Have just found an old Compaq Presario cq71 in my spare room its running vista basic, is there an easy way to up it to windows 7 or similar I dont have any discs or manuals for machine.
It will not update to google chrome or connect to my wifi printer.
Any help much appreciated

You can download generic Windows 7 windows from microsoft for free but ideally you will also need a COA which you can get off ebay for less than £10.

The only thing that worries me is some laptops that expect a manufacturers version of windows (some dell, hp etc) might not work with a generic COA, tbh I can't remember.

You might have to dig out some drivers, they are on the HP website.

I think most cq71's are capable of running Windows 10, Microsoft download is free, ebay licenses are cheaper. You can run it without a license to try it out, it will nag you occasionally and may not update.

Sorry, Windows 7 is a dim memory these days.

You might be better skipping 7, seeing as how support is about to end and just go for Windows 10.

I refurb a few old computers from time to time and found Windows 10 performs much better on older kit than 7, and more drivers are present from the start.

Other than that, you might want to give ANTIX LINUX a try. Its free and runs really fast on older computers.