Win 8.1 will run on almost anything made in the last 10 years. You should have a core 2 Duo processor, which is fine; my two laptops are Core 2 Duo. I would go for the 32-bit version for your machine. You will need to purchase a Win 8.1 installation disk for about $100. Get the retail version, not the system-builder version. Make sure it is a sealed package and not used. If used, you will not be able to register it with Microsoft.
Win 8.1 will install appropriate drivers during the installation. They may not be the best or the latest, but they will work. It will tell you if additional drivers are necessary. You won't need a new BIOS and most drivers will be OK, at least initially. If any drivers are needed, you can usually get them from the hardware manufacturer. Again, neither of my laptops had Win 8 drivers available, and I had no problems.
If you could find a retail version of Win 7 for a good price, you could install this and then upgrade for free to Win 10 this summer. I haven't found a cheap one however.
Thanks for the info. I'm a tech so I know the particulars. Already ordered the CD from Microsoft. They said it would have both 32 and 64 bit versions on the disk or send two disks. I already checked the Dell site for updates and will update the BIOS at least. There was a blurb about changing the processor to NX or something to install Win 8 so that's the only part I'm worried about...This is for a home user so it just has to work adequately. If it blows up on me, I will just put 7 on it.
NX is one of several CPU functions needed for Win 8. The Core 2 Duo CPU has these so you shouldn't have any problem. If you want to check, download Coreinfo and run it in a Command Box.
Its a Mid 2008 system and Windows 7 64 Bit drivers are listed. The systems Dell gave Windows 7 64 Bit drivers should run Windows 8.1 fine.
It was only older systems such as the Dimension 5150, OptiPlex GX520/620 which Dell only listed Vista drivers which had processors incompatible with Windows 8.1 64 Bit.
DELL-Jesse L
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April 29th, 2015 05:00
cagefree,
It may run on this system, but there are no Windows 8.1 drivers available. This would mean that the hardware may not work once you install windows 8.1
kirkd
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April 29th, 2015 09:00
Win 8.1 will run on almost anything made in the last 10 years. You should have a core 2 Duo processor, which is fine; my two laptops are Core 2 Duo. I would go for the 32-bit version for your machine. You will need to purchase a Win 8.1 installation disk for about $100. Get the retail version, not the system-builder version. Make sure it is a sealed package and not used. If used, you will not be able to register it with Microsoft.
Win 8.1 will install appropriate drivers during the installation. They may not be the best or the latest, but they will work. It will tell you if additional drivers are necessary. You won't need a new BIOS and most drivers will be OK, at least initially. If any drivers are needed, you can usually get them from the hardware manufacturer. Again, neither of my laptops had Win 8 drivers available, and I had no problems.
If you could find a retail version of Win 7 for a good price, you could install this and then upgrade for free to Win 10 this summer. I haven't found a cheap one however.
cagefree
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April 29th, 2015 10:00
Thanks for the info. I'm a tech so I know the particulars. Already ordered the CD from Microsoft. They said it would have both 32 and 64 bit versions on the disk or send two disks. I already checked the Dell site for updates and will update the BIOS at least. There was a blurb about changing the processor to NX or something to install Win 8 so that's the only part I'm worried about...This is for a home user so it just has to work adequately. If it blows up on me, I will just put 7 on it.
kirkd
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5.2K Posts
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April 29th, 2015 11:00
NX is one of several CPU functions needed for Win 8. The Core 2 Duo CPU has these so you shouldn't have any problem. If you want to check, download Coreinfo and run it in a Command Box.
Philip_Yip
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16.1K Posts
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April 29th, 2015 11:00
Its a Mid 2008 system and Windows 7 64 Bit drivers are listed. The systems Dell gave Windows 7 64 Bit drivers should run Windows 8.1 fine.
It was only older systems such as the Dimension 5150, OptiPlex GX520/620 which Dell only listed Vista drivers which had processors incompatible with Windows 8.1 64 Bit.