For $450 or less, you can get a new desktop with Win 7 or 8 (your choice) and a Terabyte of hard drive space. I just took a quick gander at Newegg, Lenovo, and Dell sites and there are plenty of choices. But ultimately, they're all the same, I wouldn't be concerned about the details.

Putting a new OS on an old PC is like putting a new engine into a car that's falling apart. New PCs are cheap, it's foolish in a business context to grind away on old hardware and risk data loss because of a hardware failure. The money saved is peanuts.

I'd be curious - Will it be an upgrade or a fresh install ?

If you fresh install windows 8, it will upgrade quickly to win8.1 and for the masses, but not everyone.. that's a better product than win7. And it is newer.

If you have xp now .. does it have 8gb ram already? Reason I ask is most xp is 32bit and 4gb is max on 32bit any operating syste.
. And if you upgrade it will stay 32 bit.

If you fresh install then it will be 64bit unless the computer is truly ancient.. Then maybe you should just go buy a new laptop or tower with a larger hard drive.

8gb is fine - win8 actually handles memory slightly better than 7, but 8 is usually plenty on both.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://classicshell.net/

"The system has 8 gb of memory. Is that enough for a law firm office who mostly uses wp for word processing and occasionally downloads large files. "

If you mean RAM, yes. More important, how big is the hard drive?

When you say "The system only has windows 8 available." what do you mean? What "system" are you referring to?

Was XP installed onto a new system, dumping the Win8 from it?

Either I didn't give you enough clear info or you jumped to a wrong conclusion.

I am buying a new system, dell I believe, that has w8 on it. I have always bought dell systems so I suppose I should look at their website rather than buying at best buy to see if they have w7.

What is a terabyte...

Deleted

This post was edited by WoodRose77 on Tue, Jan 6, 15 at 12:10

I hope I did not ruffle anybody's feathers. If I did, it was not my intent to do so.

Terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes

Here is a link that might be useful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terabyte

The correct multiplier is 1,024 but manufacturers/marketers of computers and electronic equipment commonly use 1,000 when figuring/stating capacity.

1 bit = a zero (0 - off) or a one (1 - on)

8 bits = 1 byte

1 byte = 1 character of data

1 KB (kilobyte) = 1,024 bytes

1 MB (megabyte) = 1,024 KB or 1,045,576 bytes

1 GB (gigabyte) = 1,024 MB or 1,045,576 KB or 1,073,741,824 bytes

1 TB (terrabyte) = 1,024 GB or 1,045,576 MB or 1,073,741,824 KB or 1,099,511,627,776 bytes.

Paul, I think when you said 'converting' that people (including myself) thought you were loading a new Operating System onto your current computer.

On the Dell site there is the desktop that I have linked below with Windows 7, 8 GB Ram (memory) and a 1 terabyte hard drive for $549.99.

Here is a link that might be useful: Inspiron Desktop 3000 Series with Windows 7

"I hope I did not ruffle anybody's feathers"

I don't think so, just as dogs said, you threw some readers off into the wrong direction by using the wrong term. No harm, no foul.

my3dogs

Here is the quote from dell using your recommendation. Can you scan this and see if I have everything I need and nothing that I do not need. Thanks

Quote Number: 698889561

Item Number Quantity Item Description Unit Price Extended Price
210-ABNB 1 Inspiron 3847 $528.11 $528.11
370-ABEK 1 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz (4GBx2)
580-ABNK 1 Dell KB113 Wired Keyboard
480-AACF 1 Monitor not included
490-BBPC 1 Intel HD Graphics
658-BBVN 1 Dell SRV Software 1705
400-ABVB 1 1TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive
321-BBFF 1 Inspiron 3847 Chassiss, MT, NPFC Black w/8:1 media card reader
421-5693 1 Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, English, No Media
570-AAAS 1 Dell MS111 USB 3-Button Optical Mouse
429-AAKY 1 Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)
520-AAAO 1 No Speaker Requested
555-BBOU 1 DW 1705 802.11bgn + Bluetooth 4.0, 2.4 GHz, 1x1
450-AAGO 1 US Power Cord
340-AGLV 1 English French Documentation Safety/Environmental and Regulatory Information
939-0103 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty, Initial Year
939-0733 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
939-1363 1 Premium Phone Support, 90 days
950-3337 1 1 Year Limited Warranty
950-9797 1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
983-3680 1 Warranty Support, Initial Year
340-ACBR 1 Placemat Inspiron 3847
510-BBBR 1 HD Audio tuned with MaxxAudio by Waves
332-1286 1 US Order
404-BBBL 1 Black Bezel
387-BBCE 1 No Energy Star
332-1530 1 Dell.com Order
340-ABWX 1 Shipping Material, Direct
421-7997 1 No PDVD
658-BBXI 1 Item Included (for Window OS only) WIN7
658-BCID 1 Additional Software
340-ACQQ 1 No Option Included
338-BEWY 1 4th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.4 GHz)
630-AAAV 1 Software: Microsoft Office 2013 Trial, MUI
525-0033 1 McAfee LiveSafe Consumer 12 Month Subscription
658-BCCO 1 McAfee(R) Live Safe Image (Trial Version)
332-1530 1 Dell.com Order
389-BDOS 1 Regulatory Label
469-2486 1 CFI Not Included
330-7464 1 Windows 7 OS Label
525-0016 1 Dropbox, Digital Delivery, 20GB for 1 year Promotion
998-BHEI 1 Fixed Hardware Configuration
463-0742 1 Special Pricing Applied
463-0742 1 Special Pricing Applied
* -DISCOUNT/COUPON APPL
320-9802 1 Dell 22 Monitor - S2240L $146.99 $146.99
992-2309 1 1-Year Advanced Exchange Service $0.00 $0.00
A5750525 1 Dell Advantage Rewards $0.10 $0.10
Subtotal: $675.20
Shipping & Handling: $0.00
Tax: $41.09
State Environmental Fee: $0.00
Total Price w/Discounts: $716.29

Looks fine 4th gen intel i5 is good !

fwiw
I just did a quick dell quote, maybe close to yours with current packages... not the win7 special.

win8.1 ... 12gb ram 22 monitor ... but otherwise I think probably same... 699.00 They don't make it easy to deduct things without starting all over but with 8gb ram should be slightly less still.

I would probably want 802.11ac if price is maybe a plus 20 dollars.... if I used wireless anyhow.

Here is a link that might be useful: dell 3000 12gb/22 mon

Mikie, Paul wanted Windows 7, as his initial post was asking whether he could buy a system with 8 and change it to 7.

Paul, I bought a Dell desktop in Dec. 2013 - not this model, but mine has Windows 7, the 8 GB of RAM and also a terabyte hard drive, just like what you're getting. I've been very pleased with it. Like you, I have bought Dell for years for personal use, and my company supplies them to us for work, also. I think you'll be very happy with it.

I ordered the new system this morning. Thanks for all the help on this. One last question...

We are going to be sharing a high speed internet uverse connection with the person in the next office. Do I need a router on my system or do I just simply have to know his password to somehow sign on to his system. How does a shared system work.