Help needed for total computer loser...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Hi - apologising in advance for this 'beginners' post...

I'm an expert in all things Office (I'm a secretary) but when it comes to
installing anything or changing anything at all on my home PC I am a total
loser so I need help! The company I worked for was recently bought over so
my boss gave me one of the computers - he told the IT Manager (who hates me
btw!) to install everything I need but he just gave me Windows 98 (ggrrrr)
and then I installed Microsoft Office XP 2002 edition (which I pinched from
said IT Manager) myself.

So I desperately need to upgrade and also want a CD burner. I just want to
be able to do basic things like install broadband, play games, sort out
digital photos, create and run a website, do Office things, and burn CDs. My
questions are:

- should I go for Home or Professional edition? and,

- given my limited knowledge with installations, would I be better off
buying an external CD Burner?

Any advice or help would be much appreciated!! Many thanks!
 
kozadoo said:
Hi - apologising in advance for this 'beginners' post...

I'm an expert in all things Office (I'm a secretary) but when it comes to
installing anything or changing anything at all on my home PC I am a total
loser so I need help! The company I worked for was recently bought over
so
my boss gave me one of the computers - he told the IT Manager (who hates
me
btw!) to install everything I need but he just gave me Windows 98 (ggrrrr)
and then I installed Microsoft Office XP 2002 edition (which I pinched
from
said IT Manager) myself.

So I desperately need to upgrade and also want a CD burner. I just want
to
be able to do basic things like install broadband, play games, sort out
digital photos, create and run a website, do Office things, and burn CDs.
My
questions are:

- should I go for Home or Professional edition? and,
Click to expand...

If you don't need to log in to domain servers at work, get XP Home. If you
want to run the Microsoft IIS web server from your machine, which you may
not, get XP Pro.

Since you have a Win98 CD, you can get the upgrade version of either. This
costs less. Even with the upgrade version, you do not have to install
Win98 first, but you do have to have that CD on hand. It's generally
accepted that a "clean" install is most reliable; you boot with the XP CD,
tell it to format the drive, and fairly early on you will be asked for the
Win98 CD. Put it in, take it out when told, and put the XP CD back in.
Just follow the prompts.
- given my limited knowledge with installations, would I be better off
buying an external CD Burner?
Click to expand...

If you are up for physically installing the CD burner, just get one -
actually, you'll probably be getting a CD/DVD RW. Many of the shops that
sell drives will also install them for a modest fee.

In case you want to install it yourself, here is a basic description of the
process:

Unplug the power, remove the old drive and attach the new one in exactly the
same way. There are only two cables, power and data (the ribbon cable).
There will be four to eight small screws. Check the back of the old drive
for the jumper settings and set the new ones the same way.

The way the case is constructed has a big influence on how difficult this is
to do. Some manufacturers of small cases make them a little elaborately
and you might need to figure out a secret handshake to get at the screws.

If you get an external CD burner, it's most likely going to be a USB2.0
model. Check your system to see if it has USB2 ports - you may need to
find the specs for the machine, which you can probably do online. If it
doesn't, you'll really need to install a USB2.0 card. This is trivially
easy for Windows XP - you turn off the machine, open the case, find an
appropriate slot and put the card in. Close the case and turn it on.
Windows will add the driver. For Windows 98, the card will come with a
driver CD. Of course, you'll need a working CD drive to use that...

Best performance will come from installing an internal CD/DVD burner.

In either case the drive should come with burner software, and if it's a DVD
burner, with DVD player software.

While you have the machine open, it's not a bad idea to take the system
outside and dust it with a can of compressed air. Do not use a vaccum
cleaner, as this can create static that can kill the machine, *blow* the
dust out.

HTH
-pk
 
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx

(comparison of Home and Pro). In my opinion, if you don't understand the
differences, you don't need Pro. (I've been using Home for several years at
home. They give us Pro at work, for the networking features.)

Home is also $100 cheaper. The upgrade version (retail) can be had for less
than $100, but I would only recommend getting it if you can come up with
"qualifying media" so that you can do a clean installation with the upgrade.
(That's what you'd need to install XP on a new hard drive, with no previous
operating system installed. The XP upgrade works just like the full version,
but you'd need to insert a CD of "qualifying media". I use a CD-R copy of my
retail Win98 upgrade CD. An OEM version of Win98, as might come from Dell,
may not serve.)

