Vista v Windows 10

[Kennyeth]

If you do manage to get Win7 installed, it will have to be registered with M/soft from your laptop.
I made the mistake of re-installing the wrong operating system on a laptop that would not take W10. It did look like I had got it to install and then Wallop! it said my operating system was not registered so I had to start it all again.
If your W7 has not been installed on any other PC then you should be good....PROVIDING you have Windows 7 Service Pack 1 on too, that would depend on how old the W7 disk is, it usually says so on the label if it has.
Service Packs are very important when upgrading, you need whatever you have to be up-to-date.
Ken.

[chipsceola]

Windows 7 users, even if running a non-genuine product still qualify for a free Windows 10 update Microsoft have confirmed

[mh007]

Can I ask why you had problems with the other operating systems you tried to install ?

It definitely wouldn't have been locked to Vista.

Did you get installation errors or was it hardware not being recognised ?

If your laptop meets at least the required spec, Windows 7 should have been ok.
(I've found that the 32bit version is more 'universal' than 64bit, the main downside is that 32bit will only recognise up to 3Gb of RAM).

[Dallas]

Andrew, try to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 first, then you maybe able to upgrade to Windows 10.

Use the Windows7 Upgrade Advisor to check.

To check your specification, Select Control Panel, then select System, this will show you your Processor, Memory and System type.

[MSS]

That particular laptop should have a T-series Core Duo or Core 2 Duo CPU which is plenty for Win 10. I have it running on a T7200 based laptop as a play machine and it's perfectly fine with 2GB of RAM.

I would borrow a Win 7 disc and try to load it on the machine. If that's successful then purchase a Win 7 COA and activation followed by an uprade to Win 10.

Alternatively sell the machine and buy an ex-corporate Win 7 refurbished one for around £100 to £120 and go from there. This may prove the cheapest long-term option and you would most probably get a machine with a P8600/8700 level processor and 3GB of RAM for the price.

[Dragrad]

Tried to load Windows 7 before but the laptop did not want it I think it loaded up, but the would not do anything

[Seafrost]

HP could be part of your problem, took me 4/5 attempts to install it on a HP i5 laptop... which was running windows 7.1......

I switched off all anti virus, still blank screened me. I then downloaded Windows 10 to a pen drive and installed from that, still failed.

It then failed again, so I disabled the energy features that turn off hdd and screens after 20 mins etc..

Still no Joy, eventually, I chose to install and choose the option Overwrite everything, do not save my data.. and voila.. windows 10 working at last.

Current laptop I am typing on is Vista.. and I prefer that, as I have better control over it, Windows 10 is great for people, who just want to follow whatever they show you..... and be baby walked.... it spies far too much for my liking. However saying that Windows 10 has all the apps......

As others have said, upgrade to windows 7.... then proceed from there.. there is no reason that your current pc will not install any of the operating systems... there is something going wrong that you are missing.. trust me.. I did the same and thought I was losing my touch... but got there in the end, with much patience.. and assistance from Google....

Just waiting now for my Windows 10 upgrade to my windows phone....

I am not a fan of HP... very poorly built ( modern laptops ) with far too much interference from software......
Partners current laptop HP is back with PC world for a second time, its only 6 months old for a noisy fan, they cleaned it the first time, and sent it back, it still had the noise, so we asked they come and collect it and fit a new fan, waiting to see now when it comes back Saturday what they have done.....will never be using PC world again, nor HP.... much prefer my Acer or Asus...... as the HP's I have had apart so far, are far to intricate... fans hidden under everything..... very poor design.

Good luck... windows 10 is worth it.. if you eventually get it installed... I just prefer Vista due to my usage.......

[MSS]

Originally Posted by Dragrad

Tried to load Windows 7 before but the laptop did not want it I think it loaded up, but the would not do anything

I see there's an A900 on the bay for sale with Win 7. So the laptop is compatible with Win 7.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Compaq-Pre...item419aa1992b

Perhaps try again with a clean hard disc?

If you wish to borrow a clean 2.5" HD to try the load I can lend one. Then if it's still unsuccessful you have not risked you existing Vista build. Also, if you need to borrow Win 7 media I have 32 and 64 bit versions of Win 7 SP1 pro discs. Obviously it will still involve purchasing a Win 7 license after the 30-day activation window.

An alternative would be to run say Lubuntu off the CD just to confirm that the laptop is not locked to runing Vista. You just download the image and burn a CD. Then boot up from the CD and you have a fully functional pc running a windows like Linux OS. The current version 15.04 works very well on a laptop of the same generation as yours.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/GetLubuntu

[Dragrad]

Thanks everyone for comments & offers. My Computer expert will be calling with me this weekend so I shall put this thread to him......

[Dragrad]

Now reloading Vista and will sell the little used laptop