How well does Windows 8 run on Intel Atom netbook?

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Good day to all.

I recently purchased a couple of inexpensive netbooks that came with Windows 7 Starter. I upgraded one of those to Windows 7 Home Premium with a purchased upgrade product key. The other netbook is still in its package – never used.

I also purchased a pair of 2GB RAM sticks for the machines – the machine that I am currently using has had its RAM upgraded to 2GB.

I also have an old Asus Eee PC netbook running Windows XP Home Edition – it too, has 2GB RAM installed.

A side-by-side comparison reveals that the XP machine ‘feels’ a little bit snappier than the Windows 7 machine. Not much difference, but its there.

I took advantage of Microsoft’s generous Windows 8 Pro upgrade offer late last year and, because I have kept those new machines running Windows 7, have some unused Windows 8 Pro product keys available to me. I’m wondering if those Intel Atom netbooks might run just a little faster on Windows 8.

The original intent for those netbooks was to run Mach3 for a couple of small CNC machines. However, I have discovered a lower-cost option for that (Arduino clone running Grbl) and I really *DO* have other uses for the netbooks. Originally, slow speed simply wasn’t an issue but it would be nice to load these machines up with the Microsoft Windows version that gives the best performance.

I have no qualms about downgrading them to Windows XP, other than the impending ‘End of Life’ issues that will occur next year (no more security updates).

Does anyone have any experience running Windows 8 on Intel Atom netbooks?

Opinions greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

dwayne

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Early on there were many people installing Win 8 on less powerful PCs and finding it worked quite well. Obviously I assume you got the 32 Bit version of Win 8. XP may still seem more responsive. It has for some, but not for others. It totally depends on your systems.

I believe going from XP to Win 8 requires a Custom (Clean) install, but this is the method I always recommend anyway. When you download the ISO file choose to install from media you create. This will allow you to create either an installation DVD or Flash Drive. This will be the media you will use later if you have to gain access to the repair console. You need only create one DVD or Flash Drive. This will work with all PCs, just use the different keys.

I would also suggest following the advice in the Win 8 Forum on customizing your installation so that it feels more like Win 7. This will allow you time to get the feel of the Win 8 UI without the shock of this entirely new OS.

I would also suggest before starting, make an Image of the original OS as a backup.

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Note that Windows 8’s minimum screen resolution for Win 8 apps is 1366×768.

[indent]Windows 8 system requirements[/indent]

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Note that Windows 8’s minimum screen resolution for Win 8 apps is 1366×768.

[indent]Windows 8 system requirements[/indent]

Here’s a workaround for that:
http://www.howtogeek.com/134022/how-to-run-modern-windows-8-apps-on-a-netbook/

Jerry

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Note that Windows 8’s minimum screen resolution for Win 8 apps is 1366×768.

[indent]Windows 8 system requirements[/indent]

This is a requirement if you want to “snap” apps. My guess is that if you work in Desktop mode, that screen resolution isn’t a requirement.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Yep, I’ve seen that. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work, and oftentimes when it does work, it’s really blurry.

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Yep, I’ve seen that. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work, and oftentimes when it does work, it’s really blurry.

I hadn’t heard that. It worked fine on my son’s ASUS netbook but its only a sample of one.

Jerry

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For running either Windows 7 or Windows 8 on underpowered computers, having plenty of memory is more important than processor power, and of course it also matters what you are doing. For browsing or other low power stuff, it will probably be fine. Are you going to run any thing that will tax the processor, because if you do, it will really disappoint you.

I have loaded the Developer Preview on a couple of 2.4Ghz P4s, one an HP Compaq Evo, and one a Dell GX240. I couldn’t load the final on it, because the BIOS/CPU didn’t support the upgrade. I have forgotten the name of the property that the P4 doesn’t support. But the pre-release versions of Windows 8 worked fine on them.

Do you know what the processor speed is, is it 1.0Ghz?

If you use Windows Defender, the built in anti virus, and you start a scan, you will barely be able to browse.

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Does your CPU support PAE, NX

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PC World article notes the following:
According to Microsoft, Window 8’s hardware requirements are:

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
Disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

If you’d like to take advantage of some of Windows 8’s ancillary features and capabilities, these additional items will also be required:

To use touch, you’ll need a tablet or a monitor that supports multi-touch.
To access the Windows Store to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768.
Internet access (ISP fees might apply)

Article Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2011906/how-to-optimize-windows-8-on-old-hardware.html

Rich

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