Help with choosing Win 7

Hello,
I have n HP Pavillion dv6000 laptop that is currently running WinXP Media center edition 2005. I have an Intel Core 2 T5500@1.66GHz, 2Gb of RAM.

My company is encouraging everyone to upgrade to Win7 PRO in light of Microsofts discontinuing service of XP in the near future.

I have been researching upgrading my laptop and have found that I can increase mempry to 3Gb. I have run the Win 7 compatability program and it says I can run the 32 or 64 bit version of Win 7. I dont know which version I need. The programs I generally use haven't changed in the last 5-10years that I know of, so I don't think they are 64 bit programs.

Can someone help me make a clear decision on what to get?

PS: What is a "Builder" version? It's cheaper on Amazon.

Builder license is kind of like OEM license, intended for people who build their own computer. The license is limited to that computer and that computer alone, even if it were to die beyond repair in the future.

This article has the major distinctions between the editions.

There are many arguments for and against going 64-bit, and you can search on the forums for more discussions on that. Since your computer isn't likely to ever see more RAM than 3 GB or so, and it doesn't sound like you do processor-intensive stuff, you'd be fine with 32-bit, but as a general rule of thumb I don't recommend 32-bit for people who can run 64...

You state that you can increase your memory to 3 GB. That's unusual because usually memory goes in even increments, i.e., 2-4-6-8-10 GB on the max a system or motherboard can utilize. A lot of laptops I have seen can use up to 4GB, and probably yours can also.

What make and model is your laptop? You probably have 2 SO-DIMM slots able to handle up to 2 GB per slot.

Give us some more info please. It's hard to answer RAM questions when we don't know what your hardware is.

Thanks... it is appreciated and Welcome to the Windows 7 Forums website!

Actually, OEM is the old term, industry-wide term. System Builder is Microsoft's name for their OEM versions.

That said, you are correct that the System Builder (OEM) version is for folks who build their own, and it is to be used with that computer (or motherboard) only.

When upgrading, you should purchase the "upgrade" version.

Thanks for all the fast responses. Nibiru, my laptop is a HP Pavillion dv6000 (dv6135nr on the serial # tag). I found that it does have 2 slots under the battery compartment. I have been told by others that my processor will only recognize 3GB. I was planning on putting in two 2GB cards but was told I should put one 2GB card and leave the other 1GB card.

Some of the business programs I use are: WinTotal - an appraisal program which needs 512mb RAM and 500mb free space;

Simsol - an adjusting program reuuirements below:
PC with Pentium 600 MHz microprocessor or higher (800 MHz Recommended)
256 MB of RAM (512+ MB Recommended)
100MB of free hard disk space

Xactimate - another adjusting program:
PC with dual core processor
2-4GB RAM and 10GB continual free space

According to the notebook's specs at the HP website your laptop is only capable of a total of 2GB of RAM.

See screen grab of web page specs:



This is fairly old notebook about 2006 I would say from what I've read on the HP website. The only BIOS update is for 2007.

I recommend using Windows 7 32-bit Professional. Since all the RAM this system can handle is 2GB than the 32 bit is your best bet.

You could try 3GB but it may not work.

Perhaps you could convince your company to purchase a newer laptop for you. This was really designed to run on XP, not Windows 7.

The Intel Mobile 945GM Express chipset only supports the following operating systems:

Mobile Intel® 945GM Express Chipset Family Which operating systems are supported?
The Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator Drivers for the Mobile Intel® 945GM Express Chipset Family support the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows Vista* (32-bit and 64-bit versions)
• Microsoft Windows* 2000 Professional, (Service Pack 1 and later)
• Microsoft Windows* XP Professional/Home Edition, (Service Pack 1 and later)
• Microsoft Windows* XP Tablet PC Edition, (Service Pack 1 and later)
• Microsoft Windows* XP Media Center Edition 2004/20051

There is a Windows 7 driver for it though... I find that interesting. Intel can be so convoluted sometimes.

Regardless, the Windows 7 Professional 32-bit is the one to go with due to the RAM limitation.

You could run 64-bit, but that's the minimum required by the 64-bit Windows 7 .

Just FYI 2GB is the recommended bare minimum for 64-bit and if any of your software would need to run in Virtual XP mode that really begs for more mem which according to the specs, Nibs found, you can't handle; so I second the 32-bit because it's mem needs are lower (and that is a rare recommendation for me as well).

You should also attach and turn on all your devices, printers, usb devices etc and run the Windows 7 upgrade advisor; it will do it's best to tell you what software and hardware you have may experience problems or not install at all in W7.

What's really frustrating is that the 64bit Pro OEM version @ Newegg is currently on sale for $119 while the 32-bit OEM is still the regular $139, but I'm afraid your hardware just would work much better with 32.

If you aren't making this decision immediately then I would suggest you put yourself on autonotify for this combo deal for Win 7 Pro OEM + TuneUp Utilities 2010 for only $119.98; they are currently out-of-stock but it's a good deal if it shows up while you are considering. I use TuneUp Utilities 2010 on my machine and I like it's features - it does automatic HD defrags as well as has a nice interface for some windows tweaks, but for $20 savings it's worth it even if you throw it away.

OK, based upon all of your feedback, it seems I would be better off purchasing a new computer. I found the Toshiba Satellite L675-S7044 at TigerDirect.com The specs are:
Toshiba Satellite L675-S7044 PSK3AU-02E02S Notebook PC - Intel Pentium Dual-Core P6100 2.0GHz, 4GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, 17.3" Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
I also found the home premium to Pro upgrade on Amazon for $79.
There is a reviewer that added this:
Beware though: Not all CPUs take advantage of Windows 7 Professional. Above all, "Virtual PC" and "XP Mode" will be fully working only on processors that have the relevant Hardware Virtualization features; on Intel 2010 CPUs, the key one is "VT-d", that you find only on i5-520 up (see http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?id...63,49666,49024 for the most frequent Intel CPUs, and eventually remove some of them from the list for easier reading); for details, Google "Intel® Virtualization Technology", "VT-x"", "VT-d", and pick results from Intel and Wikipedia; for Virtualization software, start with InfoWorld "VMware vs VirtualBox", Sep 2008.
I researched this processor and it says it does not have Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x). Does this mean that it will not run the XP programs that I listed previously? I'm sorry for all the questions. I just don't want to buy a machine that doesn't fit my needs.

Virtualization requirements have been removed from Virtual PC - XP mode; that article is old. Other Virtualization software (Non-Microsoft) may still need it but as I said, not Virtual PC - XP mode any longer.