Microsoft's Windows 8: Will it breathe new life into older PCs?

With Microsoft starting to roll out the final Windows 8 bits this week, users ponder whether it's worth installing them on older, non-touch hardware.

With Microsoft making available the final released to manufacturing (RTM) Windows 8 bits to some customers starting on August 15, it's a good time to contemplate whether it's worth grabbing them.

Yes, Windows 8 is a touch-centric operating system which will work best -- or, at least, most like the way its designers intended -- on touch-enabled tablets, PCs and monitors.

But I've heard from several readers that they believe Windows 8 includes enough under-the-hood improvements in security, reliability and performance to convince them it's worth putting on older, non-touch enabled hardware, too. Even without (or despite) the new user interface and touch gesture support, the rest of the OS is a worthy upgrade, some claim. They like the less flashy features, like faster boot times and fewer required restarts after updating.

Read more at:
Microsoft's Windows 8: Will it breathe new life into older PCs? | ZDNet
 
I've installed 8 alongside with 7 and did less to configure 8, and everything ran at around 338 MB of RAM versus 487 and the machine only had a gig of RAM. I say yes.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
I also say yes. I have Windows 8 installed on an old Dell Latitude D620, 2GB Ram and 1.4Ghz Proc and it runs incredibly well. Actually, this laptop struggled running Windows XP with any decent performance.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7, Windows 8 RP

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
It certainly will. I installed it on a 7-8 year old Acer Travelmate ( 1.6Ghz Intel Celeron processor, 2GB ram ) which, like Robr's machine, was struggling under XP and it runs very well. Which it incidentally also does running either Zorin 5.2 or Linux Mint 13 so I guess yer pays yer money ( or not, in the case of Linux ) and takes yer choice.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7/8
Runs very well on my Old Dell Inspiron Laptop but wont run at all on my Sempron 3000 desktop.....(NX!)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WIN7 Home Premium 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    Intel I7 920
    Motherboard
    Asus P6T-Se
    Memory
    6Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Sapphire HD5770
    Sound Card
    On-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS VW246H, Samsing Syncmaster 2233, Samsung Syncmaster T200HD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500Gb
    PSU
    Coolermaster Silent Pro M700
    Case
    NOX
    Mouse
    Logitech Marble
    Internet Speed
    10Mbps
    Other Info
    Dell Inspiron 1501 with Win 8 CP 32 Bit - flying along!
Hi there
the whole argument with Windows 8 is another issue but IMO the BEST way of breathing life into an older computer is to fit it with an SSD.

I put one into a smallish netbook with a humble AMD V105 1.20 GHZ processor and this machine now even boots W8 quicker than a decent desktop fitted with "Classical Spinners".

It's still amazing how many people who fail to realize that Disk I/O is STILL the biggest bottleneck by far on reasonable modern computers (always assuming you have more than the bare minimum of RAM).

Nobody BUT NOBODY I know who has fitted an SSD (or even more) into their machines has EVER regretted it and they all wished they'd done it earlier.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Certainly agree with you there Jimbo, I have both another laptop and a desktop fitted with an SSD and they both run extremely fast regardless of the booted OS ( W7/W8/Linux multiboot ). Couldn't, as far as I know, go that way with the Acer laptop though as it has an IDE drive but, considering its' vintage, I was more than surprised that it ran so well with W8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7/8
yeah, missed the boat on ssd drives, why I didn't go with one on my new computer (see my specs below) I built is beyond me.

