installation to lap top

[Ross Howard]

I had 98 SE on my lap top and I installed XP to upgrade.
It ran irratic and slow, so I was told that I needed at
least 256 ram to operate it properly. I found I only had
128. I since installed another 128 = 256 and it still
does not respond correctly. I have a pentium 500 in the
lap top. I keep being told that I would have to re-format
the disc and then install it. This means wiping out all
my programs, some of which I have mislaid (don't like the
idea of buying them over again). Now how can I correct
this problem without wiping out my hard drive? Can I just
try to re-install XP again? Maybe something got mixed up
with 98 SE when I just put in XP to update 98SE. This is
what I was told to do by a Microsoft party, so I did.

help-help! please

 

[Malke]

I had 98 SE on my lap top and I installed XP to upgrade.
It ran irratic and slow, so I was told that I needed at
least 256 ram to operate it properly. I found I only had
128. I since installed another 128 = 256 and it still
does not respond correctly. I have a pentium 500 in the
lap top. I keep being told that I would have to re-format
the disc and then install it. This means wiping out all
my programs, some of which I have mislaid (don't like the
idea of buying them over again). Now how can I correct
this problem without wiping out my hard drive? Can I just
try to re-install XP again? Maybe something got mixed up
with 98 SE when I just put in XP to update 98SE. This is
what I was told to do by a Microsoft party, so I did.

help-help! please

You would certainly not have to reinstall an operating system because
you added more RAM. However, you haven't given us enough information to
get a good answer. What is the make/model of the laptop? Did you also
install XP drivers for all the hardware in your laptop? Did you do all
operating system updates from Windows Update? Are you running a current
antivirus using updated definitions? Have you done computer
maintenance; i.e., cleaned up Temporary and Temporary Internet Files,
defragged, stopped unnecessary programs/services starting with Windows?
Removed spyware?

Here are some useful links:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm - to look up programs
that start in Windows so you can disable the unnecessary ones

http://www.blackviper.com/ - to learn about services in XP and which
ones to have running

If you want more help, repost with a better description of your computer
and the necessary details.

Malke

 

[Michael Stevens]

I had 98 SE on my lap top and I installed XP to upgrade.
It ran irratic and slow, so I was told that I needed at
least 256 ram to operate it properly. I found I only had
128. I since installed another 128 = 256 and it still
does not respond correctly. I have a pentium 500 in the
lap top. I keep being told that I would have to re-format
the disc and then install it. This means wiping out all
my programs, some of which I have mislaid (don't like the
idea of buying them over again). Now how can I correct
this problem without wiping out my hard drive? Can I just
try to re-install XP again? Maybe something got mixed up
with 98 SE when I just put in XP to update 98SE. This is
what I was told to do by a Microsoft party, so I did.

help-help! please

I doubt the laptop would ever run like it does with 98. Laptops have
proprierity hardware and software utilities and do not always have XP
updates. If you saved the uninstall files and did not make any changes to
the hard drive, you may have the option to uninstall back to 98. Look in
add/remove for the option. See link below for steps.
Click on or copy and paste the link below into your web browser address box.
Remove XP and install 98/Me
http://michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#how5
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Have you made sure that your PC's hardware components are capable
of supporting WinXP? This information will be found at the PC's
manufacturer's web site, and on Microsoft's Windows Catalog:
(http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx) Additionally, run
Microsoft WinXP Upgrade Advisor to see if you have any incompatible
hardware components or applications.

You should, before proceeding, take a few minutes to ensure that
there are WinXP device drivers available for all of the machine's
components. There may not be, if the PC was specifically designed for
Win98/Me. Also bear in mind that PCs designed for, sold and run fine
with Win9x/Me very often do not meet WinXP's much more stringent
hardware quality requirements. This is particularly true of many
models in Compaq's consumer-class Presario product line or HP's
consumer-class Pavilion product line. WinXP, like WinNT and Win2K
before it, is quite sensitive to borderline defective or substandard
hardware (particularly motherboards, RAM and hard drives) that will
still support Win9x.

HOW TO Prepare to Upgrade Win98 or WinMe
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q316639

Upgrading to Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH

 

[Plato]

I had 98 SE on my lap top and I installed XP to upgrade.
It ran irratic and slow, so I was told that I needed at
least 256 ram to operate it properly. I found I only had

You want 512 at least for XP.

 

[J. S. Pack]

I had 98 SE on my lap top and I installed XP to upgrade.
It ran irratic and slow, so I was told that I needed at
least 256 ram to operate it properly. I found I only had
128. I since installed another 128 = 256 and it still
does not respond correctly. I have a pentium 500 in the
lap top. I keep being told that I would have to re-format
the disc and then install it. This means wiping out all
my programs, some of which I have mislaid (don't like the
idea of buying them over again). Now how can I correct
this problem without wiping out my hard drive? Can I just
try to re-install XP again? Maybe something got mixed up
with 98 SE when I just put in XP to update 98SE. This is
what I was told to do by a Microsoft party, so I did.

help-help! please

Assuming your hardware is compatible (it likely is, except perhaps for the
onboard modem; check your manufacturer's website for any XP drivers), you
should be able to get XP running nearly as fast as 98 on that machine,
except that bootup time will be slower, though not intolerably so.

I have XP on an old PII 350 6G 128MB notebook and it's running great. It
was well worth the hassle of tweaking it up and removing bloatware, as it's
much more stable than 98 and runs much more smoothly.

If you got on the 'net after your install, you probably picked up a worm or
trojan. Check w/ spyware remover and virus scanner, both updated. Install
the blaster and spasser security fixes right away!

Then see http://home.earthlink.net/~rikhardk/index.htm and do all the
optimization steps there. He mentions blackviper's site, which has free
..reg files to turn off all those unneeded services running in the
background.

Turn off hibernation.

After you turn off system restore, use ERUNT on a
schedule for registry backups. Clean out the registry w/ a regcleaner and
then optimize it w/ the optimizer that comes w/ ERUNT. Get it here:

http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt

Use a much smaller and faster alternative shell like bblean (free; learning
curve required but you can get support from a friendly forum) or Aston (I
like both better than explorer anyway; and Aston rocks, too (in 6MB, fully
config'd, as opposed to explorer's 36MB or so . . . .)).

Finally, use XPlite to get rid of much bloat. I think there's a freeware
version.

Most posters here are not aware of how fast XP can be, as they've never run
with such a minimal barebones installation w/ alternate shell, so don't be
discouraged. Try the above and let us know.