Upgrading from XP to 7. What should I scrap?

[Gabis1207]

My father is upgrading his office computers (Two units), which run windows XP currently, to run windows 7 (32-bit). The computers are custom built by his old IT guy, who charged him way more than the computers were worth at the time (Mid to late 2008)

In any event, we want to upgrade these computers to run Windows 7 as cheaply as possible. Not counting the cost of the Win7 itself (for both computers), I would like the cost to remain under $100. The system specs are as follows (Both computers are identical, unless where noted below):

>>Intel core 2 Duo processor, 2.33 GHz.
>>1GB RAM (Brand/speed unknown [Will likely upgrade to 2GB])
>>250-ish GB HDD (Partitioned into so many logical drives, total storage was just about incalculable)
>>LANtastic networking card
(Mobo and PSU unknown. Will update once I find out)

The features that are absolutely necessary are:
>>Ability to run Sesame (A database program) from both the server host and client
(Sesame is compatible with Win7, talked with developers to confirm)
>>Ability to share files from host to client and vice-versa
>>Ability to send files independently to two separate printer queues.

If this makes any sense at all, I would greatly appreciate some help.
If anything is confusing, I will try to clarify to the best of my ability.
Thanks in advance!

 

[carnageX]

IMO, just toss 4GB of RAM in them and they should run decently since they're at least on a dual core.

 

[Gabis1207]

As far as networking goes, that is all built into win7, correct?

 

[PP Mguire]

IMO, just toss 4GB of RAM in them and they should run decently since they're at least on a dual core.

+1 to the RAM, but 4GB requires 64bit and OP said 32bit

As far as networking goes, that is all built into win7, correct?

Yes.

Also, I know you said under 100 dollars BUT what would speed these machines up incredibly would be a robust SSD. I would look to see if you could score some cheap Crucial M500s.

 

[Gabis1207]

My parents don't need speed demon PCs.
We want to make this as cheap as possible.

Also, how good of an alternative is Mozilla Thunderbird to the old Outlook Express?
Does TB allow you to import contact data to a MS word document and the like?

 

[PP Mguire]

You can get 4GB of DDR2 667 off Ebay for 15 bucks, split that up between the two giving them 3GB a piece for 32bit OS.

I know you said 100 bucks, but an SSD is literally the easiest way to make any PC feel a lot faster than it really is. Considering the fact that the HDD is the slowest piece in any machine. Just something to consider.

 

[Gabis1207]

I'm not in charge of the upgrades here.

Mommy said "As cheap as possible", so that's what I have to work with. XD

 

[PP Mguire]

Well then. 15 bucks on Ebay for 4GB of DDR2 667. Knock yourself out.

 

[Joe C]

Actually...it is possible to run 4+ gb of ram in a 32 bit system. It's just that M$ requires a license to do that. There are patches out there. This guy goes on and on and on in detail about 32 bit systems and the amount of ram you can use
Licensed Memory in 32-Bit Windows Vista

 

[PP Mguire]

There is no point in patching up 32bit OS's when you can simply buy a 64bit OS for the same price. Since they are purchasing Windows 7 they can go either way. They aren't exactly using any applications or demand the need for 4GB or more RAM. In this case, the cheapest as possible way is to spend 15 bucks like I previously mentioned and split the RAM up for 3GB total on each machine. More than plenty for any usual task.

Anywho, in light of XP being put out of support I think I want to put XP on my machine using my 32bit copy and 16GB of RAM muahaha.