need help with installing windows 10 on mac mini 2.1

[hooman008]

hello
i just bought this second hadn mac mini 2.1 c2d 2.3ghz 4gig ram

ive tried to install wind 10 on it i got some problems after loading it , i got a x on the sound and geting no sound at all , thats the main problem as well as some usb port seems not to be working and one unrecognized device

so any ideas how i can get the sound working ?!

thanks in advance

 

[maflynn]

I don't believe that Mac Min is supported for windows 10.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204990

 

[Richdmoore]

I don't believe that Mac Min is supported for windows 10.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204990
View attachment 631225

I installed Windows 10 via boot camp/upgrade from 7 to 10 twice, but each time a update messed up the video driver and I was not able to figure out how to restore it without a wipe/reinstall. This was an iMac, not a Mac mini however.

You can try to install it in unsupported hardware, hopefully you won't have the bad experience I did.

FYI, at the end of the day I just use parallels, it works great for both Xbox one game streaming, and the Logitech harmony apps to program my remote. (Last I checked, the older app was unsupported on Yosemite, the newest app broke on El Capitan.). Depending on your uses it might or might not be an alternative.

 

[hooman008]

I don't believe that Mac Min is supported for windows 10.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204990
View attachment 631225

I installed Windows 10 via boot camp/upgrade from 7 to 10 twice, but each time a update messed up the video driver and I was not able to figure out how to restore it without a wipe/reinstall. This was an iMac, not a Mac mini however.

You can try to install it in unsupported hardware, hopefully you won't have the bad experience I did.

FYI, at the end of the day I just use parallels, it works great for both Xbox one game streaming, and the Logitech harmony apps to program my remote. (Last I checked, the older app was unsupported on Yosemite, the newest app broke on El Capitan.). Depending on your uses it might or might not be an alternative.

thank you for reply , im realy new to mac stuff like 3 weeks new lol got it for tv usage only ,
anyways i have installed the ML on it and also installed windows 10 64 , everything works on ML just lagy in youtube playback , on windows side everything is awesome but no sound , when trying to locate the typ of the audio chip i see that its some sort of intel chipest but when i wanna install the intel chipset driver the latest which i belive is 2015 it just fails ....anyideas that can make it work is appreciated

as for you Richdmoore for the GPU problem you just need to download and reinstall the GPU driver matching ur chipset thats how i made it working ,

ps youtube playback is amazing on the winodws while its supper lagy on mac os lol

im not native english speaker hope what i wrote is clear to undrestand

 

[bookemdano]

thank you for reply , im realy new to mac stuff like 3 weeks new lol got it for tv usage only ,
anyways i have installed the ML on it and also installed windows 10 64 , everything works on ML just lagy in youtube playback , on windows side everything is awesome but no sound , when trying to locate the typ of the audio chip i see that its some sort of intel chipest but when i wanna install the intel chipset driver the latest which i belive is 2015 it just fails ....anyideas that can make it work is appreciated

as for you Richdmoore for the GPU problem you just need to download and reinstall the GPU driver matching ur chipset thats how i made it working ,

ps youtube playback is amazing on the winodws while its supper lagy on mac os lol

im not native english speaker hope what i wrote is clear to undrestand

Youtube is slow on MacOS because there's no driver for Macmini2,1's graphics card in OS X after Lion.

For Windows try Driver Booster (http://www.iobit.com/en/driver-booster.php) and see if that will install the audio driver for you.

 

[Bugsi]

Necro thread, but modern update: I have Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, build 1903 running fine on the same hardware as OP: 2007 Mac Mini 2,1 with 2.33 GHz C2D and 4GB RAM (only 3 of which is addressable).
It was necessary to use Bootcamp drivers from the Snow Leopard install DVD, and it was necessary to disable applehfs.sys, AppleMNT.sys, and machaldriver.sys.

I got there by installing Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, then installing the Snow Leopard Boot Camp drivers, then update-installing Windows 10 Pro 64-bit build 1809, then disabling the three components listed above (which restores the ability to create a restore point, and keeps video working after the next update), then allowing Windows Update to update to 1903.

Windows 10 may not be officially supported on 2007 Mac Minis, but it actually runs quite well; better than MacOS 10.7.5 when it comes to modern web browser compatibility and security. The GMA950 graphics is definitely the weakest link, but for lightweight desktop use, the Mac Mini 2,1 runs Windows 10 surprisingly well for such lightweight hardware.

