Is my Laptop's hardware supported by Windows 10?


  1. Posts : 1
    Windows 7 Ultimate
       #1

    Is my Laptop's hardware supported by Windows 10?


    Hi,
    I have a Acer Aspire 4736z laptop. The only upgrade I ever made to the hardware was increasing the RAM from 1 to 2 GB DDR3. I installed Windows 7 on it many many years ago and never looked back. I didn't even use Windows 8(.1) until a couple of weeks ago. I'm interested in getting Windows 10 but there are a couple of things holding me back:
    1-Obviously, hardware support, Acer's official support website does not have Windows 10 (and Windows 8) drivers for my notebook, but driverscape claims to have them. But more importantly, I'm worried about the required specifications (not talking about minimum spec given by microsoft). I have a Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200 2 GHz CPU, but I don't know if it supports PAE, NX and SSED2. I'm also worried that the 2 GB DDR3 RAM will not be enough and the Windows will be slow. I have a 250 GB hard drive.
    So, should I install Windows 10 or not?
    Thanks.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 22,740
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #2

    What you could do is make a backup image of your system and then give 10 a shot.. if it fails for whatever reason or you just don't like it you can restore your system back to 8.1 at any time.

    And welcome to the forums.
    Jeff
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
       #3

    I agree with BunnyJ about making a backup image before you start.

    You could also try the Windows 8.1 Upgrade Assistant which would check out your CPU - my understanding is that the CPU requirements didn't change from 8.1 to 10.
    Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant - Download and Run
    Edit: I didn't notice you were running Windows 8.1 already.

    2GB is enough to run Windows 10 itself comfortably, although obviously you wouldn't want to run software that was heavy on memory usage, but that's no different to the way you have it now with Windows 7.

    Once Windows 10 has installed and finished rebuilding its indexes etc., I think the speed would be comparable to what you have now with Windows 7 - it probably won't be much faster, but shouldn't be much slower either.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 703
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #4

    BunnyJ said:
    What you could do is make a backup image of your system and then give 10 a shot.. if it fails for whatever reason or you just don't like it you can restore your system back to 8.1 at any time.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 111
    windows 8.1
       #5

    I have a much ancient PC, it runs fine on win 10, make sure you download 64 bit MS media and if possible upgrade HD to SSD.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
       #6

    ramram55 said:
    make sure you download 64 bit MS media
    I think you need to download the media with whatever number of bits is running now, to do the initial upgrade. So if the laptop is currently running 32 bit Windows 8.1, then upgrade to 32-bit Windows 10, and likewise if currently running 64-bit.

    It may be possible to clean-install later (check the initial upgrade has Activated Windows 10 before you do anything) and change the number of bits that way.

    Also, I struggled to find 64-bit drivers for my older Acer so I was forced to stick with 32-bit. But 32-bit Windows 10 is fine, especially with only 2GB of RAM.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 111
    windows 8.1
       #7

    DavidY said:
    I think you need to download the media with whatever number of bits is running now, to do the initial upgrade. So if the laptop is currently running 32 bit Windows 8.1, then upgrade to 32-bit Windows 10, and likewise if currently running 64-bit.

    It may be possible to clean-install later (check the initial upgrade has Activated Windows 10 before you do anything) and change the number of bits that way.

    Also, I struggled to find 64-bit drivers for my older Acer so I was forced to stick with 32-bit. But 32-bit Windows 10 is fine, especially with only 2GB of RAM.
    You are absolutely right, with 32 bit windows 7, the media has to be 32 bit to upgrade to wins 10. The clean install with windows 10 can be 64 bit, with the 64 bit media. 2gb ram should handle 64 bit.
      My Computer


 

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