you.

And the Celeron D isn't great either. It wasn't even good when it released.
The "D" in the name doesn't mean dual core, that is good old single core goodness, but from the incredibly low IPC Netburst generation, and additionally massively cut down.
On top of it it neither supports x86-64, nor NX bit or SSE4

Instead of doing anything recent with that I would turn it into a ca 2005-era retro rig for old games that don't run well on modern systems.
Chrome has already ended updates on Windows 7 and Steam will stop at the end of this month. The OS is indeed still usable, but won't get any security fixes. Software that still runs are on limited time. And running it on hardware that was pretty much obsolete when the OS it released won't help either.

So would using WinXP be a wiser choice?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, that's certainly true. I was thinking maybe I'd use it for browsing the internet, Microsoft Office, listening to music, watching videos, and possibly to install some old Call of Duty titles?

Not with 1GB RAM.

 

[USAFRet]

So would using WinXP be a wiser choice?

Not if it is connected to the internet.

 

[alirwez]

Not with 1GB RAM.

The system originally had just a single 512MB stick that somehow got fried, so wherever I searched for DDR RAMs I couldn't find anything except this pair of 512MB sticks.

Not if it is connected to the internet.

Well, that's fine by me. I don't think I'd have any internet uses on that system except for maybe Wikipedia.

 

[USAFRet]

Well, that's fine by me. I don't think I'd have any internet uses on that system except for maybe Wikipedia.

I was thinking maybe I'd use it for browsing the internet, Microsoft Office, listening to music, watching videos, and possibly to install some old Call of Duty titles?

hmmm.......

 

[alirwez]

hmmm.......

Well, none of those involve internet except "browsing internet", do they?

Anyways I'm going to keep the current WinXP installation or perhaps do a reinstallation.

What drivers do I necessarily need after installing Windows and what would be some good sources to get them from?

 

[USAFRet]

Well, none of those involve internet except "browsing internet", do they?

Anyways I'm going to keep the current WinXP installation or perhaps do a reinstallation.

What drivers do I necessarily need after installing Windows and what would be some good sources to get them from?

MS Office wants to connect online to validate the license.
Music and videos? From where?

By "not online", I mean NO connection at all. No WiFi, no ethernet cable...nothing.


Drivers? From the manufacturer.

 

[lordmogul]

The only OS that will run on that system that is safe to connect to the internet is a lightweight Linux distro. There is no properly safe Windows that will run comfortably on that hardware.

If all you want the internet for is reading Wikipedia, and you have to do it from that machine, there are proxy solutions that load and render the webpage on a different, modern system and send it to the old machine as picture, like wrp or webone or browserservice

For drivers the first stop should always be the manufacturer's website.

 

[alirwez]

MS Office wants to connect online to validate the license.
Music and videos? From where?

By "not online", I mean NO connection at all. No WiFi, no ethernet cable...nothing.


Drivers? From the manufacturer.

I live in Iran, and everything is either banned in this country or sanctioned (including this very forum). So a lot of stuff like music & movies would only be accessible through means such as MP3/MP4/MKV which I'm probably going to transfer them using a USB stick anyway, and MS Office and Windows activation wouldn't require internet because, you know. The only use from internet that's left would be reading articles, I guess. Anyways, thanks for the help and support. Truly appreciate it. Oh and by the way, is there a discord community for this website?

 

[alirwez]

The only OS that will run on that system that is safe to connect to the internet is a lightweight Linux distro. There is no properly safe Windows that will run comfortably on that hardware.

If all you want the internet for is reading Wikipedia, and you have to do it from that machine, there are proxy solutions that load and render the webpage on a different, modern system and send it to the old machine as picture, like wrp or webone or browserservice

For drivers the first stop should always be the manufacturer's website.

I'll see what I can do, thanks for the advice and for your sophisticated explanation.