 

[Loyola]

Necro thread, but modern update: I have Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, build 1903 running fine on the same hardware as OP: 2007 Mac Mini 2,1 with 2.33 GHz C2D and 4GB RAM (only 3 of which is addressable).
It was necessary to use Bootcamp drivers from the Snow Leopard install DVD, and it was necessary to disable applehfs.sys, AppleMNT.sys, and machaldriver.sys.

I got there by installing Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, then installing the Snow Leopard Boot Camp drivers, then update-installing Windows 10 Pro 64-bit build 1809, then disabling the three components listed above (which restores the ability to create a restore point, and keeps video working after the next update), then allowing Windows Update to update to 1903.

Windows 10 may not be officially supported on 2007 Mac Minis, but it actually runs quite well; better than MacOS 10.7.5 when it comes to modern web browser compatibility and security. The GMA950 graphics is definitely the weakest link, but for lightweight desktop use, the Mac Mini 2,1 runs Windows 10 surprisingly well for such lightweight hardware.

I upgraded from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 1909 back in March on my 2010 21.5 iMac. Windows 7 Pro worked great for years however I have had some issues with Windows 10 1909. At this point I think I have solved the constant crashing by running various scans however I still boot into a temp profile. I am wondering if my issues are related to the 3 items you disabled. Do you know of negative impacts of disabling these items? I need to google them since I am not familiar with them.

 

[Bugsi]

I am wondering if my issues are related to the 3 items you disabled. Do you know of negative impacts of disabling these items? I need to google them since I am not familiar with them.

applehfs.sys and AppleMNT.sys let you mount Mac-formatted volumes in Windows. I have no need to do that so losing that capability is not a problem for me.

machaldriver.sys supports using an Apple keyboard for using the keyboard backlighting up/down keys and the screen brightness up/down keys. I don't care about either of those capabilities either, so losing those capabilities is also not a problem for me.

Note that the original post here is discussing using a 2007 Mac Mini 2,1. Bootcamp drivers that supported that hardware were on Leopard (10.5) for Windows XP, Snow Leopard (10.6) for Windows 7) and Lion (10.7) also for Windows 7. Those apparently came with machaldriver.sys version 5.1. Newer versions of machaldriver.sys came out with later Bootcamp software for newer Macs. There are discussions on other forums indicating that a later version of machaldriver.sys work with Windows 10 build 1903 (and presumably later) on *SOME* Mac hardware. Your 2010 iMac may be able to take newer Boot Camp drivers than the ones that shipped with Snow Leopard and Lion, but newer drivers might *NOT* support the hardware in the 2007 Mac Mini 2,1; particularly its Intel GMA950 video chipset.

The symptom of the incompatibility of machaldriver.sys 5.1 with Windows 10 build 1903 is a BSOD screen with the message "Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We're just collecting some error info, and then we'll restart for you." —It collects info, restarts and repeats. You can boot into safe mode and rename machaldriver.sys or disable it in the registry.

 

[Loyola]

applehfs.sys and AppleMNT.sys let you mount Mac-formatted volumes in Windows. I have no need to do that so losing that capability is not a problem for me.

machaldriver.sys supports using an Apple keyboard for using the keyboard backlighting up/down keys and the screen brightness up/down keys. I don't care about either of those capabilities either, so losing those capabilities is also not a problem for me.

Note that the original post here is discussing using a 2007 Mac Mini 2,1. Bootcamp drivers that supported that hardware were on Leopard (10.5) for Windows XP, Snow Leopard (10.6) for Windows 7) and Lion (10.7) also for Windows 7. Those apparently came with machaldriver.sys version 5.1. Newer versions of machaldriver.sys came out with later Bootcamp software for newer Macs. There are discussions on other forums indicating that a later version of machaldriver.sys work with Windows 10 build 1903 (and presumably later) on *SOME* Mac hardware. Your 2010 iMac may be able to take newer Boot Camp drivers than the ones that shipped with Snow Leopard and Lion, but newer drivers might *NOT* support the hardware in the 2007 Mac Mini 2,1; particularly its Intel GMA950 video chipset.

The symptom of the incompatibility of machaldriver.sys 5.1 with Windows 10 build 1903 is a BSOD screen with the message "Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We're just collecting some error info, and then we'll restart for you." —It collects info, restarts and repeats. You can boot into safe mode and rename machaldriver.sys or disable it in the registry.

Thank you for all of the info. I know this was for the 2007 Mac Mini. At this point I am just looking for anything to help me to get Windows 10 running.

