With the arrival of new versions of Windows, many users are wondering if their older computers will be able to run Microsoft's latest operating system. The answer is not simple, since it depends on several technical factors, such as the processor, RAM, hard drive space and graphics card..
For example, according to Microsoft's official minimum requirements , running Windows 7 or 10 requires a 1 GHz or faster processor, 1 GB of RAM for the 32-bit version or 2 GB for the 64-bit version, 16 GB of free hard drive space for the 32-bit version or 20 GB for the 64-bit version, a DirectX 9 or later compatible graphics card with WDDM 1.0 driver, and a display with a resolution of at least 800 x 600 pixels. These requirements are the minimum for Windows 7 and Windows 10 to work, but be careful: meeting them does not guarantee optimal performance or a good user experience . To install Windows 11, the minimum requirements are significantly higher , including the fact that this particular operating system only supports 64-bit processors.
Technically, Windows 7 or 10 could be installed on this PC, but the experience would be bad. Source: Reddit If your computer meets the minimum requirements of the Windows you want to install, technically you can do it. However, it could be unusable. That is, it is very likely to be extremely slow and unstable due to its age and lack of power. For example, you may not be able to open more than one or two programs simultaneously, or more than two or three browser tabs. In addition to being slow, you should expect problems and errors with some components or programs due to lack of compatibility considering the age of the PC you have..
To enjoy all the features, advantages and above all a good experience with a new Windows, it is recommended to have a PC that meets at least twice the minimum requirements . We could call these the recommended requirements . For example, to install Windows 7 or 10, the PC should have at least a dual-core processor or higher, 4 GB of RAM or more, an SSD or hard drive with at least 64 GB of free space, a dedicated graphics card or integrated with at least 1 GB of memory and a screen with a resolution of at least 1366 x 768 pixels.
In conclusion, if you have an old PC and want to upgrade its operating system to a new Windows, you should check if it meets at least twice the minimum requirements specified by Microsoft. If your old PC does not meet the requirements of Windows 7/10 (preferably Windows 10, which requires the same as 7 but is more current and secure), it is best to keep the operating system you have or look for a more suitable alternative to your machine, like some Linux distribution. Updating to Windows 11 will be even more complicated because it requires other requirements such as TPM 2.0 ( although there are ways to get around this ), and it is not an operating system that is currently convincing either..
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