The answer is NO and the reason is quite simple... even XP struggles to run propertly on a computer with 256mb ram. put at least 1GB of ram and install Win7 x86 home edition on it and that should work just fine.

 

I've installed win7 pro x86 on my best friends P4 pc and it also has onboard video you'll need 2GB since that onboard video will take some of the ram. It runs fine on a p4, but the lack of aero hurts my eyes.

I wonder what ram your p4 needs, would be funny if u need RD ram

 

Running 7 on a Pentium M here, using a radeon x600 so aero is here too. You'll just need some more ram, about 2-4gb for a smooth experience.

 

I have Windows 7 installed on two netbooks, each with an Intel Atom - but I upgraded the RAM to 2GB and upped the hard drives before doing so. A Pentium 4 will be fine but I'd recommend having at least 2GB RAM, preferably more if the motherboard supports that much.

 

My inlaws have a pentium 4 at 3.06ghz.
I got them 2gb corsair ddr2 800, and windows 7 runs very nice on it.

Ram is so cheap these days, netbook makers should be hanged by the balls for selling those with 1gb.

Heck I've even seen some tempting 8gb kits, which I'll keep in check next time I build a rig.

 

As everyone else has said, a Pentium 4 will do okay for general use itself, but the RAM is very low, so RAM is the major problem. The bare minimum is 512MB (more like 1GB), and even then you're cutting it.

 

Might be worth throwing a cheap PCI (AGP?) video card in there... $25 or so could get you Aero effects as well.

 

hey thanks guys for replying. i'm not much into eye candy so even old windows 98 style works for me.
its a 2.4ghz CPU and i think it will support 1gb ram.
the only thing i'm gonna run on it is corel painter 11. nothing else, probably Firefox for internet but that's it.
i do have an antique ati rage pro 128 but i think it will be worse than Intel extreme graphics 865g

 

i do have an antique ati rage pro 128 but i think it will be worse than Intel extreme graphics 865g

It will, and I speak from experience with both.

 

It will, and I speak from experience with both.

it will? what? be better or worse than on board?

 

You said, and I quoted, "I think it will be worse" and I said "it will".

 

The Rage 128 is a decent retro\Win98 card, but it sucks for XP and above. Bad 2D acceleration with the last drivers.

For Win7, a card with WDDM 1.1-capable drivers would be best. If you can find a Radeon HD 2000 series (AGP) for cheap, it'll work nicely. But yeah, toss the Rage 128.

 

As for Aero working or not, that almost solely comes down to the graphics card. A decent card supporting dx9 will do on any system.
Win7 without Aero does indeed look ugly... worse than XP and Vista (Since Vista Basic at least doesn't color the taskbar light blue)

 

hell no, minimum 1gb

 

The Rage 128 is a decent retro\Win98 card, but it sucks for XP and above. Bad 2D acceleration with the last drivers.

Yeah, no kidding. On Windows XP, with the visual themes enabled (that is, using the default theme and not the classic one), I notice that card has slight delays when opening sub-menus, among other things. I am using Windows 2000 with it though.

As for games, it also lags terribly, when scrolling only, in The Sims (original), and I know it's the video card (or Dell's proprietary drivers) as that same PC with a GeForce 4 MX440 had no such issues. It runs the earlier Command & Conquer titles flawlessly though.

Meanwhile, the Intel Extreme Graphics 2 (the i865 IGP) ran the Sims 2 fairly decently (albeit that's via software mode with a fast enough CPU), so there's really no question between them. The Rage 128 wasn't all that special even when it was new.

 

How old are the Dell drivers? Here's the last ones ATI released for 2000.

 

You can be creative and modify the install (slipstream the disc). Cut out all the services you don't really need, and some that you might.

 

How old are the Dell drivers? Here's the last ones ATI released for 2000.

The proprietary drivers are very specific. The ATI ones do not work.

The specific Rage 128 that is in there now is not the one that originally came with the Dimension 4100, but it came from a Dimension 4300. The drivers on Dell's site for the Dimension 4100 didn't work! I had to get them from the page for the Dimension 4300 drivers. It is apparently that specific.

You can be creative and modify the install (slipstream the disc). Cut out all the services you don't really need, and some that you might.

I wouldn't even bother. 256MB is just too little for practical use.

 

Talking in general. It's fun to see how low you can get usage. Though with ram being free these days, I agree he should at least get 2gb if possible.

 

Well, yeah, I'm sure you can tweak to your heart's content, but if this is a machine that gets more actual/general use, it's better off just leaving Windows XP or whatever on it.

 

Talking in general. It's fun to see how low you can get usage. Though with ram being free these days, I agree he should at least get 2gb if possible.

ddr3 is dirt cheap but ddr1 is not

 

ddr3 is dirt cheap but ddr1 is not

Yeah, that is one consideration I always try to keep in mind. Usually when it comes to cheap RAM prices, it's for the latest type, where far less people are often to need it to begin with (hence they are cheaper partly due to that, supply and demand and all). it's one reason I'm such a RAM hoarder. It adds so much to it down the line, even if it's overkill at the moment. I won't go crazy though, but hey, 16GB is $100 so it's what I'd be doing without second though.

 

ddr3 is dirt cheap but ddr1 is not

If you live in the U.S. it is. Heck if you are really hurting for some, I can get you some dirt cheap if the shipping is not to horrendous. To illustrate, if have two GB of unused DDR1 400 tacked on my wall as art. Im loving the market at the moment.I added 8GB DDR3 to my laptop for only $59.99 (CAS 7 too).

 

$60 for 8GB isn't too special, especially when I thought laptop RAM was going cheaper (I've seen many advertisements for specials offering 8GB of laptop DDR3 away at like the upper $3x.xx range).

 

I saw some laptop RAM on Newegg a few minutes ago, 8 GB DDR3 1333 (CAS 9) for $35. It's getting ridiculously cheap again, like it did with DDR2. Hopefully it doesn't lead to the demise of DRAM manufacturers, like it did back then.

The proprietary drivers are very specific. The ATI ones do not work.

The specific Rage 128 that is in there now is not the one that originally came with the Dimension 4100, but it came from a Dimension 4300. The drivers on Dell's site for the Dimension 4100 didn't work! I had to get them from the page for the Dimension 4300 drivers. It is apparently that specific.I wouldn't even bother. 256MB is just too little for practical use.

Are you just running the installer, or have you tried extracting the files and forcing the install through Device Manager? Dell might have changed the vendor/device IDs, which would make the install fail. You could always check the INF files for that, and add to it if need be.