Upgrading desktop operating system

[sweets50]

I have recently acquired an older desktop computer hp pavilion a6700y running Windows Vista 64bit and wanted to know if it could be upgraded to any other Windows operating system. The computer was purchased with Vista preinstalled so there is no install disc. I have asked the Microsoft community and didn't get any where with that. I pretty sure Windows 10 is out of the question. I was hoping Windows 7 might be a possibility. Since this system hasn't been updated means it's running and old version of Internet Explorer which means not all websites will work. What is the next step? Is it possible to do anything with this desktop or is it to late. Please let me know. Thanks.

[erico]

About the only thing you can realistically do with the pavilion a6700y  is to consider running Linux on it.

It is too far back in generations for a newer Windows OS.

Finding memory to upgrade it or faster processors (AM2+) will be in the second-hand market. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @sweets50

The general rule of thumb is if a PC can run Vista, it can also run W7.

I took a look at the specs for your model and it appears it would run W7 just fine.

You can also run the free W7 upgrade advisor and see what it reports.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20

The W7 drivers are out there.  If you decide you want to upgrade to W7, let me know, and I will be happy to provide the links to any drivers that W7 doesn't install.

[sweets50]

Thanks for your response. I forgot to mention that i had run the windows 7 advisor about a year ago and everything was good except for a couple of drivers that wasn't important. Now I run the advisor and i get an error message say unable to connect to Microsoft servers, check internet connection and try again later. I think it's possibly because this computer is running an out dated version of Internet Explorer. I do have trouble with some websites because of this. When I discussed this with the Microsoft community, some of the links went thru and some did not. I like your response to my question, you offered no run around😁 let me know what you think. Thanks

[sweets50]

I'm not familiar with Linux but I've definitely heard of it. It seems to be the go to os when you're fed up with Microsoft. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

The quick fix for the Internet Explorer 9 not being supported anymore is to use Firefox.

That still works pretty darn good on XP and Vista.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

From what I recall...the upgrade advisor tells you to update the ethernet driver before upgrading to W7.

So, you can install this chipset driver now, and be ready for the upgrade, as it has the latest ethernet driver included.

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/14875/en-us

[sweets50]

I think I remember the Nvidia something needed attention when I ran the windows advisor last time. I need to sit down at this computer and play around. I had another response recommending Linux as a possibility. What's your take on that?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

One good thing I can say about it is that it is free.

Unless you already have W7 lying around somewhere, you are going to have to pay a fair amount of money for an upgrade kit, no doubt.

I looked on eBay and the only upgrade kits that are reasonably priced are used ones, which means you will probably have to go through the phone activation process if the key was previously used.

[sweets50]

I looked online and found a company called Digital Product Key. They are selling Windows 7 Home Premium for $29. They say it's genuine OEM and you receive instant access to product key etc. It's full version software. I'm not sure whether I can do this, I'm not the most literate when it comes to in depth computer stuff. Like I said, I will sit down at the computer and go from there. I would like to download Firefox, I've used that before when they first came out and loved it. Thanks again and I'll keep you posted. 😁

[Paul_Tikkanen]

$29 bucks is a good deal as long as the key is genuine.

You would have to do a clean install of W7 in order to use the OEM product key advertised, not an upgrade.

You will also need a W7 home premium installation DVD, unless they are also going to provide you with a link to download the ISO file to make the DVD.

The key isn't of much use without the installation software.

If they don't provide either a disk or an ISO file, you can make your own W7 installation media as follows...

Click on the Windows ISO Downloader.exe link to download the tool to create the W7 ISO file download.

Select the W7 COEM ISO file download version for the product key the OS is good for, which is the OEM operating system ISO file.

https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-and-office-iso-downl...

I have zipped up and attached the Microsoft utility below, that will allow you to either put the file on a USB flash drive or burn it to a DVD.

If the Microsoft tool doesn't work to burn a DVD, use this free DVD burning software to burn the ISO file to a DVD.

 Select the "Burn ISO file option."

https://cdburnerxp.se/en/download

Burn it at the slowest speed you can.