Maybe this is why it was so cheap? What would you do?

[Mike]

My g/f recently bought a used computer from the law office she worked at for
$50. It came w/ Windows XP Professional Version 2002 SP1. Pentium 4 - CPU 2.8
GHz with 504 MHz of Ram.
It did not have any software such as Office or Word 2003. My thoughts are
these:

Run update to SP2?
Get Microsoft Office?
Microsoft Word 2003?
Stick more something or other and let it rip?

She needs to be able to work on her resume and I bought a new printer that
is gathering dust cuz there are no working programs.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

HOW TO get WinXP SP1 fully patched:

1. Download & save the installer for WinXP SP3 to your desktop:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5b33b5a8-5e76-401f-be08-1e1555d4f3d4

[Yes, you can skip WinXP SP2 altogether.]

2. Read & heed:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldro...requisites-for-a-successful-installation.aspx

3. Logged in as Administrator, if necessary, double-click on the saved file
to install WinXP SP3. Follow all prompts; be patient, and reboot twice when
the install completes.

4. Do Resolution Method 2 here (trust me):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144

5. Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com | Install any required software
then click on CONTINUE | Select CUSTOM and scan | Install any critical
security updates offered. Again, follow all prompts.

[I do NOT recommend installing IE7 via Windows Update.]

6. Make certain that Automatic Updates is enabled; cf.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306525

Additional References:

Free unlimited installation and compatibility support is available for
Windows XP, but only for Service Pack 3 (SP3), until 14 Apr-09. Chat and
e-mail support is available only in the United States and Canada. Go to
http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?gprid=1173 | select "Windows
XP" then select "Windows XP Service Pack 3"

Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/computer/default.mspx

Learn how to protect your PC by taking three simple steps
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3AD23728-4973-4DA5-9836-602954130D38

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was 12/6/2008 12:41 PM, and on a whim, Mike pounded
out on the keyboard:

My g/f recently bought a used computer from the law office she worked at for
$50. It came w/ Windows XP Professional Version 2002 SP1. Pentium 4 - CPU 2.8
GHz with 504 MHz of Ram.
It did not have any software such as Office or Word 2003. My thoughts are
these:

Run update to SP2?
Get Microsoft Office?
Microsoft Word 2003?
Stick more something or other and let it rip?

She needs to be able to work on her resume and I bought a new printer that
is gathering dust cuz there are no working programs.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi Mike,

Wordpad comes on XP and is a basic word processor.

If you have the funds and need 100% compatibility, then Office is a good
choice. MSO 2003 can be found very inexpensively and 2007 doesn't offer
anything but the Ribbon bars and a new file format, both of which are a
pain.

You can also download Open Office version 3 for free. It offers very
good compatibility.
http://www.openoffice.org/

I would also buy at least another 512 meg of RAM. That is better spent
that buying MS Office.

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[JS]

Did she get the Windows XP SP1 CD with the computer?
If yes, the make sure you have the key code sticker for the CD.

If yes to both a XP CD and you have the key code sticker.
The run Windows Update and see if it recognizes XP as being
Valid (not illegal copy).

If no XP CD then first thing is check if it has a Restore CD
or Restore Partition. If no restore CD/Partition then buy an
Image backup software package.

Without the CD and or Key code you will not be able to
reinstall Windows should the need arise and that image
backup will come in very handy. This assumes the PC
has a valid copy of XP installed.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

 

[philo]

My g/f recently bought a used computer from the law office she worked at for
$50. It came w/ Windows XP Professional Version 2002 SP1. Pentium 4 - CPU 2.8
GHz with 504 MHz of Ram.
It did not have any software such as Office or Word 2003. My thoughts are
these:

Run update to SP2?
Get Microsoft Office?
Microsoft Word 2003?
Stick more something or other and let it rip?

She needs to be able to work on her resume and I bought a new printer that
is gathering dust cuz there are no working programs.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

I would not bother with SP1

I'd go right to SP3.

Also as suggested Open Office is very good freeware

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My g/f recently bought a used computer from the law office she worked at for
$50. It came w/ Windows XP Professional Version 2002 SP1. Pentium 4 - CPU 2.8
GHz with 504 MHz of Ram.

That sounds like a great deal for $50.

It did not have any software such as Office or Word 2003.

Without any software other than Windows XP, it's still a great deal at
that very reasonable price.

My thoughts are
these:

Run update to SP2?

The latest service pack is SP3, and that's what she should install.

Get Microsoft Office?
Microsoft Word 2003?