 

[zimgodo]

Necro thread, but modern update: I have Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, build 1903 running fine on the same hardware as OP: 2007 Mac Mini 2,1 with 2.33 GHz C2D and 4GB RAM (only 3 of which is addressable).
It was necessary to use Bootcamp drivers from the Snow Leopard install DVD, and it was necessary to disable applehfs.sys, AppleMNT.sys, and machaldriver.sys.

I got there by installing Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, then installing the Snow Leopard Boot Camp drivers, then update-installing Windows 10 Pro 64-bit build 1809, then disabling the three components listed above (which restores the ability to create a restore point, and keeps video working after the next update), then allowing Windows Update to update to 1903.

Windows 10 may not be officially supported on 2007 Mac Minis, but it actually runs quite well; better than MacOS 10.7.5 when it comes to modern web browser compatibility and security. The GMA950 graphics is definitely the weakest link, but for lightweight desktop use, the Mac Mini 2,1 runs Windows 10 surprisingly well for such lightweight hardware.

Hi Bugsi, mind sharing the step by step to achieve this? I have the same spec as yours, and hearing that the graphics is going to be the downside for this machine, I wonder if viewing netflix is going to be affected much by this setback.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bugsi]

I pretty much described the process above, but I've repeated the feat several times now with 2007 Mac Minis and also with 2010 Mac Minis. I tried a couple different things that didn't work, like just trying to install Windows 10 directly, and that never worked and would boot into BSOD. I could safe mode boot, and disabled the drivers I mentioned above, but would still BSOD on reboot. In the end, for both 2007 and 2010 Minis, the only way I could get a working Windows 10 was to install Windows 7 first, then do an update install of Windows 10 over it. The process went like this:

2006 or 2007 Mini:
Opened it up, cleaned out dust-bunnies, removed older, slower CPU, and installed 2.33 GHz Merom T7600 C2D CPU, following guides on ifixit dot com. (The goal is to use a 64-bit Core2Duo CPU. You can use a 1.83 GHz T5600 Merom, or a 2.0 GHz T7200 Merom, or a 2.33 GHz T7600 Merom.) If upgrading the CPU, I recommend buying some M3x20 nylon screws and hex nuts before you start. The nylon rivet-pins that hold the CPU heatsink down get brittle with time, and the pin flanges snap off and are useless. Re-use the springs, but replace the nylon pins with the nylon screws and nylon hex nuts. You can also do this upgrade on Early or Late 2006 Mac Minis with a Core-Solo or Core-Duo, and run a firmware update that will allow you to install 64-bit operating systems. If you already have a 1.83 Ghz or 2.0 GHz C2D, you can use them as-is. Upgrading to a 2.33 GHz T7600 Merom will just gain you a small amount of speed, but with computers this old, every bit of speed you can get helps.

I also upgraded the RAM. Some I upgraded to 4GB (of which only 3GB can be addressed), others I upgraded to 3GB. I don't see any difference in performance, so I kind of recommend just going with 3GB.

I upgraded the hard drive to an internal SSD. These are cheap and make a huge difference in speed. However, the process also works just fine on mechanical spinning hard drives for both 2006/2007 and 2010 Mac Minis.

If you have a combo drive in your mini, consider swapping in a full DVD burner. Other Word Computing sells compatible models, but some might consider this a cost-prohibitive upgrade for such an obsolete computer. Consider this optional.

I boot off the Snow Leopard DVD and use Disk Utility from the Snow Leopard disc to partition and format the drive. Partition for Windows using Master Boot Record partition scheme by selecting Options. Do NOT use GUID or Apple partition scheme. Format the Windows partition MS-DOS (FAT). If you don't need MacOS, just make one partition. If you do need MacOS, make two partitions. I needed the Snow Leopard Disk Utility to do this. Newer Disk Utilities offered different formats that wouldn't work. On a 2010 Mini if you've installed High Sierra, your drive has likely been converted to APFS. The Snow Leopard Disk Utility can reformat your drive to undo APFS. Ironically, DO NOT use the Boot Camp Assistant to prepare your drive for Windows. Remember we're installing a Windows version on a Mac that neither Apple nor Microsoft say are compatible. Using the supported solutions for installing unsupported versions of Windows on unsupported Mac hardware is a non-starter.

Shut down, restart holding down the mouse button to eject the Snow Leopard DVD, and boot off the Windows 7 installer DVD. (I use a Windows 7 installer DVD. I have not managed or tried to use a USB installer for Windows 7 and do not know if that is possible.)

