Running ME - How hard to upgrade to XP?

[Guest]

I have a fairly old Dell L1000R (2001 vintage). It has Windows ME on it &
I'd like to consider upgrading to XP. Is that a good isea with a system of
this age?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a fairly old Dell L1000R (2001 vintage). It has Windows ME
on it & I'd like to consider upgrading to XP. Is that a good isea
with a system of this age?

No idea - you gave no specs.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE]

I have a fairly old Dell L1000R (2001 vintage). It has Windows ME on
it & I'd like to consider upgrading to XP. Is that a good isea with
a system of this age?

How much RAM does the machine have?
How much free hard drive space?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have a fairly old Dell L1000R (2001 vintage). It has Windows ME on it &
I'd like to consider upgrading to XP. Is that a good isea with a system of
this age?

Have you verified that all of 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)

You should also take a few minutes to ensure that there are
WinXP-specific 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

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[Guest]

No idea - you gave no specs.

 

[Guest]

Dell Dimension L1000R, Pentium III, 1Ghz.

No idea - you gave no specs.

 

[Guest]

I contacted Dell Hardware Support & they said the system meets the minumum
requirements & nothing more. The checked the configuration & still said I
could do it. I'm just a little hesitant.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have a fairly old Dell L1000R (2001 vintage). It has Windows ME on
it & I'd like to consider upgrading to XP. Is that a good isea with
a system of this age?

The issue is not the age of the computer, but what components it contains.
What processor? How much RAM? How big a hard drive?

At a minimum, for XP you should have around a 400MHz processor, 256MB of
RAM, and a 20GB or so hard drive

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE]

If it just meets the minimum requirement I wouldn't recommend it. It will
be slower than WinMe.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a fairly old Dell L1000R (2001 vintage). It has Windows ME

No idea - you gave no specs.

Dell Dimension L1000R, Pentium III, 1Ghz.

Not enough information..
How much memory? What size hard disk drive?

 

[Guest]

128 M RAM, 18.6 Gb free space.

How much RAM does the machine have?
How much free hard drive space?

 

[Guest]

128M RAM. 20Gb Hard Drive, 13.7 Gb Free Space.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE]

Don't do it. It will be way too slow with that much RAM.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a fairly old Dell L1000R (2001 vintage). It has Windows
ME on it & I'd like to consider upgrading to XP. Is that a good
isea with a system of this age?

No idea - you gave no specs.

Dell Dimension L1000R, Pentium III, 1Ghz.

Not enough information..
How much memory? What size hard disk drive?

How much RAM does the machine have?
How much free hard drive space?

128 M RAM, 18.6 Gb free space.

So a Dell Dimension L1000R 1GHz Processor with 128MB memory and likely a
20-40GB hard disk drive with 18GB free?

It'll run it. It'll be slow with that much memory and you are going to lose
a pretty chunk of that hard disk space.

Buy more RAM: (For that processor - I would try to get the max it will
take - 512MB --> two 256MB SDRAMs.)
http://www.crucial.com/store/listpa...l&tabid=AM&model=Dimension+L+Series&submit=Go

That's what you need to get - at least that type - you can buy it elsewhere
now that you know what you need:

http://www.pricewatch.com/

I would also suggest a larger hard disk drive - but that is not "necessary".

Also - being that old - you should consider a clean install *if* it came
with all the installation CDs you need to reinstall all the applications
and/or you have the installation files/keys/serial numbers stored off the
computer already. Be sure to backup your email, contacts, documents,
spreadsheets, databases, pictures, drawings, favorites, etc - before you do
a clean install!

 

[paulmd]

I contacted Dell Hardware Support & they said the system meets the minumum
requirements & nothing more. The checked the configuration & still said I
could do it. I'm just a little hesitant.

If you can find more pc-133 memory for it, there is no issue. You
should consider adding a stick of 512mb. Or at least another 256. (I
think there's only 2 ram slots, one populated already) THe crappiest
machine I've ever seen XP run on was a pentium 1, 233mhz with 64MB of
ram. It actually wasn't as horrible as you might think. It was used
pretty much for light web surfing.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

128M RAM. 20Gb Hard Drive, 13.7 Gb Free Space.

And a 1GB processor, I think you said in another message.

Although it won't be a speed demon, everything should be fine except the
RAM. 128MB isn't enough for WIndows XP. 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. Most people running a typical range of business
applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others need
512MB. ALmost anyone will see poor performance with less than 256MB. Some
people, particularly those doing things like editing large photographic
images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than
512MB--sometimes much more.

Either upgrade the RAM to at least 256MB or don't upgrade to XP.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I contacted Dell Hardware Support & they said the system meets the minumum
requirements & nothing more. The checked the configuration & still said I
could do it. I'm just a little hesitant.

If the system only "meets the minimum requirements," I wouldn't bother
upgrading it. It'll be far too slow to be useful.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin