Hi , I have the windows 10 and am happy with it . I also have an old asus running xp which i would like to put my genuine windows 7 on for my six year old to use,i am however computer illiterate and wonder if it might be a little too teck for me . For instance do you have to clear xp before you load 7 ? any advice would be appreciated pete

Yes, you must do a clean install of Windows 7 which means it you must reformat the partition during the install process. Everything on the disk will be erased! The Windows 7 installation media prompts you during the installation. That part isn't very difficult. The main problem you will have is coming up with drivers for an old Asus computer that will work with Windows 7. Check the Asus website and download them if available before installing Windows 7. Saving them on your Windows 10 system or a memory still will do.

There an application called Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Download it and run it on the XP system to see what hardware issues you have. You'll need to get drivers for the incompatible hardware as they won't be available from Microsoft during the installation.

One of the main issues you may have, is RAM. Windows XP systems usually had 512 MB and Windows 7 requires a minimum of 2 GB. You'll have to have someone with technological knowledge add the additional RAM there are several different kinds used over the years. No one can advise you without knowing the model number of the motherboard. You could download a program a program called Speccy for free, which can provide technical information of what's inside a computer. You can also get a portable version which can be download and placed on a memory stick without installing it on the XP.

It will give details such as the amount of RAM installed, number of RAM slots available, and type of RAM, Motherboard and other details of hardware installed to aid in locating drivers, USE ONLY DRIVERS FROM TRUSTED SOURCES as many sources have malware! The same applies to the Windows install media!

Once you have the required RAM, it's a simple matter of replacing it and/or adding more. The ram just plugs into slots. Once Windows 7 is installed, you can go to the Device Manager from the Control Panel in Windows 7. Any hardware devices that are identified with a yellow question mark, will need a driver installed.

If you're using Windows 7 installation media installed on another computer, you transfer only the Retail version of Windows 7. OEM versions can't be transferred. To transfer it will require a call to Microsoft after installation in order to activate it.

Good Luck!

Are you sure about the OEM point??

I purchased a disk from my local shop, with multiple versions of W7

some marked as OEM and activated

I installed the Home Premium on my friend's computer

and the Ultimate on my own.

Both show up as activated, with no need for calls to MS

The only problems were chasing up some odd drivers to complete the installs

Are you sure about the OEM point??

I purchased a disk from my local shop, with multiple versions of W7

some marked as OEM and activated

I installed the Home Premium on my friend's computer

and the Ultimate on my own.

Both show up as activated, with no need for calls to MS

The only problems were chasing up some odd drivers to complete the installs

So you buy a hacked disc and then shout it from the rooftops?

What is the model number of this PC? From this we can look up the specification.

Are you sure about the OEM point??

I purchased a disk from my local shop, with multiple versions of W7

some marked as OEM and activated

I installed the Home Premium on my friend's computer

and the Ultimate on my own.

Both show up as activated, with no need for calls to MS

The only problems were chasing up some odd drivers to complete the installs

Yes, I'm sure about the OEM point.

Sounds like you purchased a hacked copy rather than a legal copy.

It may not be possible to run new versions of Windows on an old asus. DirectX is a major problem with old computers, as old computers don`t allow updating that is required for newer versions of Windows.

I had 2 computers at one time. One was very old. Eventually I settled in using just my newest computer, took the hard drive from my old computer, bought a case and used that hard drive as an external back up and storage drive then dumped my old computer.

thanks all for your info. I will leave xp on as my boy isjust learning and get him a better one latter. The acus is eight years older than my boy so no loss cheers......