Trying to update or install win 7 in a win xp pc

You cannot upgrade from XP to Windows 7 - not possible. You have to format the drive and then install Windows 7 fresh,

Thanks John, Did not know that.....pupuli

Windows 7 plus Office and a few programs needs about 50 GB. So as long as you have a 60 GB or better hard drive and the machine (CPU and BIOS) will support Windows 7, a fresh install should work.

@John: Just found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BUxY6HQObQ

I think its better to have a fresh install instead of upgrade!

to upgrade from windows xp to windows 7 you need to use an intermediate step of upgrading to vista first.

to upgrade from windows xp to windows 7 you need to use an intermediate step of upgrading to vista first.

yes, but you can't change from 32 bit to 64 bit when doing so. note, 64-bit windows can use more than 4 GB RAM while 32-bit windows (regardless whether XP, Vista, Win 7, Win 8, Win 10) were limited to 3GB RAM physical memory.

Need info on how to setup my old pc so that it would have this amount of free space???

if the old pc has some good working programs (XP) and is well equipped - say a good graphic card and at least a dual-core cpu - you could add a new disk (i would recommend using a 512 GB SSD) and install windows 7 (or windows 10) at this disk. by means of dual boot you then can switch between both systems. Or, after windows 7 is running - you can create a VM (virtual machine) where you may install xp again and reinstall your old programs there if they are not running in win 7. that allows to boot windows 7 and nevertheless can use xp programs directly from windows 7 desktop by using the VM.

if you consider this alternative you should go onto new hardware with 2 disks (an 256 GB ssd and a 1TB sata), I5 CPU, 16GB RAM and 2 partitions at the second disk, where one of the partitions should have the size of your current disk and could take the xp in a VM.

Sara

i would verify first if the old system can run windows 7, eg if you find the drivers for the motherboard
you can post the specs of the pc, or model : cpu, ram disk etc

Need info on how to setup my old pc so that it would have this amount of free space???

if your current free space is big enough - say at least 250 GB - you could try to defragment the disk and check the result of the defragmentation whether there is enough freespace at the right end of the disk. this would allow an xp partition manager tool (paragon, partion magic, norton ghost, more ...) to part your current partition into two partitions where the second one could be used for a fresh windows 7 installation. however, a second disk probably is the better choice if you have a free slot.

Sara

The problem you are going to have is that Win7 is rather heavier on the hardware than XP, ie it absorbs more CPU cycles, needs more disk space and uses much more RAM - dont even think of using it with less than 2GB of RAM!
Upgrading your XP system to run Win7 is wasted money, you would be better to put that money towards buying a much more up to date machine that has More horsepower, More Disk space , More disk performance and much much more RAM

@pupuli - Can you let us know if the old machine can support Windows 7?  If not, Windows 7 is now on the downslope and if you need a new machine, get one with Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.

I have decided to junk the xp, cuz I found out that all my software is out of date and will not work
with windows 7.........it is a very old xp PC and I forgot all about my software plus my mother board is also very old...............just like me......since I am 85 years old I had a talk with my doctor and I was told the truth......if I get something serious...........they will not treat.......but give me pills to make me
comfortable..........which I agree with since I am a retired RN of over 25 years....so you young ones
get all your chips togeather....for I am waiting at the dock in the boat for you........

anyways thanks all  pupuli

I would really examine what you use the computer for. For most people a tablet or a chromebook is sufficient.

pupuli, post some specs of the pc
if you don't want to open it,  use siw :  http://www.gtopala.com/

Will get another computer..so I am following John Hurst's Comment.......

thanks pupuli

And my comment as i suggested it first!   :-)

Thanks John that is what I am going to do...junk the old xp---the mother brd and other hardware is not supported by Win7....so I will think about a new computer.

Thank...pupuli

Thanks for the update and good luck with a new computer.