Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro feasible on very old laptop?

Dogsarefun

I am currently a 24 hour pet sitter and have a laptop bought in 2007 for taking to different houses where I work. I would like to be able to do some type of remote work with my laptop while I pet sit and saw a Black Friday deal for MS Windows 10 Pro for $25 but am not sure it’s compatible with my laptop. It’s been a while since I’ve done a Windows upgrade, and with the old laptop I imagine it’s a more sensitive issue so wanted to check in here and see if I’m on the right track. It’s the only laptop I have, and I can’t ruin it. I can’t financially upgrade to a better laptop at the moment and somehow it has kept going all these years. Last month I bought a new wifi adapter when mine failed.

I have a Toshiba Satellite L635 and its hard drive was replaced in 2016. It's a 2 GHz processor; RAM 1 GB PC 320; 4 GB installed Memory for 64 bit; 384 GB free on hard disk drive; a brand new wifi adapter plus driver compatible with Windows 10 (ASUS AC1200 USB-AC53 Nano). I believe all of this is compatible but wanted to check with you first as my knowledge is limited and I may have missed something. I have no idea where to look up the graphics card requirement on my laptop.

Second, will I lose any files on my desktop or elsewhere when I install it? So is there anything I need to check on before I do the upgrade?

Third, my roommate has a new hp envy inspire 7955e printer which says it’s compatible with Windows 10 (34 bit and 64 bit). Do you see foresee any problems connecting with it as I don’t know if that includes Windows 10 Pro.

Fourth, should I consider getting a new laptop battery for it and where is the best place to get one? Is it easy to install myself or is there a shop you’d recommend that specializes in inexpensive battery replacement for laptops? Mine isn’t working at all. Just wanting to keep it running for a little while longer and if this helps, I’ll do it or whatever tips are recommended. 

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dogsarefun

1. I vaguely recall these systems from 2011-2012. I believe they're first gen Intel Core processors that were released in 2010, it's definitely old. I couldn't find any drivers online. Other systems from that era would run, so I believe you could get the main features working with some effort in hunting down drivers. Chipset/IME/GPU. However you're probably going to run into a lot of other issues. WIFI card won't be a problem. SD card readers, touchpad controls and features are going to be very difficult to find compatible drivers for. Unfortunately, you're really not going to know until you try it. You're going to need a memory upgrade as well.
2. You should be able to upgrade and keep your files.
3. Windows 10 Pro is Windows 10 with additional features. The printer would work fine.
4. Sure, we have them but it would likely be something we would need to order. There's just a latch on the bottom, swapping it only takes a moment and shouldn't require any disassembly.

My overall opinion, it's more than a decade old. It's not worth the effort to upgrade at this point. If you want to proceed here's how I'd go about it and what you really need to have decent performance. Double the RAM to 8GB. I'm assuming you still have the original HDD. For that I'd upgrade to an SSD. You can get a 512GB for $20-30, you should be about to get a 1TB around $50. You also want this: https://www.microcenter.com/product/463322/vantec-ide-sata-to-usb-30-hard-drive-adapter

That's a USB to SATA adapter. So here's the plan. We use the adapter to clone the image over to the new SSD. We swap the drives, keeping your existing HDD as a backup. If we don't like how things turn out, we just throw it back in or reclone it to the SSD and nothing changes. Then we're free to experiment on the SSD. Upgrade, figure out what does work and if we can reach a point where you're satisfied with the computer. You're not taking any risks since you have original drive as backup, and HDD to SSD would be a significant performance increase either way.

Dogsarefun

So you think installing Windows 10 pro on my current laptop is chancey and not the best idea?

What alternatives are there for me then with buying a used/refurbished laptop? How much would it cost as I'd need something very affordable so I can be working asap. It just has to be working with Windows 10 and able to meet basic remote working requirements.

If I get a used laptop, will my Window 10 pro be useful or should I get a refund at this point? It's $25 I could put toward buying a used laptop.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dogsarefun

I think you'd have a difficult time finding drivers for peripheral devices. Card reader, maybe webcam, touchpad, ect.

Main thing with Pro is it supports VPN, which will be used and required for a lot of remote jobs.

Dogsarefun

So used/refurbished laptops don't usually come with Windows installed? If that's the case, then I'll keep my Windows 10 Pro. I know I need 10 in order to update to 11.

I won't mess around with upgrading my current laptop. Any tips with looking at used/refurbished laptops? Is there a general cost I can slot into my budget for now?

Dogsarefun

Are most of the sales this time of year or is January better?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dogsarefun

You'll get Windows on a new laptop or refurbed laptop. It's more a question of whether it's Home or Pro. As for the sales, I'm not sure what's coming next month, there's generally some good options all the time.