Vista Home Basic User: Time to Update to Windows 7 or even XP?

I have a Dell Vostro 1015 laptop (Intel Celeron 900 @2.20GHz) w/4 GB of RAM and 134 GB hard drive in a 32-bit operating system, running Windows Vista Home Basic (SP2). The OS is constantly hanging up. I'm constantly watching the moving circle (it used to be the hourglass). About a month ago, I found out the computer was infected with Antivirus GT. Got Kaspersky AV 2011 and got rid of the virus by running it multiple times. Also got rid of the associated Trojan worm viruses. Since then, I've run Kaspersky full scan multiple times, also ran multiple times the following antispyware (All freely downloadable versions): (1) Malware Bytes Anti-Malware; (2) SpywareBlaster; (3) Super Antispyware; (4) Spybot Search & Destroy. No viruses or spyware or malware at all anymore. But the system is slow as molasses. It takes forever to shut down or start a new program. When I open the taskmanager, CPU Usage is at 100% nearly all the time. What's disturbing especially is how long it takes to download Kaspersky's updates. I have Kaspersky on my Desktop as well, so I can compare download speed. It sometimes takes 2-3 hours for my Vostro Laptop to download all of Kaspersky's updates. I've posted to Kaspersky's forum and did the usual uninstall and reinstall. The slowness still remains. There is no way it should take this long. I'm posting in this forum because I don't think it's any longer a virus/spyware issue but an operating system issue. I'm pretty sure I've gotten rid of Antivirus GT and nothing has since come up. Is it time to ditch Vista and upgrade to 7? Or how about just downgrading to XP, since I'm dealing with a pretty limited system here?

I would not upgrade to Windows 7 on a computer with a Celeron processor. It's also one of the reasons your computer runs slow with Vista.

Having said that though, try this: Perform a clean startup to determine whether background programs are slowing you down

to be honest i still wouldn't rule out a virus problem if it's still running slow, but to answer your question i'd definitely go with windows 7 if your laptop is up to it, which looks like it to me.

here's a link to windows 7 upgrade advisor to double check tho:- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7…quirements.aspx

You really think it's up to it? I put in 2 extra Gigs of RAM. But with Celeron, isn't XP really the right system for this low rent system? I'd be happy if I can use XP and surf the web while I'm traveling for a few years – like or 2 or 3. That's right, I'm willing to downgrade to XP from Vista. It seems that bad.

With the PC you have, XP will give you the fastest OS experience. Not the best, but undisputed the fastest. Cheers, Lee

That's right, I'm willing to downgrade to XP from Vista. It seems that bad.

Personally and on your PC, I'd consider XP an upgrade as far as Vista is concerned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiVzWApWJkQ
3rd segment.

Cheers,
Lee

My question is this. I've been reading some Web info regarding "downgrading" to XP from Vista. I've been reading comments that if you are able to turn off "User Account Control" settings, then you might want to stick with Vista.

I just canceled the User Account Control so that the system doesn't hang up each time I try to run programs. Before, my main problem was the hang-up time when the window darkens and the screen warning User Account Control appears. That froze up the system each time. After doing this, I notice system improvements. But still not fast enough.

What do you think? If I had my way, I would downgrade to XP ASAP, but I'm reading messages that the procedure is not fault free and I may suffer from glitches and complications. Is downgrading still the best option?

That's right, I'm willing to downgrade to XP from Vista. It seems that bad.

The key to installing XP is to make sure you have all the necessary device drivers. If the computer was designed for Vista then the manufacturers web site may only have Vista drivers available, which means you would have to search for the XP drivers you need, if you need any. You really won't know until you install XP. If I was going to do this, I would first make an image backup of the existing hard drive, including the Recovery Partition if there is one. Then install XP and and see what happens. You may get lucky and all the devices will be recognized by XP. If not, you will then have to find the necessary drivers. We can help you do that if needed. You will need to format the partition you install to which means you will wipe out all your data, which is another good reason to make an image backup first. That way once XP is installed, you can restore any data you want from the backup. If the XP install does not work out, then you can restore the image backup and be right back where you are now.

in my opinion(and it is just an opinion) win7 should run fine too(depending on graphics hardware) but you'd definitely want to turn off all desktop effects, ect, to help ease the load on your cpu, xp would definitely seem faster in use tho, just install it like Ztruker said, with full format first.