Hi . If your thinkcentre has low end specs comparing to today's pc , win10 would not install at all . As i know , single core cpu oldies and 4gb of ram or even less makes win10 not happy , and user will be not happy too by bad performance and lots of used space on hdd. If sticker with vista cdkey code is still present on pc bottom , use it ,and download somewhere vista install cd .
The software will only run on a serial port or a USB if I buy a $1,000 serial converter box.
If I can't get an OS with the product key that's exactly what I will do! Thanks, mate, it's appreciated and everyone else who has helped here as well, Thank you.
If it can run Vista, I bet it can run Windows 10. I have some very old hardware here that can run Windows 10.
Please post the exact model number and any specifications that you have, and I will try to help.
Windows 10 can be downloaded and used "free" (not activated) legally and I can provide info how to do that but let's check the PC specs first.
Please post the exact model number and any specifications that you have, and I will try to help.
Windows 10 can be downloaded and used "free" (not activated) legally and I can provide info how to do that but let's check the PC specs first.
It is a Lenovo Thinkcenter desktop with E4500 CPU, 4gb memory, 120gb HDD. I found that I had installed Linux Mint on it but the mouse wouldnt work? Now I have Vista 32 bit ISO on a external HDD but I dont know how to install it because I cant get the mouse to work although the BIOS says that it has been initialized?
This link will give you information if you use the serial number as "key".
The supported OS versions will show up since there will be no drivers for
unsupported windows versions (for this specific computer model).
How to navigate and download Lenovo software or drivers from Lenovo Support Site - Lenovo Support SE
Probably you will need some (but not all) of the available drivers and
people here will hopefully be able to help you to choose the important ones.
(I'm using lots of DELL computers and use their "service tags" in this manner)
Sometimes "restore disks" that does both OS and drivers can be downloaded
but don't count on it.
The supported OS versions will show up since there will be no drivers for
unsupported windows versions (for this specific computer model).
How to navigate and download Lenovo software or drivers from Lenovo Support Site - Lenovo Support SE
Probably you will need some (but not all) of the available drivers and
people here will hopefully be able to help you to choose the important ones.
(I'm using lots of DELL computers and use their "service tags" in this manner)
Sometimes "restore disks" that does both OS and drivers can be downloaded
but don't count on it.
About 12 years ago I built a "high end" computer system for music composition and general engineering work. It used a Core 2 Quad 6600 Intel CPU and ran Windows Vista Ultimate....black edition. I gave the computer to a friend when I moved out of Florida 6 years ago, but somehow it made it's way back to me.
Late last year after a hard drive failure, I went through all of my old PC's, tested them all, replaced all hard drives over 5 years old, and upgraded several W7 machines to W10 while it was still a free upgrade.
The Vista machine had been stored in an unheated shed for three years. I decided to dig it out and see if it had any useful parts, or maybe even worked. I plugged it in pushed the start button and it came right to life, just like it was still 2012.
What would happen if connected to the web? The last time it performed a "Windows Update" was in 2014, what would happen if I tried it again? "Windows Update encountered an unknown error."
How does this old dog benchmark against a new machine, or "Your System vs the world." Let's download Passmark and see it it will even run? Yes, Passmark runs! The 8 year old dog scores a 1401 which is in the 26th percentile VS the world.
I gave the old dog to my 15 year old grandson. He now has it playing games on W7. I did not ask how!
By comparison my fastest machine runs an AMD Ryzen 7 with 32 GB of memory and a GTX 1660 graphics card. It scores a 6338 which is in the 98th percentile VS the world.
My slowest machine runs a second generation Core i5-2400 with 8 Gb ram a small SSD boot disk, 4 spinning hard drives, low buck video card and a ASUS Xonar sound card. It scores a 1543 which is in the 30th percentile VS the world. I tested it with W10, but returned it to W7 since it does not connect to the internet and W10 eliminated the free DVR feature in W7. It is all stuffed in a 2RU rack mount case and used exclusively as a media player / DVR (1080 only, no 4K).
When Microsoft started putting "your machine has W7 which is now unsupported and vulnerable to malicious attack" messages on old machines, several friends and relatives brought me their PC's for free W10 upgrades, several of these machines failed the Microsoft W10 compatibility test. All were successfully upgraded to W10.
During this upgrade frenzy I did try the Vista keys to see if they would work with W10....No, neither Vista or XP product keys (the numbers on the sticker) will work for W10, but valid W7 home user keys usually will. W7 keys from a machine that was previously covered on a bulk or blanket license agreement (leased PC's or those owned by a large corporation) may NOT work.
