W10 upgrade

[Rekusu]

What ho one and all,

i know I am a Luddite but it is becoming clear that I will have to upgrade my computer from my current Dell Dimension 9200 with XP Pro, to something that runs W10.

Don't have a lot of available cash so thinking of (may be?) an HP Z240 or similar. More RAM for photo use would be quite nice.

However, I have a lot of software that I am happy with, and don't need to (or cannot afford to) upgrade. So how do I find if these programs will run under W10.

For example MS Office 2000 (I use Word, Outlook for Contacts and Excel); Photoshop CS3 (does everything I need so why upgrade and re-learn?); Minolta Dimage Scan Multi-Pro film scanner and associated software; plus all kinds of other shareware programs.

It also seems to me that everything about W10 revolves around having an MS account, which I don't have and don't need and don't want. Is there a way round not having an MS account?

Thanks and toodle pip

[jdc2000]

You can set up Windows 10 without a Microsoft account, even though Microsoft doesn't want you to.

To do this, you need to make sure that your computer is NOT connected to the Internet when you run through the installation and setup process. If you do that, you will get the option to create a Local user account.

You should be able to get an HP Z240 set up with the RAM and drive storage that you need. I would say that 8GB of RAM is minimum, 16GB is better, 32GB would be really nice. A 500GB hard drive would be minimum, 1TB would be better, a 1TB C: drive and a 4TB or larger D: drive would be best.

I will have to do some checking on your software compatibility. Watch for another update later.

[jdc2000]

You can set up Windows 10 without a Microsoft account, even though Microsoft doesn't want you to.

To do this, you need to make sure that your computer is NOT connected to the Internet when you run through the installation and setup process. If you do that, you will get the option to create a Local user account.

You should be able to get an HP Z240 set up with the RAM and drive storage that you need. I would say that 8GB of RAM is minimum, 16GB is better, 32GB would be really nice. A 500GB hard drive would be minimum, 1TB would be better, a 1TB C: drive and a 4TB or larger D: drive would be best.

I will have to do some checking on your software compatibility. Watch for another update later.

[jdc2000]

For software compatibility, see the following information. Note: I recommend installing Windows 10 first, make an image backup, then install all updates, make another image backup, and then try installing software. Install standard things first, like a .pdf file reader, web browser(s), VLC, etc., then make another image backup. After that, try installing, one at a time, your other software. Test the results, and, if acceptable, make another image backup each time, in case something fails and causes major problems.

Office 2000:
You may be able to get to install AND run on Windows 10, but there is no guarantee. You might need to install it using Compatibility Mode, end even then you could have issues with saving and/or with Outlook. You will just have to try it on your system to see what happens. You may be stuck with the stand-alone version of Office 2019 instead.

PhotoShop CS3:
You may be able to get it installed AND registered by using the information at the link below:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/downl...0801522?page=1
No guarantees, as Adobe does not want you using it any more, and Microsoft "updates" may break it.

Minolta DImage Scan:
You may be able to get it to install using the link below.
http://roy.vanegas.org/thoughts/how-...in-windows-10/
No guarantees, you will just have to try it.

Most shareware software should work.

One other consideration is whether to install the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 10. Some software may work on the 32-bit version, but not on the 64-bit version. Also, if you go with Office 2019, get the 32-bit version of that.

[Rekusu]

Thank you for your detailed response. Seems like on the software front, it is suck it and see!

The Z240 advertised in the brochure I have in front of me has 16 gb RAM and a 1 tb HDD.. As I currently had two 1TB plus one 500gb installed in my XP, I have plenty of storage space. But I would be just transferring two of the HDD. I use the storage because semi-professional photos consume space quite quickly.

If there are program 'running issues with the older software, presumably I could install XP as a dual boot 32bit or in a VM?

I know it is a 'backward' question, but would W7 be a better option for software / hardware compatibility? Since I have been running XP for years past its 'sell by date', I don't have a problem doing the same with W7.

[jdc2000]

There are no XP drivers for the Z240. You would need to run XP in a VM. Windows 7 drivers do seem to be available.

Photoshop CS3 on Windows 7 may or may not work. However, some Windows 7 versions did have an XP mode that you could use to get it working.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/downl...3825682?page=1

Office 2000 may or may not work, you will just have to try it.

https://www.sevenforums.com/microsof...-7-64-bit.html

The Minolta software may work on Windows 7, or you could use XP Mode.

https://www.rangefinderforum.com/for...d.php?t=115225

I would try to get things running under Windows 10 before giving up and using an older version of Windows.