Just because Windows 7 is no longer supported, it doesn't mean that your hardware is completely useless. When the time comes for you to move away from the operating system, you have several choices on
what to do with your old computer. Here, we look at the options and what you can do.
TURN WINDOWS 7 INTO A FILE
OR PRINT SERVER
PROS
1. You still have your old computer if you need it.
CONS
1. You use a comparatively large amount of power.
2. Printers may still not work.
One of the biggest issues about moving away from windows 7 is that some of your old hardware may not have drivers available in a new operating system. For example, many older printers will not work with Windows 10.
Rather than having to upgrade your printer to use with a new operating system and computer, you could instead turn your Windows 7 PC into a file server. TO do this, boot up your Windows 7 computer and log in to get to the desktop.
Sharing a folder in Windows is very easy. All you have to do is find the folder you want to share in Windows
Explorer, right-click it and select Properties, Click the Sharing tab. You can now click the Share button to make the folder available on the network. However, note that some system folders, such as the Windows directory, can't be shared and will have the necessary Button greyed out.
To share a folder in Windows 7, you need to select which users will have access to the folder over the network. For Windows 7, the default share username you're using will be listed in
the main window with a Permission Level of Owner. You should leave this setting alone, and choose additional users that
will have access to this folder.
If you turned off password- protected sharing, you should select the Guest account from the drop-down menu and click Add. If you're using password protected sharing, select the user accounts that you want to give access and click Add (repeat for as many users accounts as you need). To give all user accounts access, simply select Everyone from the drop-down menu.
Next, for
each account you've selected, you can choose the Permission Level. Read lets those users look at, but not modify. files stored in
this folder, and Read/Write lets users view and modify files stored in the folder. For home use, it's best to set Read/Write as the permission level for all users, unless you specifically don't want network users to be able to modify files.
Sharing a printer is just as easy. On the computer that has the printer installed, go to the printer section of the Control Panel, right-click the printer you want to share and select Printer Properties. Click the Sharing tab and select Share this printer. You can change the name of the printer if you like. Click OK to share the printer.
Once you've done this, you can find the printer on the network in Explorer by selecting your Windows 7 computer. However, installing a network printer requires you to have the drivers for the printer, which may not be possible on your new computer.
For safety, if your router supports it, you can block internet access to your Windows 7 computer. You'll still be able to access the computer over your home network, but Windows 7 will not be online. How you do this differs from router to router. For example, with many Netgear routers, you go to the web management page and the Access Control section. You can then turn off internet access for a computer. Remember, if you need
to download anything to your Windows 7 computer. you'll need to turn on internet access again.
INSTALL WINDOWS 10
PROS
1. You get the latest operating system and security updates.
CONS
1.Old hardware and software may not work
2. You may have to pay for a new licence
Windows 10 is a very good operating system that has been through several revisions, each one adding new features. The good news is that the software is largely compatible with Windows 7 hardware, so you should be able to upgrade. Microsoft lists the official requirements as a 1GHz or faster processor, 1GB of RAM for 32-bit Windows (2 GB for 64-bit), 16 GB of hard disk space for 32-bit Windows (20GB for 64-bit), and a DirectX 9 or later graphics card.
First, you should check the compatibility with your computer. The best way to do this is
to download the Windows 10, Download Tool from Microsoft's
Website. Once you've downloaded the tool, run it and choose the option to upgrade your computer. Your PC will be checked for and compatibility issues, such as not having enough hard disk space of some hardware being incompatible. This gives you a chance to fix or repair issues if you can.
If your computer has the
go-ahead for upgrading, you'll need a Windows10 license key, which can buy from Microsoft's online
store. However, you may be able to
upgrade for free if you're prepared to do a dean installation. Make sure that you've taken a backup of your Windows 7 PC and it's filed.
then you can run the Download Tool but select the option to create installation media. Follow the wizard through and insert a 4GB USB drive to create a boot drive that you can use to install Windows 10, Reboot your computer with the USB drive inserted and boot from this to start the Windows 10 installation. When you're asked, enter your Windows 7 license key rather than a Windows 10 one, and the software should accept it. We tried it with our Windows 7 Home Premium Key and it all worked perfectly.
To check if it has worked, after you've installed Windows 10 go to Settings in the Start menu, select Update & Security and then click the Activation link in the left-hand panel. Under the Activation header in the main pane, you should see a message that says,"Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account".
If you don't, or Windows 10 didn't take your Windows 7 key, you'll need to buy a Windows 10 license to use your computer.
The main downside of this approach is that you may find that some software and hardware are incompatible with Windows 10. For example, old printers may not work on your new operating system. And, as you've upgraded your Windows 7 PC, you don't have that to hand to run your older printer. There are some workaround, but you may need upgrade to newer hardware and software.
INSTALL UBUNTU
PROS
1. Free
2. Run fast
CONS
1. Won't work with existing software
If you'd rather switch to Linux, Ubuntu is a good choice. The latest version has slightly higher hardware requirements than Windows 10, but you'll find that a lot of Windows 7 hardware is up to the job. The main requirements are a 2GHz dual-core processor, 4GB of system memory and 25GB of free hard disk space. You can download Ubuntu from ubuntu.com.
This will get you an ISO file, which you can burn to a blank DVD for installation on your computer. Alternatively, if you want to install via USB, you'll need to download and install a program called Rufus. Once you've got the application, run it, then insert the USB drive that you want to use and select the Boot selection as FreeDOS, then click Select, navigate to the Ubuntu ISO file and choose Oen. Click Start and your bootable USB drive will be created, which you can use to install Linus on your computer
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