WINDOWS 7 INSTALLATION ON AN OLDER DESKTOP

My best friend has an older Dell Inspiron 530 desktop system, approximately 5-6 years old and maybe even a little older. He's come to me and asked if I can help him upgrade his 530 to Win 7 Home Premium 32-bit from the XP Pro Svce Pack 3 O/S currently running it. Depending on with whom I speak at Dell support, one moment the answer's yes; another moment, no; and yet another moment, maybe, but there might be problems! When I asked for further elaboration re "problems," I was told with the drivers on an older XP machine. I had envisioned backing up his current data to an external HD, then installing Win 7, followed by restoring his backed up data.

I'm not here to bash Dell in any way, but I still don't know if I can or should do what my friend prefers, and that's to move away from the XP Pro sp3 O/S no long supported and get more current with Win 7 installed on his 530...he really wants to keep his 530.

I'd really appreciate some help here.

Thank you!

sbuxman

This is from the Dell Website Knowledge Base------

Dell Desktops Tested for Basic Windows 7 Functionality

Note: When Windows 7 is installed on one of the computers listed below, you may use drivers that come with the Operating System (aka. "native" or "built-in" drivers). Vista drivers (via Dell Drivers and Downloads or Microsoft Windows Update) may also be compatible and provide functionality for your hardware. For more information refer to Looking for Windows® 7 Drivers?
Inspiron

518 519 530

Processor type Pentium Dual-Core E2160

Maximum memory: 4096MB
Slots:4 (2 banks of 2)
Definitely need to max out the ram.

Specs: http://www.pcworld.com/product/31068/inspiron-530.html

What Crucial says.
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compat...l/inspiron-530

Download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to see if your PC is ready for Windows 7.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downl...ils.aspx?id=20