So hi, I have a Windows 7 Home premium 32-bit with 2GB ram and Core i5,(I've had this since 2015) and I want to add a 4GB ram to it because it started getting slower. I know that 32-bit OS won't fully utilize the 4GB ram so I decided to go Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. (My CPU is 64 capable.)
I was wondering if adding more ram before or after reinstalling windows would help?
Also, my hard disk health is 92% and has 14 Current Pending/weak sectors. I plan on fully formatting before installing windows, will that help? Any advice?
Thanks in advance.
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2I would be more worried that your processor meets the minimum requirements for Windows 10. It's not clear what process you have, saying you have a Core i5, doesn't really indicate what processor you have since there are 11 generations of Core i5 processors (each with multiple SKUs). I believe it was Windows 10 1607 that made a very specific x86 extension a requirement, there were a lot of devices that exist, that can never receive newer versions of Windows due to that requirement. Windows 7 did not require this particular extension.– RamhoundCommented Dec 30, 2020 at 11:20
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1I don't remember which processors didn't have this particular x86 extension. I just know that the requirement changed with the release of what I believe was 1607. Microsoft effectively made 1607 the only version of WIndows 10 those devices could support for 10 years and promised to support that version for 10 years on those devices.– RamhoundCommented Dec 30, 2020 at 11:28
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It says Core i5 2400, I think it means 2nd gen. is it bad?– ChamathCommented Dec 30, 2020 at 13:54
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It’s more than a decade old– RamhoundCommented Dec 30, 2020 at 18:52
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2 Answers
Wow, 2 GB of RAM on a Windows machine in 2020? I can't imagine your suffering.
The order doesn't matter. Windows will happily accept any changes to your RAM configuration.
That drive must not be trusted however. Sometimes disks with bad sectors work for years, but sometimes the situation gets worse and leads to data loss. The drive may be able to remap those sectors to spares as they are accessed, but it's also possible that it has already run out of spares. In that case you'll be losing data.
Anyway, make sure your automated backups are working and restorable. If you don't have automated backups, you should. Disks die sometimes and yours was kind enough to give you a warning. Veeam Agent is my preferred backup solution, but there are others.
You'll be installing Windows from scratch anyway (you can't upgrade to 64-bit in place), so consider upgrading to Windows 10. Windows 7's support has ended and it's not safe to use anymore. The Windows 10 installer will accept Windows 7's product key, so there's no extra cost to this upgrade.
If you're thinking that Windows 7 is not that old... That's my gut feeling too, but actually it was released in 2009. 11 years ago. That's like running Windows 98 on Windows 7 release.
answered Dec 30, 2020 at 11:18
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I only have a Windows 7 dvd so I can't upgrade to windows 10 atm, unless there's another way to do it...?– ChamathCommented Dec 30, 2020 at 13:56
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@Chamath It's a free download from Microsoft. You'll need a USB drive at least 8 GB large to prepare the installation media. Contents will be erased. You can reuse the drive for something else afterwards. Burning a DVD is also an option. Commented Dec 30, 2020 at 14:08
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I don't really feel like upgrading to win 10 right now. I have to install Win 7 64-bit anyway to get win 10 64-bit, right?– ChamathCommented Dec 30, 2020 at 15:06
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No, just start the Windows 10 64-bit installer and enter your Windows 7 product key. There are no intermediate steps necessary. Commented Dec 30, 2020 at 15:25
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is there a step-by-step video or tutorial to get this done? As you would've guessed,I'm not very bright at these things.– ChamathCommented Dec 30, 2020 at 15:47
I would go for the RAM first and when the ram is installeand working fine you should update the operating system. If you go the other way around you may lack RAM for windows to work properly.
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does that usually happen? I mean is 2gb not enough for 64 bit Win 7 ultimate?– ChamathCommented Dec 30, 2020 at 15:23
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2 GB of RAM is the minimum system requirement for x64 according to Microsoft. It will be fine. Not fast, but usable. Commented Dec 30, 2020 at 21:29