Windows 7 will require you to reformat the intended volume as NTFS. Do that, then install Windows 7.

After Windows 7 is installed and starts up, insert the Snow Leopard DVD and run the Boot Camp setup.exe to install drivers. When asked to reboot, don't, go into Windows/System32/Drivers and rename AppleHFS.sys, AppleMNT.sys, and MacHALdriver.sys. I just add ".bak" to the name. THEN reboot.

Activate Windows 7.

Create a Restore Point here if you like.

For installing Windows 10, you can go straight to a Windows 10 build 1903 bootable USB flash drive, or mount an ISO for Windows 10 build 1903 in Windows 7 and run the installer. You do not need to install an older build of Windows 10 first.
You can download the Windows 10 build 1903 .iso and use a modern Mac with a modern MacOS version and a modern Boot Camp Assistant with a USB flash drive (I use 16GB flash drives) to make a bootable Windows 10 installer USB flash drive. I used a 2014 15" Retina MacBook Pro running Mondavi to make the USB flash drive. You can also use it to download more current Bootcamp drivers to another USB flash drive, and that may be useful if you install Windows 10 onto a 2010 Mac Mini, but I don't think it will have the proper drivers for a 2007 Mini. Since I've been installing Windows 10 on both 2007 and 2010 Minis, this was useful. Note: It took a really long time to make a bootable Windows 10 flash drive and to download the Boot Camp drivers to a flash drive. Like maybe close to an hour. I thought the process had frozen, but it hadn't. Just wait it out. I also had a new 16GB flash drive just NOT work. I bought a pack of 5 identical PNY 16GB flash drives, and one was just a complete No-Go for doing any of this with the Mac, while another one worked perfectly. Moral: Flash drives are apparently finicky. Have several on hand.

Run the Windows 10 installer. When it asks if you want to perform a new installation or an installation that keeps your personal files and apps, choose to keep personal files and apps. This is the "update install" option. Follow the prompts and install Windows 10. If using a USB flash drive to install Windows 10, remove it when the installer reboots the computer.

[Edit: After Win10 installation, everything worked. There was no need to re-install Boot Camp drivers.]

As long as the three drivers are disabled, everything works. Windows 10 performs updates, and Device Manager has working drivers for all the hardware. Using an Apple keyboard the sound up, down, and mute buttons all work fine. You won't have monitor brightness control from the keyboard keys, or keyboard backlighting control from the keyboard keys. Presuming you can live with that, it all works.

Do not expect to run full screen streaming video on a 2007 Mac Mini at 1920 x 1080. Even 1680 x 1050 on a 22" monitor is choppy. If you run video in a smaller window on your screen, however, it works fine. I would not use a 2007 Mini as a Netflix HTPC. A 2010 Mini, on the other hand, will work great, running either Windows 10 or MacOS 10.13.16 High Sierra. Consider picking up a 2010 model on the used market and using that for your Netflix setup.

For a 2010 Mac Mini, the process was essentially the same, but the Snow Leopard Boot Camp drivers did not have all of the drivers for the 2010 Mini. Either the MacOS Lion Boot Camp drivers or the ones I downloaded with the 2014 MBP did the trick. In both cases it was essential to disable the three drivers after installing Boot Camp drivers, before rebooting. If you reboot first and get a BSOD, you'll need to boot Windows into safe mode, and rename the three drivers and reboot.

I've done this successfully on 2007 Mac Minis, a 2006 Mini (upgraded with C2D CPU and firmware flash), and 2010 mac Minis. I've not tried any iMacs or Macbooks or Macbook Pros.

Good luck!

 

[Bugsi]

And an update: I recently bought a couple 20" monitors with a resolution of 1600 x 900. At that resolution, the 2007 Mini running Windows 10 is able to play full-screen video from Hulu, Youtube, and other sources such as VLC player without stutters or visibly dropping frames. I upgraded this particular Mini with a 2.0 GHz T7200 Merom Core2Duo, and 3 GB RAM, with an SSD. It's really surprisingly usable.

Understand that it will *never* be a gaming rig. GMA950 graphics is extremely limited and uses System RAM, and you're limited to addressing 3GB RAM max. But Windows 10 runs really well.

Once again, the key takeaways I have from this:
-Upgrading to up to a 2.33 GHz T7600 Merom Core2Duo is possible and recommended. If upgrading, buy M3x20 nylon screws and hex nuts before you even start. (Thank me later.) I'm also getting great results from a 2.0 GHz T7200, so if the T7600 is too pricey for you at around $35, consider the 2.0 GHz T7200 a worthy alternative. I'm seeing the 2.0 GHz for between $3 and $10 on eBay.