I had built a PC for a relative out of 100% junk box parts 4 or 5 years ago that ran a third gen core I3-3240T and small form factor motherboard that I had originally used in a battery powered PC. She had used it for several years with W7, but it was "not compatible with W10" and Best Buy told her to get a new PC. This thing did score in the 1000 to 1100 range on Passmark and about 10% VS the world (don't have a picture, so I don't remember the exact numbers). It did however upgrade successfully to W10. I would find it too slow for my patience, but she is still using it today for web browsing and photo storage....with a new hard disk.
Your Vista PC is probably OK for W-10, but W-10 drivers for older hardware may not exist. Sometimes W-7 drivers work, sometimes they don't.
As I just found out old software that has worked from the days of Windows 98, ME, and 2000 all the way through early versions of W-10 are killed off by recent Windows 10 updates. My ancient version 6.27 of Nikon View basic photo editor died during the last major W-10 update. It will no longer run even in the XP compatibility mode. Hardware (and it's old software) that uses a PCI (not PCIe) slot is particularly troublesome, and the reason I keep two W-7 machines, and one XP machine.
Late last year after a hard drive failure, I went through all of my old PC's, tested them all, replaced all hard drives over 5 years old, and upgraded several W7 machines to W10 while it was still a free upgrade.
The Vista machine had been stored in an unheated shed for three years. I decided to dig it out and see if it had any useful parts, or maybe even worked. I plugged it in pushed the start button and it came right to life, just like it was still 2012.
What would happen if connected to the web? The last time it performed a "Windows Update" was in 2014, what would happen if I tried it again? "Windows Update encountered an unknown error."
How does this old dog benchmark against a new machine, or "Your System vs the world." Let's download Passmark and see it it will even run? Yes, Passmark runs! The 8 year old dog scores a 1401 which is in the 26th percentile VS the world.
I gave the old dog to my 15 year old grandson. He now has it playing games on W7. I did not ask how!
By comparison my fastest machine runs an AMD Ryzen 7 with 32 GB of memory and a GTX 1660 graphics card. It scores a 6338 which is in the 98th percentile VS the world.
My slowest machine runs a second generation Core i5-2400 with 8 Gb ram a small SSD boot disk, 4 spinning hard drives, low buck video card and a ASUS Xonar sound card. It scores a 1543 which is in the 30th percentile VS the world. I tested it with W10, but returned it to W7 since it does not connect to the internet and W10 eliminated the free DVR feature in W7. It is all stuffed in a 2RU rack mount case and used exclusively as a media player / DVR (1080 only, no 4K).
When Microsoft started putting "your machine has W7 which is now unsupported and vulnerable to malicious attack" messages on old machines, several friends and relatives brought me their PC's for free W10 upgrades, several of these machines failed the Microsoft W10 compatibility test. All were successfully upgraded to W10.
During this upgrade frenzy I did try the Vista keys to see if they would work with W10....No, neither Vista or XP product keys (the numbers on the sticker) will work for W10, but valid W7 home user keys usually will. W7 keys from a machine that was previously covered on a bulk or blanket license agreement (leased PC's or those owned by a large corporation) may NOT work.
I had built a PC for a relative out of 100% junk box parts 4 or 5 years ago that ran a third gen core I3-3240T and small form factor motherboard that I had originally used in a battery powered PC. She had used it for several years with W7, but it was "not compatible with W10" and Best Buy told her to get a new PC. This thing did score in the 1000 to 1100 range on Passmark and about 10% VS the world (don't have a picture, so I don't remember the exact numbers). It did however upgrade successfully to W10. I would find it too slow for my patience, but she is still using it today for web browsing and photo storage....with a new hard disk.
Your Vista PC is probably OK for W-10, but W-10 drivers for older hardware may not exist. Sometimes W-7 drivers work, sometimes they don't.
As I just found out old software that has worked from the days of Windows 98, ME, and 2000 all the way through early versions of W-10 are killed off by recent Windows 10 updates. My ancient version 6.27 of Nikon View basic photo editor died during the last major W-10 update. It will no longer run even in the XP compatibility mode. Hardware (and it's old software) that uses a PCI (not PCIe) slot is particularly troublesome, and the reason I keep two W-7 machines, and one XP machine.
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Try this link :
Download Windows Vista Service Pack 1 All Language Standalone CD ISO from Official Microsoft Download Center
However, it is not possible to migrate from Vista to Windows 10 for free.
And, on top of that, it might not be a good idea because of driver updates.
from the other side of the Earth.
Download Windows Vista Service Pack 1 All Language Standalone CD ISO from Official Microsoft Download Center
However, it is not possible to migrate from Vista to Windows 10 for free.
And, on top of that, it might not be a good idea because of driver updates.
from the other side of the Earth.
I am not sure if this thread is funny or sad. Why do you run in circles with Windows? Just use a free (as in free beer) operating system. Oh, it might even be free (as in free speech). And it will certainly be good enough to talk to a serial port.
6 Best Linux Distributions for Beginners in 2020
6 Best Linux Distributions for Beginners in 2020
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