Windows 7 fails to install on old PCs

[aimo3]

I have several NEC ML450 PCs. Some of them have Pentium D and some have Pentium 4 HT processor. RAM is at least 1 GB in all of them, and processor is 3 GHz and above.

I have upgraded the PD ones to Win7 successfully, but P4 HT ones failed.

First I used a LightTouch image (prepared by someone else) from winXP. After the system was restarted, it kept restarting non stop. So I decided to run Win7 setup from the DVD, but it did not boot from it. I opened the case and change the optic disc drive to that laptop-type just for the purpose of installing Win7. It displayed the message stating to press any key to book from CD, but when I pressed any kept restarting!

I tried this in 2 PCs so far. I put 3 GB of RAM in one of them and tried again, but no success.

WTF?! I find no official requirement by Microsoft preventing Win7 from running on P4!

 

[Dauntae]

Actually they started the requirements when Vista came out. There are some on my widows 7 box also but don't have it with me ATM. I remember there being a test on line to see if your PC was windows 7 ready. Some of the older systems do not have driver support for it so it's not so much windows fault as it is the fault of the manufacturer of the PC parts for not making the drivers for it. But on old tech they don't really see the need as it will force people to buy newer products if they want to keep up with current operating systems.

Dauntae

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

They have always had limitations on supported devices...

But, the only thing I can say is, I have had Win7 64bit installed on a Pentium 4 EE, but, almost nothing on the motherboard worked, such as the SATA controller, audio, and so on.

In all honesty, systems of that age, you may be better off with Vista, or Linux.

 

[PP Mguire]

Are you trying to install a 64bit OS onto a 32bit CPU?

 

[aimo3]

Are you trying to install a 64bit OS onto a 32bit CPU?

Hey, Not to that extend!

 

[Joe C]

A Linux distro would probably work well for that older pc. The people that support Linux have several distributions of Linux that they made just for older computers. Puppy Linux is just one distro that's specifically designed for use with older pc's, and most of the time you do not need to install any additional drivers

 

[strollin]

I once installed and ran Win 7 Pro on a 1Ghz P3 with 512MB so it should be installable on those P4 machines.

Is it possible that those machines have only a CD drive and not DVD drives? XP install media came on CD but Win 7 comes on DVD.

 

[carnageX]

If the computer can boot off of USB, try putting the DVD's ISO on a flash drive: Microsoft Store