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Upgrade from Win 7 home premium to pro?

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guiri

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Guys, apperntly win 7 home premium only uses up to 16 gigs and I'll have to upgrade to pro to use my 32 gigs of ram. So, I looked up how to upgrade and here's what it said.

"In Windows 7 Home Premium, type Anytime Upgrade in the Search programs and files box in the Start menu and click on the Windows Anytime Upgrade icon. From there, you can enter your retail (Full or Upgrade) Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate product key and perform a simple upgrade."

Is it that simple and how do I know if the files needed ARE on my computer already?

Thanks

George
 
If your computer can run a 64 bit version of Win 7, 32 gb versions of the operating system can only use 4gb RAM, you really should upgrade to 64 bit Win 10 Home. I am pretty sure Microsoft will still allow that upgrade for free. Otherwise there are legitimate ways to buy a Win 10 key for less than $10.

The amount of RAM a version of Win 7 can address is determined by whether the operating system is the 32-bit or 64-bit version, not Home or Pro.

If you are running a 32-bit version of Win 7 and have 16gb RAM installed then only 4gb of it can be addressed by the operating system. That will not change if you install 32 gb of RAM. As I dimly recall Win 7 Pro came in 32-bit and 64-bit variants as did Win 7 Home (the Pro version is essentially identical to the home version except for networking options).

You cannot upgrade in place a 32-bit version of Windows to 64-bit. You have to reinstall the operating system and applications. The operating system will still register with Microsoft as long as it is on the same computer.

Win 10 is backwards compatible with software and drivers that run on Win 7, I suppose there could be a few exceptions but I never found any.

Off topic but: Win 11 has wide software and driver incompatibilities unless an upgrade in place is performed from Win 10 and even then there can be driver issues.
 
You sound just like my computer guy...hater :)

The problem is that not only do I not want to learn win 10 but I also have a buttload of software that won't work on it and I can't afford to upgrade all the programs and I don't want to 'cause in many cases, I prefer the older versions of my software :(

George
 
bmoag said:
If your computer can run a 64 bit version of Win 7, 32 gb versions of the operating system can only use 4gb RAM, you really should upgrade to 64 bit Win 10 Home. I am pretty sure Microsoft will still allow that upgrade for free. Otherwise there are legitimate ways to buy a Win 10 key for less than $10.

The amount of RAM a version of Win 7 can address is determined by whether the operating system is the 32-bit or 64-bit version, not Home or Pro.

If you are running a 32-bit version of Win 7 and have 16gb RAM installed then only 4gb of it can be addressed by the operating system. That will not change if you install 32 gb of RAM. As I dimly recall Win 7 Pro came in 32-bit and 64-bit variants as did Win 7 Home (the Pro version is essentially identical to the home version except for networking options).

You cannot upgrade in place a 32-bit version of Windows to 64-bit. You have to reinstall the operating system and applications. The operating system will still register with Microsoft as long as it is on the same computer.

Win 10 is backwards compatible with software and drivers that run on Win 7, I suppose there could be a few exceptions but I never found any.

Off topic but: Win 11 has wide software and driver incompatibilities unless an upgrade in place is performed from Win 10 and even then there can be driver issues.
Click to expand...
First, let me address the win version. I DO have 64 bit software and below is the info from my systems screen.

My problem is that I don't like the look of win 10 (or I guess now, 11). The few times I've tried to use it, I thought it was a pain and I couldn't get much done. I guess I could learn but I have more issues than that. I've gotten to the point with my memory and my brain that I can barely learn anything anymore so I try not to make changes (long story). Also, like I said, I have a buttload of different programs that are old and that I prefer that I'm sure would NOT work with 10 or 11.

0dea73fbf8444d51b81c933f6c95a39c.jpg
 
guiri said:
You sound just like my computer guy...hater :)
The problem is that not only do I not want to learn win 10 but I also have a buttload of software that won't work on it and I can't afford to upgrade all the programs and I don't want to 'cause in many cases, I prefer the older versions of my software :(
George
Click to expand...
George, I am with you in many ways but Kelpdiver is also right.

I was extremely reluctant to move from Win 7 to Win 10. In the end my hand was forced by Microsoft's cessation of security upgrades for Win 7.

You can configure Win 10 to be almost like Win 7 and almost all the software I had (which included Win XP and even Win 95 applications) can be run as if they are in a Win 7 environment. Very little that I had absolutely refused to run under Win 10. One of those was Paintshop Pro v9 - I had to move to v21 (and I don't like it).

Another option is dual-booting: Either Win-10 or Win-7 enabled as the machine boots up.