when windows 8 comes out I may just get a ssd drive and slap the new OS and be up to date, I like speed :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro ($39.99 upgrade)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel I5 3570K overclocked to 4.2ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z77-V LX
    Memory
    Cosrair DDR3-1600 (4 x 4gb)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GT 610 2GB
    Sound Card
    None
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 27" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x0180
    Hard Drives
    Seagate HDD 500gb (windows)
    Seagate HDD 1.5tb (media)
    Seagate HDD 1tb (media)
    Seagate HDD 1tb (media)
    PSU
    CoolMax 700watt
    Case
    Cosiar R400 Carbide series
    Cooling
    Cool Master H212
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Mouse
    PowerUp 3 button mouse
    Internet Speed
    12mb down, 1mb up
    Other Info
    qty. (5) 120mm fans, four are monitored by motherboard.
    Logitech T650 Touchpad for touch screen gestures
The only "gotchas" with SSD drives (that I'm aware of, anyway) are the cost (which I am sure will eventually come down) and the idea of doing a total erasure of the disk. Traditional "disk wipe" programs don't do well for SSDs, so if you aim to get rid of one that has sensitive data, your best bet is total destruction.

Aren't most SSDs SATA? What do folks do with older systems that do not have a SATA interface - purchase a SATA card or IDE (PATA)/SATA adapter? Does the adapter option really provide any significant performance improvement?

I have an SSD in a Win7 laptop at work and the first thing I noticed about the laptop machine was the fast boot time.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 x64
The only "gotchas" with SSD drives (that I'm aware of, anyway) are the cost (which I am sure will eventually come down) and the idea of doing a total erasure of the disk. Traditional "disk wipe" programs don't do well for SSDs, so if you aim to get rid of one that has sensitive data, your best bet is total destruction.
I have SSDs in both my PCs. One is about a year old and the other only a few months.

In Australia the price for a SATA3 SSD Corsair 128GB just over a year ago was $389. The Corsair Force 120GB SATA3 SSD currently retails off the shelf for $129. So they have come down significantly in price.

The earlier generations of SSDs had issues with wearing quickly, and "fragmented" unused data, (not to be confused with fragmentation on a normal HDD - HDD defrag is unnecessary on SSD), slowing speed down. After much research and discussions with Corsair, I'm satisfied that both these issues have been addressed in later models.

Corsair claim a life expectancy of 20 years with write/rewrite of 20GB/day. This is backed up by other third party research. Follow this link here to a 200 page thread in Extreme Systems testing endurance. So the wearing is not an issue. Corsair advised that running an unconditional format will remove all data, short of a 4 pass military erasure; which they said the later generation SSDs would handle no problem. However, while I've done an unconditional format on the old SSD, with no apparent problems, I personally wouldn't bet the farm on the safety of a military clean not harming the SSD!

Also, Corsair have an inbuilt "Garbage collector", which coupled with the standard TRIM utility in Win7, (which auto initiates on install), combine to keep the SSD running at maximum speed without need for any third party programs.

These are links to posts in another thread in this forum with quotes from discussions with Corsair Tech Support: Here and here.

I personally use 3rd party Condusiv Diskeeper which has options specifically tailored to maintain maximum speed for SSDs. One feature is called "Intelliwrite" which writes data in such a way as to prevents data ever being "fragmented" in the first place. This is distinct from TRIM which deals with obsolete data unnecessarily occupying space. And different again to "defragging" by relocating data to maximize partially occupied data blocks.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ult Reatil & Win 8 Pro OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Built as DIY
    CPU
    6 core 12 thread & 4 core
    Motherboard
    Inel Extreme & Intel standard
    Memory
    12GB & 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    3 top end SLI linked & onboard
    Sound Card
    In built in graphics card & onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24 & 23 inch Samsung LED backlit
    Screen Resolution
    High def
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Force 128GB SATA3 SSDs in each machine. Plus several external USB3 and eSATA spinner HDs
This is a tiny tiny sample but...

About 2 years ago (more?) I built a new machine with an intel SSD for the OS drive and a traditional 1 gig spinner as the storage drive. Just this week the spinner failed SMART errors but the SSD is still flying along perfectly.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7/8

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Triple Boot: Windows Xp, Windows 7 and Windows Release Preview, Virtual Machine ( Windows 8 )
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer
    Motherboard
    Intel
    Memory
    6 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Controller
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio Hardware
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony LED Monitor (2)
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Western HDD (3) 1 TB Buffalo HDD (2)
    Keyboard
    Samsung
    Mouse
    Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    52 Mbps
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