What are my options for upgrading the OS from an older Acer laptop from 2008?

[Jason Jay]

What are my options for upgrading an OS from an older Acer laptop from 2008?

I currently have an old Acer Extensa 4420 laptop with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition (32-bit) with Service Pack 1 (SP1) preinstalled. I wanted to use it as an emergency laptop and put a new SSD 240GB hard drive in it and do a new install of a Windows OS, preferable Windows 8.1. I prefer to use the latest Windows 8.1 because I already have an official Windows 8.1 ISO file that I downloaded from microsoft.com when installing a new SSD to my current Lenovo laptop. I also have the old Windows Vista product key from the old Acer Extensa 4420 laptop.

Question 1: Is it possible to upgrade to Windows 8.1 with an older 2008 Acer laptop given the specs below without any performance issues or general compatibility problems?

Question 2: If yes to the 1st question above, and my old laptop can indeed handle the Windows 8.1 OS, what's the best way to install Windows 8.1? Keep in mind I'm starting with a brand new 240GB SSD with nothing on it. I have both product keys, one from Vista and one from Windows 8.1 Thank you.

The Acer Extensa 4420 has the following specifications:

• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor TK-57
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition operating system
• Memory: 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM
• Optical Drive: Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support
• Screen: 14.1″ WXGA TFT-LCD CrystalBrite widescreen display
• Hard drive: Hitachi 160GB 5400rpm SATA hard drive
• Graphics: ATI Radeon Xpress X1250 graphics with 256MB dedicated memory
• Audio: Acer 3DSonic stereo speakers with high-definition audio support
• Wireless: Acer InviLink wireless LAN (802.11b/g)
• Ports: 5-in-1 media card reader, Ethernet LAN with RJ-45 connector; V.92 high-speed modem

[Lacius]

Question 1: Is it possible to upgrade to Windows 8.1 with an older 2008 Acer laptop given the specs below without any performance issues or general compatibility problems?

[Jason Jay]

Great thanks. I didn't know Windows dropped support for our processor.

[mp3it]

You may find this link helpful

Upgrade to Windows 8.1 from Windows Vista or Windows XP

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-8/upgrade-from-windows-vista-xp-tutorial

[Jason Jay]

Thanks to all.

Yeah I just found that web page "Upgrade to Windows 8.1 from Windows Vista or Windows XP" an hour ago.

it pretty much covers any questions you'd have if upgrading from Vista.

I called 2 local computer repair shops near my house and asked them why can't I find any legit Windows 8 ISO files to download on the internet? One store said I don't know and the other said because Microsoft was screwing with it's customers. However, in November, 2014 (after enough complaints about it) they made Windows 8 ISO files free to download. Funny that they didn't know that. They probably just wanted to get me off the phone and weren't listening close enough or didn't want to give out free computer advice. To me that's at least 50% of the population, lol.

[Cerberus]

If you are hoping to oem activate then you are out of luck for your lappy has slic 2.0 which windows 8.x doesn't use but instead uses msdm table in bios that holds unique individual key. You would either have to kms activate or phone type activation. Either works, that's your choice of which one to use.

[Sonar]

I have an old Acer travelmate 5320 back from 2005ish running windows 8.1.

run the program by windows to see weather the machine will run the new os's

Windows 8.1 Upgrade Assistant

[Jason Jay]

I have an old Acer travelmate 5320 back from 2005ish running windows 8.1.

run the program by windows to see weather the machine will run the new os's

Windows 8.1 Upgrade Assistant

Yeah I was going to use that upgrade assistant yesterday, but since the old and original HDD that came with the Acer Laptop is dead I won't be able to run that assistant on the old Vista laptop. I would need to first install the old Vista OS first then run the Assistant to see if the old laptop is compatibile (I'm assuming all of this). So I figured why not just install the 8.1 OS right away and just see what happens. If it doesn't work, I'll just go back to installing the old Vista OS. I hope there are legit copies of Vista ISO files available on the internet such as Digital River or Microsoft.com, anyone know? I wonder if Acer Laptops with Vista OS's came packaged with Windows Installation Discs or not, I don't remember? Thanks!

[AlienForce1]

I hope there are legit copies of Vista ISO files available on the internet such as Digital River or Microsoft.com, anyone know? I wonder if Acer Laptops with Vista OS's came packaged with Windows Installation Discs or not, I don't remember? Thanks!

Look here : :)

http://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/57-windows-vista-direct-download-links