Now I am resisting Win-11 ... and may move to Linux because of it
 
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I'm with you on the software side. My wife prefers to use an older piece of software for making greeting cards, and it doesn't run well if at all under Win10. I went as far as picking up a refurbished PC running Win7 just to be able to use this software, I use KM switch and switch between analog and digital inputs on the monitor. It doesn't see much use but it keeps she who must be obeyed happy 😊
 
guiri said:
guiri wrote:
My problem is that I don't like the look of win 10 (or I guess now, 11). The few times I've tried to use it, I thought it was a pain and I couldn't get much done. I guess I could learn but I have more issues than that. I've gotten to the point with my memory and my brain that I can barely learn anything anymore so I try not to make changes (long story). Also, like I said, I have a buttload of different programs that are old and that I prefer that I'm sure would NOT work with 10 or 11.
Click to expand...
I can't help with actual incompatibility, but as far as look and feel go, I used the free program Classic Shell (now Open-Shell) to make Windows 8 more like Windows 7. It has a lot of configuration options to suit personal preferences.

Loading…

github.com
 
guiri said:
You sound just like my computer guy...hater :)
The problem is that not only do I not want to learn win 10 but I also have a buttload of software that won't work on it and I can't afford to upgrade all the programs and I don't want to 'cause in many cases, I prefer the older versions of my software :(
George
Click to expand...
Hi , excuse me, but I will sound in accord with your computer guy probably.

If the security and privacy is not a big deal for you, stay where you are. (No, for god’s sake).

Otherwise:

- really do check your buttload of SW for compatibility with Windows 10, let aside the prejudice

- don’t get discouraged by the Windows 10 user interface, (I was too, once)

Just stay on the desktop screen and get used to find the app via the “magnifying glass” . Then pin it to your taskbar, eventually.

If you get lost, just switch to the desktop screen again.

That’s all.
 
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Billiam29 said:
bmoag said:
The amount of RAM a version of Win 7 can address is determined by whether the operating system is the 32-bit or 64-bit version, not Home or Pro.
Click to expand...
According the Microsoft article below, the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Edition was indeed limited to 16 GB just as George is stating. See the section near the end titled "Physical memory limits in Windows 7".

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...omputers-3d194dc3-39b9-fae7-74d8-59931b53d2c2
Click to expand...
16 GB if you had Windows 7 Home Premium. 8 GB if you had Windows 7 Home Basic.
 
David Lal said:
guiri said:
You sound just like my computer guy...hater :)
The problem is that not only do I not want to learn win 10 but I also have a buttload of software that won't work on it and I can't afford to upgrade all the programs and I don't want to 'cause in many cases, I prefer the older versions of my software :(
George
Click to expand...
George, I am with you in many ways but Kelpdiver is also right.

I was extremely reluctant to move from Win 7 to Win 10. In the end my hand was forced by Microsoft's cessation of security upgrades for Win 7.
Click to expand...
that's probably true of anyone running an old machine, they ran fine with Win 7. but time moves on.
David Lal said:
You can configure Win 10 to be almost like Win 7 and almost all the software I had (which included Win XP and even Win 95 applications) can be run as if they are in a Win 7 environment. Very little that I had absolutely refused to run under Win 10. One of those was Paintshop Pro v9 - I had to move to v21 (and I don't like it).

Another option is dual-booting: Either Win-10 or Win-7 enabled as the machine boots up.
Click to expand...
basically what i did, i ran Win 7, 8, and 10. after a while i just stayed with Win 10 after getting all my programs loaded up.

if you remember the old 'sneaker net' that is about the way i run my computers. for the C drive i use a small SSD and use Samsung drives with various operating systems. Samsung makes duplicating drives so simple that i made 2 drives just for Win 10 and have one SSD for Win 7.

not very technical, but i just plug in an OS drive for what i want to do. if a drive goes down, not much pain either.

in the end i moved over to Win 10 slowly, then one day i flew out of the nest and haven't looked back.
David Lal said:
Now I am resisting Win-11 ... and may move to Linux because of it
Click to expand...
i see no point in resisting Win 11 but these old computers aren't set up for that and demand something a bit newer. from what i hear, there isn't much in Win 11 to benefit me, so i will gradually move over in time and a good deal on another pc appears.

with Windows 12 coming out and Win 10 days being numbered, i may just skip Win 11 and go straight to Win 12 next year or so..........if there is a good reason to move. :-)

Edit, just checked up on Windows 12 and it seems quite compelling vs what we have now...

We should begin to see this trend this year as AMD’s next generation AI-enabled PCs come to market, and then we can begin to wonder whether our laptop is becoming smarter than we are.

from computer world: Microsoft teases Windows 12 at CES 2023
 
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bmoag said:
The amount of RAM a version of Win 7 can address is determined by whether the operating system is the 32-bit or 64-bit version, not Home or Pro.
Click to expand...
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 can use 16GB, while Windows 7 Professional x64 can use 192GB, so yes, "Home" or "Pro" does have a bearing on the amount of useable memory.