I'd recommend a DVD burner, rather than a CD burner or a "combo" (CD
burner/DVD read-only) drive. 16X DVD burners are cheap, and they'll also
burn CDs. I suggest buying one mail order (www.newegg.com,
www.monarchcomputer.com, and others) rather than getting it a place like
Circuit City. (On the other hand, my current drive is a Lite-On from Office
Max. After a rebate, which I've received, it cost less than $30 for a full
retail package.)

Internal drives are less expensive than externals. They may not be difficult
to install; other than plugging in the power and IDE cables (both are keyed,
so you can't do it wrong), the only concern is having a single jumper on the
rear of the drive in the correct position (master or slave). If your PC is
an appliance type (Dell, Compaq), the installation of an internal drive may
involve attaching rails to the drive rather than the more obvious direct
mounting screws, but the drive then just slides and clicks into position. If
you've never done this, it may be good to get help from a knowledgeable
friend. (The trick is finding a friend who is knowledgeable, rather than
just believing that he/she is. Patience and caution are also good.) If the
machine is a Dell, their online support (support.dell.com) is very helpful
in describing exactly what needs to be done to add a drive. Other
manufacturers (like HP) may give more generic (less model-specific)
information on their web sites, but it ought to be adequate.

If you're not up to installing an internal drive, an external could be good.
You may be disappointed in its performance if the old PC doesn't support USB
2.0, though. (USB 2.0 is nominally more than 40X the speed of USB 1.1. USB
1.1 isn't fast enough to keep up with a DVD or CD burner. It'll still work,
but slowly.)

You could also pay someone to install an internal drive, but that would
probably cost more than the drive itself.

Speaking of broadband, I suggest not installing software from an internet
service provider unless it's absolutely necessary. (I once had a rather bad
experience with some software from EarthLink. It made a number of undesired
changes in Windows, mainly to simplify EarthLink's support.) I use Comcast
(cable modem), and with an Ethernet connection to the modem, no additional
software was required. I had to set some simple network settings and enter
the names of the Comcast mail servers, but that was all.

Don't let it intimidate you. If you've mastered the complexities of
Microsoft Office, the guts of a PC are childishly simple in comparison.

Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
 
kozadoo said:
Hi - apologising in advance for this 'beginners' post...

I'm an expert in all things Office (I'm a secretary) but when it
comes to installing anything or changing anything at all on my home
PC I am a total loser so I need help! The company I worked for was
recently bought over so my boss gave me one of the computers - he
told the IT Manager (who hates me btw!) to install everything I need
but he just gave me Windows 98 (ggrrrr) and then I installed
Microsoft Office XP 2002 edition (which I pinched from said IT
Manager) myself.

So I desperately need to upgrade and also want a CD burner. I just
want to be able to do basic things like install broadband, play
games, sort out digital photos, create and run a website, do Office
things, and burn CDs. My questions are:

- should I go for Home or Professional edition?
Click to expand...



For almost everyone who has to ask that question, the answer is Home
Edition.

XP Professional and XP Home are exactly the same in all respects, except
that Professional has a few features (mostly related to networking and
security) missing from Home. For most (but not all) home users, even those
with a home network, these features aren't needed, would never be used, and
buying Professional instead of Home is a waste of money.

For details go to
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

Also note one other point not mentioned on any of those sites: Professional
allows ten concurrent network connections, and Home only five.
 
Bob said:
In my opinion, if you don't understand
the differences, you don't need Pro.
Click to expand...


I agree completely.

(I've been using Home for
several years at home. They give us Pro at work, for the networking
features.)
Home is also $100 cheaper. The upgrade version (retail) can be had
for less than $100, but I would only recommend getting it if you can
come up with "qualifying media" so that you can do a clean
installation with the upgrade.
Click to expand...


I always recommend the Upgrade version, because almost anyone either has a
previous qualifying version, or can buy a used copy of Windows 98 very
cheaply--for far less than the difference in price for the Full version.

What I *don't* recommend is buying an OEM copy, since they are usually
around the same price as an Upgrade copy and come with several restrictions,
the most sever of which is that its license ties it permanently to the first
computer it's installed on. It can never legally be moved to another
computer, sold, or given away.

(That's what you'd need to install XP
on a new hard drive, with no previous operating system installed. The
XP upgrade works just like the full version, but you'd need to insert
a CD of "qualifying media". I use a CD-R copy of my retail Win98
upgrade CD. An OEM version of Win98, as might come from Dell, may not
serve.)
Click to expand...


If the OEM copy is an installation CD (not a Restore CD), yes, it will work
fine.
 
Back
Top