Microsoft Word is part of Microsoft Office. She can buy the whole
Office package or just Word alone if she doesn't want the other Office
applications. Alternatively, she could get a different word processor
such as WordPerfect (my personal favorite) or the free OpenOffice,
which is very similar (but not identical) to Microsoft Office.

If she gets Office or Word, the latest version is 2007, but she can
save some money by getting an older version like 2003, XP (aka 2002),
or 2000.

Stick more something or other and let it rip?

Sorry, I don't understand that sentence.

She needs to be able to work on her resume and I bought a new printer that
is gathering dust cuz there are no working programs.

If she plans on E-mailing her resume to prospective employers, she
should be aware that many of them will require a .doc file. So Word or
OpenOffice might be best for her.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The date and time was 12/6/2008 12:41 PM, and on a whim, Mike pounded
out on the keyboard:


Hi Mike,

Wordpad comes on XP and is a basic word processor.

It's very basic indeed, and has very few real word processing
features. In fact it's so basic that I would call it a text editor
rather than a real word processor. Although it's possible that it
might meet her needs, most people would find it insufficient.

If you have the funds and need 100% compatibility, then Office is a good
choice. MSO 2003 can be found very inexpensively and 2007 doesn't offer
anything but the Ribbon bars and a new file format, both of which are a
pain.

I'm not a big user of Microsoft Office 2007, but the statement that
both those features of Office 2007 is "a pain" is *your* opinion.
Although there are some who agree with you, I also know many people
who disagree and feel that 2007 is a substantial improvement over
2003.

You can also download Open Office version 3 for free. It offers very
good compatibility.
http://www.openoffice.org/

That, of course, is the cheapest option, and yes, its compatibility is
very good (but not perfect). It very well might meet her needs, and at
least trying it out before spending money on Microsoft Office is a
good choice for many people.

I would also buy at least another 512 meg of RAM. That is better spent
that buying MS Office.

Although buying more RAM won't hurt and isn't very expensive these
days, it may or may not help her. How much RAM you need for good
performance is *not* a one-size-fits-all situation. You get good
performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using the
page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Almost anyone will
see poor performance with much less than 512MB. Some people,
particularly those doing things like editing large photographic
images--but not everyone--can see a performance boost by adding even
more than 512MB--sometimes much more.

If she is currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve her performance. If
she is not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for her. She should go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should
give her a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how
much more.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was 12/6/2008 1:28 PM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
pounded out on the keyboard:

It's very basic indeed, and has very few real word processing
features. In fact it's so basic that I would call it a text editor
rather than a real word processor. Although it's possible that it
might meet her needs, most people would find it insufficient.

I said basic didn't I? No need to expound on that. It isn't Notepad!

I'm not a big user of Microsoft Office 2007, but the statement that
both those features of Office 2007 is "a pain" is *your* opinion.
Although there are some who agree with you, I also know many people
who disagree and feel that 2007 is a substantial improvement over
2003.

Substantial? Hardly. To anyone who has used 2003 for years, 2007 IS a
pain to get used to. For new users, it doesn't matter.

That, of course, is the cheapest option, and yes, its compatibility is
very good (but not perfect). It very well might meet her needs, and at
least trying it out before spending money on Microsoft Office is a
good choice for many people.

I said it's compatibility was "very good". Did I say it offered 100%?

Although buying more RAM won't hurt and isn't very expensive these
days, it may or may not help her. How much RAM you need for good
performance is *not* a one-size-fits-all situation. You get good
performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using the
page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Almost anyone will
see poor performance with much less than 512MB. Some people,
particularly those doing things like editing large photographic
images--but not everyone--can see a performance boost by adding even
more than 512MB--sometimes much more.

If she is currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve her performance. If
she is not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for her. She should go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should
give her a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how
much more.

The amount spent on another half gig of RAM would be a noticeable
improvement. That's all I suggested.

Why did you feel the need to criticize everything? Geesh!

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was 12/6/2008 12:57 PM, and on a whim, JS pounded out

Did she get the Windows XP SP1 CD with the computer?
If yes, the make sure you have the key code sticker for the CD.

If yes to both a XP CD and you have the key code sticker.
The run Windows Update and see if it recognizes XP as being
Valid (not illegal copy).

If no XP CD then first thing is check if it has a Restore CD
or Restore Partition. If no restore CD/Partition then buy an
Image backup software package.