7fc23b1662494aa4bcc9dc3ebb6ba8f9.jpg
 
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guiri said:
You sound just like my computer guy...hater :)
The problem is that not only do I not want to learn win 10 but I also have a buttload of software that won't work on it and I can't afford to upgrade all the programs and I don't want to 'cause in many cases, I prefer the older versions of my software :(
George
Click to expand...
Just giving you the facts.

I question if you really have a buttload of programs that won't run on 10. I stayed on 7 pretty long, but don't recall any that did not. But the other answer is that any crappy sw that can't run on 10 probably doesn't care if you have 32 or 16 gig of memory.

Security concerns remain paramount. I would only run 7 on an airgapped machine at this point.
 
Trollish post deleted, user warned.
 
kelpdiver said:
guiri said:
You sound just like my computer guy...hater :)
The problem is that not only do I not want to learn win 10 but I also have a buttload of software that won't work on it and I can't afford to upgrade all the programs and I don't want to 'cause in many cases, I prefer the older versions of my software :(
George
Click to expand...
Just giving you the facts.

I question if you really have a buttload of programs that won't run on 10. I stayed on 7 pretty long, but don't recall any that did not. But the other answer is that any crappy sw that can't run on 10 probably doesn't care if you have 32 or 16 gig of memory.

Security concerns remain paramount. I would only run 7 on an airgapped machine at this point.
Click to expand...
Well, I'm ok with 16 gigs if I have to but I would prefer to run all 32. After all, that is why I got the new puter with 32 gigs. I spend most of my time on the puter with firefox and I routinely have a buttload of tabs open which take a lot of memory.

I don't KNOW if 10 will run all my software or not but I'm guessing it won't.

Right now, I'm not back up and running with all my software and I'm managing so maybe I can manage with win 10 and fewer proggies. My puter guy did make me a win 10 installation so I can always just switch to it if I want to and I bought a bunch of ssd's so I can make drive images as I continue installing stuff in case something crashes and I have to start again.
 
Austinian said:
Austinian said:
guiri wrote:
My problem is that I don't like the look of win 10 (or I guess now, 11). The few times I've tried to use it, I thought it was a pain and I couldn't get much done. I guess I could learn but I have more issues than that. I've gotten to the point with my memory and my brain that I can barely learn anything anymore so I try not to make changes (long story). Also, like I said, I have a buttload of different programs that are old and that I prefer that I'm sure would NOT work with 10 or 11.
Click to expand...
I can't help with actual incompatibility, but as far as look and feel go, I used the free program Classic Shell (now Open-Shell) to make Windows 8 more like Windows 7. It has a lot of configuration options to suit personal preferences.

https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu
Click to expand...
So, I can use this shell on a win 10 installation? Is it complicated or just a simple/regular installation?

Thanks
 
I just wish I had known this. I would have had him install a different version of 7 :(

Damn Microsoft always doing stuff like this :(
 
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guiri said:
Austinian said:
guiri said:
guiri wrote:
My problem is that I don't like the look of win 10 (or I guess now, 11). The few times I've tried to use it, I thought it was a pain and I couldn't get much done. I guess I could learn but I have more issues than that. I've gotten to the point with my memory and my brain that I can barely learn anything anymore so I try not to make changes (long story). Also, like I said, I have a buttload of different programs that are old and that I prefer that I'm sure would NOT work with 10 or 11.
Click to expand...
I can't help with actual incompatibility, but as far as look and feel go, I used the free program Classic Shell (now Open-Shell) to make Windows 8 more like Windows 7. It has a lot of configuration options to suit personal preferences.

https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu
Click to expand...
So, I can use this shell on a win 10 installation? Is it complicated or just a simple/regular installation?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Very easy.

There are a lot of options, but it works out of the box with no tweaking and gives a start menu very similar to W7. I've used it ever since W10 launched. Works on W11 as well.

You still have the W10 start menu if you want (which I never do) - shift-click the start menu and you get the W10 start, or you can turn Open Shell on or off at will.

--
Simon
 
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guiri said:
Well, I'm ok with 16 gigs if I have to but I would prefer to run all 32. After all, that is why I got the new puter with 32 gigs. I spend most of my time on the puter with firefox and I routinely have a buttload of tabs open which take a lot of memory.
I don't KNOW if 10 will run all my software or not but I'm guessing it won't.
Click to expand...
You don't need to guess, and you certainly shouldn't presume to know. This stuff isn't rocket science. The app makers should be able to tell you, or you could just run it and see what happens.,

I can guarantee you that Firefox will run. And that running Firefox on a Win 7 machine in 2023 is asking to get yourself hacked to pieces. It's like smearing pig blood all over your body and walking into a lion's savannah.
 
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