BleepingComputer.com: Preparing Dell pc for Win 7

Hello.
I have a Dell Dimension E520 that is about 4 years old currently running XP Home.

After looking at the hardware, I'm thinking it's not quite sufficient to properly run Win 7. I've run the MS Upgrade Advisor but had some trouble interpreting the plethora of data I received. I'm not at home to check some of the specifics, but here are some of the key components that I think may determine whether I can upgrade to Win 7.

OS - XP HOme v2002 SP3
Mother board - WG864. Would this have an impact?
CPU - Intel Pentium R D 3.0ghz, 2.99ghz
RAM - 4 gb installed, only 3gb recognized
Video card - 256mb ATI Radeon X1300Pro. I'm thinking this will likely need to be upgraded to at least a 1mb card.
Power supply - 300w. May need to upgrade this depending on the new video card requirements.
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 500mb SATA
CD-ROM - LG 24x Super Multi DVD Rewriter

I'm thinking I will need to upgrade the power supply and video card. Other than that, I should be ok.
Your thoughts?
Thanks for reading.

This post has been edited by SuperT: 06 September 2011 - 05:11 PM

Welcome to Bleepingcomputer and welcome to the world of Windows 7.

I went through the upgrade from Windows XP Home edition SP3 to Windows 7 Home edition myself about a year and a half ago.

I have to admit the toughest part is the way you have to re-install all your programs again after the upgrade when the upgrade is from XP to Win 7.

I find it was easier just to start over again, but one thing I did do was save all my installation files I may have downloaded from the web from programs I bought on line to updates I downloaded.

Windows 7 is designed to be upgraded from Windows Vista, so as it turns out, the XP to Windows 7 upgrade ends up being a lot of work.

I am using windows 7 with aero effects with no problems on an Asus A7V8X motherboard with an AMD Athlon XP 2400+ processor @ 2000MHz, 3 GB PC 3200 DDR RAM and a Nvidia GeForce 6200, with 256 MB and Windows 7 runs quite well on my system.
I have not noticed any performance hits since the upgrade.

I think you are in the ballpark of being able to run Windows 7 with no issues or stability problems.

So my suggestion is to go for it.

Bruce.

This post has been edited by MrBruce1959: 06 September 2011 - 08:09 PM

Also don't forget about the drivers that is needed.

You need a video card that has drivers for windows 7. The 3GB is most likely because you are running a 32 bit XP. Get the 64bit Windows 7 and use all 4 Gb memory.

Make sure the video card you buy has WIn7 drivers. Since that isn't a gaming machine a basic 256Mb video card should be adequate.

Other possible problems are the sound drivers and ethernet drivers.

This post has been edited by rotor123: 07 September 2011 - 02:08 PM