Did anybody ever upgrade an old XP PC that is not Vista capable to 8.1. We have several of those sitting at our computer club and would like to give them to schools in underprivileged areas - but not with XP.
As long as it meets the minimum system requirements, maybe. There is also the question of hardware or device compatibility. Running Upgrade Advisor would give you a better picture of what is and what isn't.
Windows 8 has a number of strict CPU requirements, such as for DEP. Windows 8.1 adds to these requirements. Reasonably modern CPUs usually have no problems but pre Vista is another matter. The Upgrade Advisor is the best way to find out.
I have installed Windows 8.1 on quite a few XP computers. The only problem I've run into is when it doesn't support PAE and NX, which causes a BSOD during install.
This past Saturday I installed 8.1 Pro X86 on a Emachines All-In-One EX1601-01, 1.6Ghz CPU with 1GB of ram. Runs okay as long as you don't try to do to much at one time. Upping ram to 2GB would be a big help but it's a real PITA to open this one up.
I upgraded a netbook that originally came with XP to Win 8.1. Ran great. I did need to do a registry edit to be able to run Metro apps because the screen resolution was too low.
Home built i7-8700K, Hp Envy x360 EVO Laptop, MS Surface Pro 7
CPU
3.7Ghz Core i7-8700K, 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 4.7Ghz, 10th Gen Core™ i5-1035G4 1.1Ghz
Motherboard
ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming, HP, MS
Memory
16G, 8G, 8G
Graphics Card(s)
AMD Radeon RX580, Intel Iris X Graphics, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4
Sound Card
ATI High Definition Audio (Built-in to mobo)
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual Samsung U32J59 32 inch monitors, 13.3" display, 12.3" display
Screen Resolution
3840x2160 (Desktop), 1920x1080 (laptop), 2736x1824 Pro 7
Hard Drives
500GB ssd boot drive with 2 & 10TB Data (Desktop), 512GB ssd (laptop), 128GB SSD (tablet)
PSU
Corsair CX 750M
Case
Antec 100
Cooling
Coolermaster CM 212+
Keyboard
IBM Model M - used continuously since 1986
Mouse
Microsoft IntelliMouse
Internet Speed
665Mbps/15Mbps down/up
Browser
FireFox, MS Edge
Antivirus
Defender on all
Other Info
Retired in 2015 after working in the tech industry for 41 years. First 10 years as a Technician, the rest as a programmer/software engineer. After 1 year of retirement, I was bored so went back to work as a Robotic Process Automation Consultant. Retired for 3rd (and final) time in 2019.
I've tried Installing W8.1 onto a Dell Optiplex GX260 Desktop that has a Pentium 4 CPU that runs 2.8 Ghz for speed and it CAN'T be done. It won't support NX for AntiVirus support and so, it crashes. Anything after a P4 should button up. Personally, I would go and install W7 Ultimate (very versatile) and use all of the Compatibility you possibly can. Windows 7 runs VERY well on older units. Goodday.