WTB: Vista or Win7 DVD with Valid Key

[Clocker]

Howdy- I have a Lenovo R61 laptop. 2Ghz C2D with 2GB RAM and onboard graphics. 30GB SSD.

I want to put a Windows OS on it as cheaply as possible. I think XP is just a little too old and would prefer Win Vista or 7. If you guys have anything you would like to give a deal on let me know.

I have a PCI-e 9600GT 512MB (256-bit Memory Bus, G94 GPU) that's in like new condition if anyone is interested in a trade, possibly. It's an MSI card.

Thanks,
Clocker

 

[Clocker]

On second thought I am reading some things on the 'net that say a 30GB SSD is too small for either and I am stuck with XP. Interested in hearing opinions on that as well.

I could potentially take my 64GB SSD out of my main machine and put it into this laptop b& uprgrade the Desktop to something larger. Not sure if now is a good time to be buying SSDs now though.....

 

[Clocker]

Looks like Vista Home Basic might have more modest boot drive size requirements. Might be interested in that too.

 

[Mercutio]

I have a few Vista Home Premium licenses sitting around.

 

[Handruin]

I have a copy (somewhere in my basement) of XP Pro new and in the original box that I never opened, or at least never activated/used. If you get to a point where you need XP, let me know and I'll try to locate it.

 

[Clocker]

Do you guys think I'll be able to get Vista HP + MS Office 2007 on the 30GB SSD & be functional?

If not let me know what you want for that WinXP, Doug.

Thanks,
Clocker

 

[Mercutio]

If you do, it will be only just. You're seriously better of trying to do that with XP or with a Linux install.
My classroom install of Win7 + Office is 28GB including the pagefile and hibernation file. That's not much room for useful data storage.

 

[Handruin]

Do you guys think I'll be able to get Vista HP + MS Office 2007 on the 30GB SSD & be functional?

If not let me know what you want for that WinXP, Doug.

Thanks,
Clocker

I'll PM you with details once I can make sure I can find it.

 

[ddrueding]

If you do, it will be only just. You're seriously better of trying to do that with XP or with a Linux install.
My classroom install of Win7 + Office is 28GB including the pagefile and hibernation file. That's not much room for useful data storage.

Seconded. This also means that even if all you do is install updates you will be screwed within a year.

 

[Clocker]

I'll PM you with details once I can make sure I can find it.

Let me make sure I've turned every stone before you got through the effort of searching for me. I might have something in my box o junk.

 

[CougTek]

Ever heard about BIOS modding and SLIC 2.1? You could visit My Digital Life forums and look for a modified BIOS for your Thinkpad R61. With a certain software by Ulead, you could end up with a pretty cheap activated Windows 7 installation.

Not that I encourage you to do it. I'm just saying...

 

[MaxBurn]

I have a retail box of vista upgrade here I'm not using any more. Has both x86 and x64 hologram disks.

 

[Clocker]

Ever heard about BIOS modding and SLIC 2.1? You could visit My Digital Life forums and look for a modified BIOS for your Thinkpad R61. With a certain software by Ulead, you could end up with a pretty cheap activated Windows 7 installation.

Not that I encourage you to do it. I'm just saying...

WELL. I found a useable WinXP Disk with Valid key. But now I will have so spend several hours decryping Coug's message & figuring out what to do. DAMN YOU COUGTEK!

 

[Clocker]

WELL. I found a useable WinXP Disk with Valid key. But now I will have so spend several hours decryping Coug's message & figuring out what to do. DAMN YOU COUGTEK!

Lucky for me I just remembered that even if I could find an SLIC BIOS to install, my SSD is too small for Win7 or Win Vista. I did find someone to sell me a Vista Home Basic key that has never been used. Since it's install requirements are less I might give it a whirl but I can always fall back on XP.

Thanks for your inputs guys.

C

 

[Clocker]

Just for reference for you guys, Vista Home Basic has a footprint that is not too bad for a 30GB SSD. Here's the result:

After Vista Home Basic SP2 Install
15.8GB Free after all Windows Updates (14GB Install size)


After Installing Excel, Powerpoint, and Word 2007 & FireFox
14.5GB Free (-1.3GB)

After ~750GB (!) of Office 2007 Updates
12.2GB Free (-2.3GB)

Works perfect for what this Laptop is being used for. It's convenient because this SATA is not natively supported by WinXP and I get TRIM support too.