Installing Windows 7 in Computer with 8.1

[jmvoya]

I foolishly bought a Dell All-in-One with Windows 8.1 and only 4 gigs of RAM.  It would not (could not) do anything, not even play a simple video.  Dell wouldn't help me and kept insisting it was fine.   I don't know a lot about computers and kept trying to make it work until the return period had expired.  Now I'm stuck with it.

I added another 4 gigs of RAM but that's all it will take.  It works a little better now but is still pretty useless. 

I'm willing to buy Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit with a license key to put on it (instead of the 8.1) but I don't know if it will take Win 7.  I've tried to look it up with no success.  Win 7 would make it compatible with my laptop which would be another plus.

Here's the info about it:

I've been told that it has a laptop system in it.

Dell Inspiron 20, Model 3045
Processor: E1-2500 APU with Radon HD Graphics (1.40 GHz)
64 bit os, x64-based processor
Now has 8 GIGs of installed RAM

Does not have touch capability.

I would be so appreciative of any help or advice.

Thanks

[camerongray]

I can't see Windows 7 making it much faster, the CPU that that machine is an extremely low end laptop chip - You won't get much more than basic web browsing out of it.  You'll still get the free upgrade to Windows 10 when that comes out but I doubt that will make much of a difference.  The machine is certainly not worth spending the $100+ for a new copy of Windows 7 for it.  If anything, Windows 8 is slightly faster than 7.

If I'm totally honest you would be better off selling that machine and putting the money from that along with the money you would have spent on Windows 7 to get a new, more powerful machine (potentially used/refurbished).  The CPU will be a limitation in anything you do.

[DaveLembke]

I agree with Camerongray if your looking for a 2nd opinion.

Its unfortunate that the additional 4GB of RAM probably made no difference for you. If you were to sell this computer, I would put it back to 4GB and sell the RAM stick separately or retain the stick for a better computer that you pick up as a refurb that uses that same RAM type/speed.

I have a Netbook that I bought in 2009 with Intel Atom 1.66Ghz was ok for about 2 years of its life and then it quickly lost its battle with trying to keep up with mostly video streams. As the players and videos became more to process, higher definition, the netbook started to lag. I thought maybe a system restore back to factory might be the cure, but I did that and its clearly the fact that the content to be played is more demanding these days vs 6 years ago. I tried adding more RAM to see if that would help, but it didnt help much going from 1GB to 2GB of RAM with it running Windows XP Home SP3. I have been tempted to sell the netbook, but the fact is that its just not worth much and I might as well just retain it for wired/wireless network troubleshooting with a nice small compact computer with 9 hr battery life and occasional programming. I probably only use it 1 or 2 times a month anymore vs using it almost daily 4 or 5 years ago.

You might find where your computer isnt worth much money and it might be worth just keeping for checking e-mail and uses other than video game or video play like my netbook is. Might even be good to keep it for a tinker computer for friends or family to use when you dont want them on your better computer if you are the head of household etc.

[jmvoya]

Thank you both so much for the disappointing but very needed information.  I guess I'll just wait for Windows 10 and, hopefully, that will make it a little better.

I can't afford to buy a new computer right now so I'll just have to live with this one for a while.  Fortunately, I have my old laptop which still runs great but doesn't have the beautiful big screen of the new computer.

Thanks again!

[camerongray]

I can't afford to buy a new computer right now so I'll just have to live with this one for a while.  Fortunately, I have my old laptop which still runs great but doesn't have the beautiful big screen of the new computer.

Just a thought - If your laptop runs better, why not sell the desktop and put some of the money you get towards a nice separate screen for your laptop?

[jmvoya]

Well, I didn't know I could attach it to a separate screen.  I bought the All-in-One so it wouldn't take up a lot of room on my desk and it's great that way.  If I bought a separate screen could I also use my wireless keyboard and mouse?  They are perfect and exactly what I want.  I wouldn't want to have to type on the laptop with the other screen off to the side.

Also, if I sold my All-in-One, how much do you think I could get for it?  I paid $350 for it last November.  Do you think anyone would even want it?

[jmvoya]

I have another question.  A friend gave me a disk with Linux on it because he said it would not use as much memory as 8.1 and the new computer would probably run better.

It seems that to install the Linux, though, involves a lot of complicated partitioning because of the Win 8.1.  I don't know anything about partitioning so I can't install it and my friend isn't available to help me.

Would Linux be better if I could get it on there somehow?

[camerongray]

If you can give us the model number of laptop you have then I can see what sort of monitors you can connect to it, and yes, you can use your wireless keyboard and mouse.  You could even use the laptop screen and external monitor at the same time to show different things.  For example you could have a video playing on the laptop's screen while you work on the external one!

