Latitude 620 Running XP -- Upgrade Options?

My father has an old Latitude D620 running XP. He's concerned about XP end of life and wants me to upgrade it. Linux is not an option -- he has no interest in learning or switching. He wants to stay with Windows.

So, my question, of the available Windows versions out there - Vista, 7, 8, which would work best on this old hardware. I ran the Windows 7 compatibility analyzer and overall it would work, but would Windows 7 not run smoothly on this machine?

Guess I'm looking for thoughts on which version would run best on this machine. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Windows 7 will run smoothly on a D620. It will help to not have a Core Solo. It will help to have at least 2-3GB of RAM. It will also help to have an SSD

 

It's got an Core 2 Duo T5500. But, it only has 1GB of RAM.

Should I bother? Worth upgrading memory so it has 2-3GB?

 

2GB of DDR2 isn't that expensive... maybe like $15-20? Assuming the machine is otherwise fine for his needs, it's probably okay to upgrade it.

 

Intel or nVidia graphics?

 

Right, this is another consideration; if you have Nvidia graphics it's pretty much guaranteed to go bad eventually, so you should not invest any more in the unit.

 

You can upgrade the following:

1. RAM. 3-4GB for a nice smooth experience. I suggest 4.
2. CPU - I'd double check compatibility, but a T7xx series CPU should work fine
3. HDD - It probably has an old slow 5400RPM HD. Grab a 120GB SSD and move on.

OS - Windows 7. Period.

But if it has an Nvidia GPU, do nothing. The machine will die. If it has an Intel GPU, then a few choice upgrades will make for a nice D620. I would do in this order: RAM, SSD, CPU.