Without the CD and or Key code you will not be able to
reinstall Windows should the need arise and that image
backup will come in very handy. This assumes the PC
has a valid copy of XP installed.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

Any company I know of when they sell off old workstations re-image them
before letting go of them. And they usually don't include a CD, as
they're sold "as is".

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was 12/6/2008 1:19 PM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
pounded out on the keyboard:

That sounds like a great deal for $50.




Without any software other than Windows XP, it's still a great deal at
that very reasonable price.




The latest service pack is SP3, and that's what she should install.




Microsoft Word is part of Microsoft Office. She can buy the whole
Office package or just Word alone if she doesn't want the other Office
applications. Alternatively, she could get a different word processor
such as WordPerfect (my personal favorite) or the free OpenOffice,
which is very similar (but not identical) to Microsoft Office.

If she gets Office or Word, the latest version is 2007, but she can
save some money by getting an older version like 2003, XP (aka 2002),
or 2000.




Sorry, I don't understand that sentence.




If she plans on E-mailing her resume to prospective employers, she
should be aware that many of them will require a .doc file. So Word or
OpenOffice might be best for her.

What's up Ken? You criticize me and then offer nothing more? I don't
remember doing anything to deserve it. Sorry if I did. I usually don't
see that from you.

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was 12/6/2008 1:28 PM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
pounded out on the keyboard:

It's very basic indeed, and has very few real word processing
features. In fact it's so basic that I would call it a text editor
rather than a real word processor. Although it's possible that it
might meet her needs, most people would find it insufficient.

Except that "text editors" usually don't allow fonts, bolding, italics,
setting of tabs, bullets, inserting objects, etc. Regardless, it CAN be
considered a basic word processor.


--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[Bill in Co.]

The date and time was 12/6/2008 1:28 PM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
pounded out on the keyboard:


Except that "text editors" usually don't allow fonts, bolding, italics,
setting of tabs, bullets, inserting objects, etc. Regardless, it CAN be
considered a basic word processor.

VERY basic, LOL (perhaps "primitive" would be more accurate
And "Notepad" would be a good example of a basic "text editor".

 

[Daave]

The date and time was 12/6/2008 1:28 PM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
pounded out on the keyboard:

The amount spent on another half gig of RAM would be a noticeable
improvement. That's all I suggested.

OP's girlfriend already has 512 MB of RAM (presumably 8 MB used for
onboard video). Depending on how OP's gf uses the machine, it's quite
possible she wouldn't notice *any* improvement whatsoever if she added
another half gig of RAM. It certainly wouldn't hurt to add more RAM. And
even if she wouldn't notice improvement at first, perhaps at some point
in the future she might (say, if she starts running image or video
editing software or decides to upgrade to -- shudder -- Vista).

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The date and time was 12/6/2008 1:28 PM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
pounded out on the keyboard:


I said basic didn't I? No need to expound on that. It isn't Notepad!

Yes, you said "basic." The point I was making is that it's
considerably closer to Notepad than to a real word processor, and
therefore inadequate for most people.

Substantial? Hardly. To anyone who has used 2003 for years, 2007 IS a
pain to get used to.

Yes, unlike other new versions of Office, 2007 has more changes to the
interface, and is therefore harder to get used to. However, my point
is that not everyone finds those changes as valueless or as much of a
pain as you do. I know a number of people who have quickly adapted to
2007's changes and started preferring it almost immediately.

Personally, I have almost no opinion here, since I am not at all a big
user of Microsoft Office.

For new users, it doesn't matter.

I said it's compatibility was "very good". Did I say it offered 100%?

No, you didn't. I'm not sure why you are apparently arguing with me
here, since my comment was that I essentially agreed with you, and
that she should try it.

The amount spent on another half gig of RAM would be a noticeable
improvement. That's all I suggested.

Yes, I know that's what you suggested, and I disagreed with you. I
don't think that anyone should spend the money to do that without
first finding out whether it would help, and my recommendation was
first to run WinXP-2K_Pagefile to find out. I'm not against adding
512MB for everyone, but I'm against adding it without knowing in
advance whether it's likely to help.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The date and time was 12/6/2008 1:19 PM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
pounded out on the keyboard:


What's up Ken? You criticize me and then offer nothing more? I don't
remember doing anything to deserve it. Sorry if I did. I usually don't
see that from you.

Sorry, I don't understand your comment here at all. I replied to
Mike's questions in this message, not to yours. And I gave Mike a
number of choices.

