Chosen Solution
I purchased the upgrade for Windows 8 thinking all would be easy and fast. After much research and time, I have come to the conclusion that XP just won’t upgrade unless you have a 64 bit system Is this true? Can I add 32 bit to the present machine and use the upgrade that I have already purchased. Should I just get a new PC? Can this machine be made useful and secure on the internet?
These computers are not exactly fit for Windows 7. While it may run on a Core 2 series system (read: Pentium 4 and D are too old to support it), it will struggle to run well, and the upgrades required to have a fighting chance will add up too quickly. I would get an off-lease or refurbished business class system that is fresh of corporate America’s scrap pile instead of trying to make it work on this thing, if you can go for the fresh “EOL” to corporate stock. Even then, if the IGP is no good the machine cannot take a PCIe video card; the PCIe “slot” is for an ADD2 card which just adds DVI to the ports on the system the IGP can use. UNLESS YOU INSTALL A PCI GPU, it will not accept them. I found this out because I had to look into it for mine, and I wanted to know before I learned the hard way.
You can’t upgrade from XP to Win 8 you have to install a fresh OS
