HP Driver Updates vs Generic Driver Updates

Question

Hello,
Thank you HP for this Expert Day... and thank you, too, experts on duty !
Years ago just as soon as Win 98 was available, I immediately upgraded to it from Win 95. Doing so caused me to lose my audio capability... for which I never found a solution. Thereafter, I have never upgraded my OS until I purchased a new machine. The average time I keep a new machine is 8 years. Finances simply do not allow for more timely purchases of new machines. Therefore, I am always lagging way behind in the new OS arena.
When Vista arrived on the scene, I was still running Win 98 (on a newer machine than the one that lost audio). There was so much controversy regarding Vista that I elected to purchase a "Designed for Windows XP, Windows Vista Capable" laptop and desktop. I thought that I could "re-learn" Windows via XP and then transition to that new "beast" Vista when I felt more comfortable. Note: jumping from Win 98 directly to Vista just seemed too big a leap for me to make without an OS stepping stone in-between. I also figured that with getting a Vista capable machine I would be ahead for a bit. Well, as circumstances would have it, due to a problematic move out of state, all tech stuff went into storage... literally... for well over 3 years and the OS has changed twice since Vista, which I still don't have installed. 
Anyway, I really want to give Win 8 (heck, even Win 7 would be nice) a try, but when I go to HP's site for my Compaq Presario C303NR it states that HP is not developing new drivers for this machine. Furthermore, I can't even find a support page for my Pavilion m7690y... closely numbered other models, yes, but not my specific model of desktop.
When I went to Intel's site for whatever new drivers I could find there, it states that all of their drivers are generic and that new drivers should be obtained from the machine's original manufacturer because the hardware may be manufacturer modified thereby causing the generic driver to not work properly.
When I last updated my sole machine, I purchased 2 laptops, Compaq Presario C303NR and a desktop, Pavilion m7690y, entirely because HP had chat available on out-of-warranty products. (Unfortunately, my purchased extended warranties on these machines gathered dust and were never used whilst the machines were in storage during that awful move out of state.) Is one-on-one chat still available?
If not, how do I find my way through this confusing maze of updating drivers so that I have honest-to-goodness working drivers? The laptops might not be too hard, however, the desktop was CTO and has a whole bunch of added "goodies" on it to deal with, i.e., personal media drive, etc.
I found a driver web site with nine  new drivers for Windows 7 for the laptops. The downloads appear to link back to HP's ftp. But if HP hasn't developed new drivers for the C303NR, then are these drivers safe to use?
Dear experts, said with utmost respect, can you please provide owners like me with some type of reliable guidance with this issue? I have no one else to ask who isn't just hazaarding a guess.
Also, HP, I understand that it is your primary business to sell NEW machines not support old ones; however, not everyone can afford to replace a machine at the same pace Microsoft is releasing new OS's. Therefore, have you ever considered some type of pay service for downloadable new drivers for old machines? Or, offering a LIST of necessary drivers for running the new OS on an older machine? At the risk of starting a whole different issue, I would pay a reasonable fee to go to a web page, have HP scan my machine, state which drivers needed to be updated and either have them installed on my machine or a list created of SPECIFIC drivers and where to find them for a reasonable fee.
If you have stayed with me to this point, thank you very much for Expert Day, thank you to the experts themselves, and thanks to all for the long read.
 P.S. The only thing I might add is that I have been a long-time loyal HP customer. My first pc, purchased in 1996, was a Packard Bell; however, the 4 machines since have all been in the HP family... as have all of my peripherals, i.e., scanner, printer, all-in-one, wireless keyboard and mouse, personal media drive, and even my cameras. When my dad purchased his first machine (a laptop) and all-in-one, I steered him to HP. When I purchased my college-age daughter a laptop, it was a Compaq. I hope my unwaivering loyalty to HP is rewarded with some very much needed concrete help to this message and my need for drivers and Win 8.

Answer 1

Hi:
Looking at both of your machines (I used the m7690n) as a guide for the desktop since it would most likely have the same hardware as yours, it appears they can both run windows 7 just fine.
The problem is...HP does not support either PC for windows 7.
That means you need to either use the drivers for Windows Vista or go to each component manufacturer's support and driver page and download the drivers they may have for Windows 7.
The first thing you should do when contemplating an upgrade to windows 7 is to run the windows 7 upgrade advisor which will report on your PC's ability to run windows 7.  Connect and turn on any peripherals you have such as printers, scanners, cameras, etc and the advisor will report on their windows 7 compatibilty as well
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor
If you want to go through with upgrading your PC's to Windows 7, and you get stuck trying to find drivers, I will be more than happy to help you out.
Paul