When I replied to a different message from you in this thread, I
didn't "criticize" you at all. I simply agreed with some of what you
said and disagreed with other points. Once again, when I disagreed, it
wasn't for the purpose of criticizing, but to let Mike know of other
opinions and let him believe whomever he wants to and make whatever
choices he wants.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was 12/7/2008 7:53 AM, and on a whim, Ken Blake, MVP
pounded out on the keyboard:

Sorry, I don't understand your comment here at all. I replied to
Mike's questions in this message, not to yours. And I gave Mike a
number of choices.

Actually you never replied to Mike directly (that I see). I responded
and it looked like you criticized my suggestions by interleaving your
comments in my reply.

When I replied to a different message from you in this thread, I
didn't "criticize" you at all. I simply agreed with some of what you
said and disagreed with other points. Once again, when I disagreed, it
wasn't for the purpose of criticizing, but to let Mike know of other
opinions and let him believe whomever he wants to and make whatever
choices he wants.

Maybe it could have been worded differently. To me, it looked like
criticism of my suggestions.

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[Guest]

My g/f recently bought a used computer from the law office she worked at for
$50. It came w/ Windows XP Professional Version 2002 SP1. Pentium 4 - CPU 2.8
GHz with 504 MHz of Ram.
It did not have any software such as Office or Word 2003. My thoughts are
these:

Run update to SP2?
Get Microsoft Office?
Microsoft Word 2003?
Stick more something or other and let it rip?

She needs to be able to work on her resume and I bought a new printer that
is gathering dust cuz there are no working programs.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

It's interesting to watch this thread.

What you do is critically dependent on your objectives.

If ALL you want to do is write a resume, your hardware is good to go.
I have basically the same $4 machine. Ran XP just fine with 256MB of
ram. Only reason I updated the RAM was because Vista wouldn't install.
Yes, you can save a few seconds of boot time and program load time with
more memory...life's a tradeoff.

You do need some word processor. I use Office 2000 because it was cheap
and still does EVERYTHING I can imagine ever needing. And it's not
nearly so bloated.
Open office is as BLOATED as newer versions of MSoffice.
I judged that it "felt" MUCH slower than MSOFFICE97 when I looked at it.
Free is good, but when you can buy MSOFFOCE2000
for a quarter, it's not worth the hassle.
As I recall Office97 will do anything you'll ever need. I don't know
if there are any issues with old versions of office on XP.
Under no circumstances should you go buy a new retail version of office.

I have a contrary opinion on updates. XPSP2 seems to be stable and is
required
for some stuff. SP3 has had issues.
I turn off ALL automatic updates.
I've NEVER had a virus.
I HAVE had stuff break because of an automatic, unwanted, contrary
to my system settings, update...and if it's automatic, you have no idea
who's/which update busted it. Diagnosing the problem is a nightmare.
I'm sure almost nobody is gonna agree with this...

I never buy a software product that requires activation. Older stuff
usually doesn't.

If you want to do MORE than writing a resume, you'll have other issues.
But you can't get help for stuff you haven't mentioned.

My advice would be:

0) Go back to a friend at the former employer and see if you can't
get a word processor put on your computer. They delete all that stuff
for privacy reasons and reload a base system. It's likely that they
have old word processor licenses that they'll never use that
can be used to put office back on your system. Take some home-baked
cookies and a BIG smile to the IT guy...

1) Write the resume
2) Get the job
3) Spend money, that you now have, on the computer.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Most people have WAY more computer than they need.
Never take random advice from the internet without
verifying it.

My uncle Scrooge thinks I'm cheap!!

 

[Jim Vaught]

"Alternatively, she could get a different word processor
such as WordPerfect (my personal favorite) or the free OpenOffice,
which is very similar (but not identical) to Microsoft Office."

The above comment reminds me of my own experience. I think WordPerfect is
a much better word processor than Word. The company I used to work for got
WordPerfect first, but then switched to Word because the IT people wanted it
because of the IDE feature for writing programs, so the tail wagged the dog,
as usual, even though writing programs was NOT our business (legal
publishing). Two examples of why I preferred WP:

1. You could get a true "hanging indent" with one key (F7, I seem to
recall), while with Word you can't really, at least I never could get it to
work satisfactorily with the multi-key combination they CLAIMED would do it.
With our work, a true hanging indent in memorandums was a very big help, at
least to me.

2. You can't do a Reveal Codes in Word, at least that's what I was told,
and I was also told that Word would NEVER incorporate that feature; no idea
why. Now that I"m retired, I dont NEED WP so much, so I switched to Word
simply because it appears WP is on the way out, as sad as that is. It was a
great company.