-Can address a maximum of 3GB RAM only. Computer can take 4GB with a pair of 2GB modules, but will only address 3GB, and I'm not seeing any speed difference between installing 3GB or 4GB.

-SSD is a drop-in storage upgrade. Recommended highly, but everything still works really well even with old mechanical spinning hard drives.

-I could only get Win10 installed and working by installing Win 7 first. (I used 64 bit Pro versions of both Win 7 and Win 10.) Trying to install Win10 without installing it over Win 7 gave me a BSOD I couldn't get rid of.

-Being able to create Restore Points in Windows is a good thing and a smart thing. You have to rename or otherwise disable AppleHFS.sys, AppleMNT.sys to do that. You'll lose the ability to mount and write to Mac drives from Windows. This seems like an easy choice to me. If you absolutely must share data between Macs and PCs, consider a different solution like swapping files using a USB flash drive or use Dropbox or a Google Drive or other cloud storage.

-You have to rename or otherwise disable MacHALdriver.sys to run Win10 build 1903 without a BSOD. I've not personally found any newer version of MacHALdriver.sys that will work on the 2007 Mini in Win 10 build 1903 or later. If you find one, please let us know and ideally post it somewhere. My understanding is that this driver is for the monitor brightness up/down buttons and keyboard backlight up/down buttons on certain Apple keyboards. Again, this seems like an easy choice to me. Dump that feature or use a keyboard without those features. Volume up/down/mute is still working fine for me.

-Having resources like a genuine Snow Leopard installer DVD, a Lion installer, several USB flash drives (I recommend 16GB or better), Windows 7 installer DVD, and a modern Mac with which to create a Win10 bootable installer USB flash drive and download newer Boot Camp drivers was all critical to making this work. The Boot Camp drivers on the Snow Leopard installer DVD appear really necessary for the video and sound hardware in the 2007 Mini. The Boot Camp drivers on the Lion installer appear really necessary for the video, sound, and bluetooth in the 2010 Mini.

-On the 2007 Mini with Win10, driving 1080P full screen video might stutter or drop frames. Sometimes it seems okay though. Windowed video seems to be fine. Full screen video on smaller resolution displays such as 1600 x 900 seems to work fine. The 2010 Mini has much more powerful NVIDIA GeForce 320M video hardware, and will happily drive full screen HD video running either Windows or MacOS, so if you're looking for a cheap Home Theater PC, the 2010 is a really good choice on a budget, and can take up to 16GB RAM and an SSD as well.

-If you have a 2007 Mini lying about (or even a 2005 or 2006 CoreSolo or CoreDuo model) and you'd like to use it again in the modern world, I think Windows 10 is your best bet. Upgrade to a Core2Duo CPU, install 3GB RAM, and I do highly recommend an SSD, and have at it. You need to first install Win 7, then install Boot Camp drivers, disable 3 drivers, then install Win10 over that. There's a firmware flash for the 2005 and 2006 Minis that you need to bring them up to 2007 Mini specs. There are certainly Linux distributions that you can get to run, but you'll need to assemble the various OS parts because there's nothing really "out of the box" that just installs. Windows 7 will absolutely install just fine on a 2007 Mini, and Windows 10 can be installed over it and runs just fine if you disable 3 drivers.

Good luck!

 

[Bugsi]

As I'm doing this again, I thought it prudent to document another problem for doing this on an A1278 Mini, as my method involves first installing Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, followed by update-installing Windows 10 Pro 64-bit over that, and there's a problem with booting a 2007 Mini with a Windows 7 Pro 64-bit installer DVD:
-This model Mini has 32-bit UEFI and won't readily boot the 64-bit Win 7 DVD. When you try, you get:

Select CD-ROM Boot Type:
1
2

-And you're stuck there, as it won't respond to the keyboard.

You have to burn a unique Windows 7 Pro 64-bit installer DVD to boot and perform the install. Here's how:

-Download oscdimg.exe.
-Get the Windows 7 Pro 64-bit .iso file from Microsoft.
-Put the Windows 7 Pro 64-bit .iso file in a folder "Win7ISO" on the C drive.
-Create folder "Output" on the C drive.
-Unzip the Windows 7 Pro 64-bit .iso (you can use WinRAR for this.)
-Remove the .iso file from the Win7ISO folder after unzipping.
-Open a CMD prompt.