As far as selling it, it totally depends on the market in your area, your best bet would be to check eBay to see what they are going for.

As far as Linux goes, I wouldn't bother - People claim that Linux is a magical solution to make your computer faster but in real world use it'll probably be just about the same.  Not to mention you will need to relearn how everything works.  Linux is great if you are actually interested in trying it but it's not a magical solution to problems with Windows.  I run a very minimalistic Linux setup and it uses pretty much just as much memory and runs around the same speed as Windows 8.1 did on the same hardware.

[jmvoya]

Thank you so much.  You are really being so kind and helpful.

I think my laptop model number is Inspiron N5050.  Does that seem like a model number?  I wasn't sure where to find it.

[camerongray]

Yep - That's the model - Pretty good machine too.  You should be able to connect any monitor to that that supports either a VGA or HDMI connection (HDMI would be better) - Pretty much any monitor will support at least one of these.  Then it really just comes down to how much you can spend, it may be worth just going to a store and looking at the monitors they have to see what you like.

I'd look at ones with a resolution around 1920x1080 (1080p) and between 22" and 24" in size.  This would be fairly common and affordable nowadays and is actually higher resolution than your all-in-one machine.

[jmvoya]

Thanks, Cameron.  You have been more helpful than all the hours I spent on the phone with Dell technicians who were supposed to be helping me but were just leading me on and letting me think that they could actually make my computer work well.

You know, I trusted Dell.  I never thought that they would sell me an, essentially, worthless computer.  I knew it wasn't going to be awesome for the price I paid but I thought it would be able to perform as well as a basic laptop.  Usually, I buy most things from Amazon.com but I remember thinking that it would be better to buy directly from Dell because they would provide any technical support I might need.  Instead, I just got lies and double-talk about why it wouldn't even play a simple video until the period for returning it had passed.

Do you know of any site where I could post a review of my experience?  Someplace that gets a lot of attention?  I think Dell deserves to know how I feel about them now and that I will never buy another product from them again.

[camerongray]

No problem!

There are sites like TrustPilot that certainly would let you leave a review but if I'm honest, this isn't really Dell's fault - the machine is simply designed for very light tasks such as extremely basic web browsing/office work and not much more than that.

Dell make a wide range of computers ranging from the very low end to extremely powerful, high end systems and in general they are one of the best brands of prebuilt computer out there.  Unfortunately it then comes down to the end user to pick a machine that is appropriate for their needs although this isn't always that simple.

It is annoying that technical support didn't flat out say that the machine was probably too low end for what you were doing but in general people in these support departments are working entirely from scripts and I imagine simply wouldn't even know how well that particular machine should perform so they will just go through their "Customer claims the computer is slow" script - This is the same or even worse with almost all major companies unless you get escalated to a higher level of support where you get someone who actually understands what they are doing.

Dell certainly has to be right up there with one of the best computer manufacturers that I have dealt with, IBM being the only one that I have found to be the same/better.

[BC_Programmer]

Really this would be the same for every single manufacturer. Bottom-of-the-barrel systems from any manufacturer unfortunately are incredibly unusable for most tasks. The specs for your All-In-One are similar to the specs for a Lenovo Laptop system I was tasked with getting working better. Even after cleaning the system up it was still- to me- unusably slow and unresponsive, considering my laptop that was 7 years older and only $100 more expensive at the time was running circles around it. I was able to barely get it to the point where it could play youtube videos by removing a lot of preinstalled garbage from the system.

Realistically, you would have had the exact same problems with a similar system from any name-brand manufacturer, since their lower-priced systems and Laptops tend to walk a fine line in terms of usability. (And, arguably- consumer ethics)

That isn't to suggest you shouldn't give them a piece of your mind of course . I did find Dells site on the model which appears to have a Review function:

http://www.dell.com/ca/p/inspiron-3045-aio/pd

However it is notable that somehow they have no reviews listed. They may check reviews and remove negative ones or something.

[jmvoya]

I know you guys are right.  Dell probably isn't any worse than other companies.  I couldn't be happier with my Dell laptop, actually, so I probably will buy from Dell again but not so impulsively or ignorantly.  I'll get some good advice first. 

I wish I had known about this web site then.  I would have gotten some great help, I'm sure.

The funny thing is that sometimes this computer works pretty well - like right now.  But at other times- most of the time - it will take anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes just to load each page which is so annoying.  I wish I knew why it varies like that.

I looked at that link, BC_Programmer, and this is the description there, "Have more fun and get more done with this all-in-one desktop featuring a large HD+ display and advanced technology."  I'm not having any fun or getting much done and, apparently, it does not have very advanced technology.  The display is quite nice, though, and so is the sound quality.