Need Advice On Windows OS

[ChrisB1990]

I have an older desktop that I soon plan to dust off and upgrade. Issue is it has no HDD or OS. So once I purchase a hard drive I then obviously need an OS. I'm not too knowledgeable about purchasing an OS. I was thinking Windows 7 would be the cheapest but when I looked it up there were several different versions and some meant for refurbished PCs and so on and so on. So can someone guide my dumb ass in the right direction please?? haha

 

[hang-the-9]

It may be cheaper to buy a used business system with a copy of Windows 7 included on the system than buy a full new OS copy. I see tons of computers for sale for $100-200 with a Core i3 and i5 CPU, with a valid Windows 7 Pro OEM code on them. Since a new Windows license is about $100, the math is pretty easy to do

 

[BadAsAl]

What kind of desktop is it? Have you looked to see if it has a Windows COA sticker on it?

 

[Math Geek]

depending on the specs, you can probably get win 10 on it. works rather well with low end hardware.

but generally for win 7 on older stuff you only need home version. the others have a ton of stuff that will bog an old pc to a standstill. i put win 10 on an old netbook that came with win 7 starter (as stripped down as it can go) and win 10 runs better on it than the stripped down win 7 did!! and that thing has spcs lower than an average smartphone these days has.