Run oscdimg.exe using the following command:

oscdimg -n -m -bc:\Win7ISO\boot\etfsboot.com c:\Win7ISO c:\Output\Win7DVD.iso

This will write an .iso file to the Output folder.
Burn the .iso file to a DVD-R. (I used ImgBurn.)
Use the DVD to boot the 2007 Mini and install Windows 7 64-bit.

To repeat from my earlier post: For this to work, I had to first boot off a Leopard (10.5) or Snow Leopard (10.6) MacOSX installer DVD, and use Disk Utility to partition the drive as Master Boot Record (in Options) and format as MS-DOS (FAT).

If you want dual boot, you have to set up two partitions and install MacOS on one and Windows 7 on the other, then follow the steps to update to Windows 10.

 

[fraclad]

Bugsi - thanks for providing all the detail above. Greatly appriciated ! As a result I have successfully been able to install Windows 10 on a 2007 MacMini 2.1 T7200 with 4 GB of RAM and the original HD. I did try to install Win 7 from a USB but couldnt get it to work so had to revert to a DVD using your instructions from above.

I am finding the machine slower than I was hoping for and as a result probably wont suit my needs as a basic desktop. I have installed all the updates and the Windows 10 build is now 19042.

I was just wondering if you had updated your system to the latest build and if so did you find it slower ? I just wondering if trying to go back to 1903 would provide a more responsive system. I could also try changing over to a SSD.

I have noticed that Desktop Windows Manager seems to be grabbing about 15% CPU from time to time. With other systems I have seen DWM cause machines to slow down and lock up. I dont expect there is much that can be done here given the age of the graphics card.

Thanks again

 

[Bugsi]

I was just wondering if you had updated your system to the latest build and if so did you find it slower ? I just wondering if trying to go back to 1903 would provide a more responsive system. I could also try changing over to a SSD.

I have upgraded all of my 2007 minis with Windows 10 to the latest current versions. I do not find the updated latest versions to slow them down at all. I would not bother trying to downgrade, as even if you do, Microsoft will eventually force an upgrade (which I find to be a very disturbing policy, but I digress). As most of my posts above refer to version 1903, I should add as a current update that there is nothing special about version 1903 EXCEPT that it is the version that will BSOD if you don't disable or remove the machaldriver.sys file. As the current best-practice, I will add "Either install the latest Win 10 build to start with, or update to the latest build if you install an earlier version."

For your speed issues, I'd say the two obvious things you can do are:
-Upgrade the CPU to the T7600, and
-Switch to an SSD instead of a mechanical hard drive.

I think those two both make a noticeable difference. As to whether the machine feels slow, I think it depends a lot on what you choose to do with it. I've tried streaming live television from my cable company and it's just problematic and slow. I can do it, but only in a small window, the fan spins up, and occasionally the video skips or drops out. HULU and Amazon Prime video are a little better, but only in medium to small windows. The video chipset in the Mac Mini 2006 and 2007 models is a serious bottleneck, and there's no way to upgrade it. You're basically resigned to using these computers for other things.

Things I'm doing with mine:
I have Office Professional Plus 2019 running no problem, for MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
I have Adobe Creative Suite 3 (quite old at this time, but still very useable) working just fine for Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, and InDesign. I believe CS5 and CS6 will also install and run without problems as well.
I have Appleworks for Windows (also quite old and obsolete, but I loved Appleworks) running on it no problem.
Obviously, the latest version of Chrome works fine, as do BitTorrent clients.
With Chrome I play Youtube videos, music, etc.
I run various versions of SPICE electronic circuit simulation software without problems.
I run XSim speaker response modeling software on it no problem.
Notepad ++ runs fine for XML document writing and editing.
VLC player works fine for playing videos, but full-screen video skips frames, so windowing is necessary.
The system can play music files no problem.

I haven't really tried things that I know it's not going to be good for. I'm not going to edit video with it, although it would probably handle 2-channel audio editing with certain apps. I don't game with it, although old games that aren't video critical will run fine. I installed Sim City 2000 on it to see if it would run, and it ran fine.

It makes a pretty decent basic computer as long as you don't need massive processing power or modern graphics processing. I'm interested in hearing what other people do with them, as Windows 10 can basically give a new lease on life to these old Macs which even Apple abandoned a long time ago. (Let's be fair: Microsoft abandoned them too. This isn't a supported configuration, but it DOES work. You just have to jump through a few hoops to get there, but it's not a hack, it's just a little tricky to install and requires the right resources and helps if you upgrade the hardware.)