upgrade from Win 98 2nd edition to XP

[Guest]

would like to upgrade Gateway 550 mghz, pentium 3, 256 ram, 10 GB hd to XP
Home.
would probably "clean" the hard drive..and startt over. Or, buy new hard
drive. (nothing on existing that is really worth saving as far as files
go...What we need can be saved to floppys)

Any input?...easy to do?

 

[Guest]

I would definitely buy full retail version not upgrade. Nothing wrong with
you hard drive. Of course a little bigger wouldn't hurt. With XP, service
packs, updates and, MS applications all take up space. As well as antivirus
programs etc.

 

[Jerry]

Go to the Microsoft XP web site and download the Upgrade Advisor. When you
run it you will be presented with a list of hardware and/or software
incompatibilities. Do everything you can to solve those isuues before
installing XP - if you don't have any blocking issues which will totally
preclude an install of XP.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/default.mspx

 

[Malke]

would like to upgrade Gateway 550 mghz, pentium 3, 256 ram, 10 GB hd
to XP Home.
would probably "clean" the hard drive..and startt over. Or, buy new
hard drive. (nothing on existing that is really worth saving as far as
files go...What we need can be saved to floppys)

Any input?...easy to do?

A machine with those specs can run XP, but it will not be nearly as fast
as it was under Win98. If you turn off all XP's eye candy, the machine
should be fine for web surfing, 2D apps like work processing, email,
etc. It will not be as perky as it was with Win98 though.

The hard drive is a tad small. A fresh install of XP (including SP2)
takes up roughly 2.5GB all by itself. Then you want to leave at least a
couple of gigs free for Windows to move around in. That only leaves you
about 5 gigs for programs. So you might want a larger hard drive. Just
be aware that your computer's motherboard might not support the really
big drives. If you can find a 30 or 40GB drive, that would be fine.

Also, you will need XP drivers for all the hardware in your machine. XP
does come with a lot of drivers built in and you might have no
problems. I'd suggest running the XP Upgrade Advisor first before you
wipe everything. Get it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp

Malke

 

[kurttrail]

would like to upgrade Gateway 550 mghz, pentium 3, 256 ram, 10 GB hd
to XP Home.
would probably "clean" the hard drive..and startt over. Or, buy new
hard drive. (nothing on existing that is really worth saving as far
as files go...What we need can be saved to floppys)

Any input?...easy to do?

It is different than installing Win9x. Besides doing the upgrade
advisor, you should also Google instructions on how to install XP.

Of course, if you can't find all the drivers for your hardware, then
don't bother.

Here are a few questions you should ask yourself:

Do you have a NEED for XP?

Are you gonna buy a new computer in the next year, and if your computer
is five or more years old, then you should be planning on buying a new
computer some time soon.

Personally, if I forgot that I build the my own computers, I would save
my money by NOT buying XP, and save myself the aggravation of installing
and operating XP on such slow hardware that is like watching paint dry,
and look to buy a very good MODERN computer, Alienware, and look towards
putting the dinosaur out to the Linux pasture.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[HeyBub]

would like to upgrade Gateway 550 mghz, pentium 3, 256 ram, 10 GB hd
to XP Home.
would probably "clean" the hard drive..and startt over. Or, buy new
hard drive. (nothing on existing that is really worth saving as far
as files go...What we need can be saved to floppys)

Any input?...easy to do?

Beware. For hardware reasons, XP might not work at all - laptops are
notorious for tweaking the hardware and not telling anybody.

Me, absent compelling reasons to the contrary, I wouldn't replace a working
Win98 on a five-year old laptop.

But it don't cost much to try.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

would like to upgrade Gateway 550 mghz, pentium 3, 256 ram, 10 GB hd to XP
Home.
would probably "clean" the hard drive..and startt over. Or, buy new hard
drive. (nothing on existing that is really worth saving as far as files
go...What we need can be saved to floppys)

Any input?...easy to do?

Acceptable performance is, of course, a matter of personal opinion
and depends entirely upon what *you* expect to do with your computer.
If all you want to do is play WinXP's built-in games, send and receive
simple emails, browse the Internet (while avoiding the more "ornamental"
web sites) etc., such a machine might meet your needs. If, however, you
plan to take advantage of WinXP's multimedia capabilities, play
graphic-intensive games, or do advanced word or data processing, such a
machine would be woefully inadequate.

"Glacial" is the term that comes to my mind, I'm afraid, if your
computer doesn't have a CPU of at least 500 MHz along with at least 256
Mb of RAM. If you turn off all of WinXP GUI eye-candy, it will still be
very slow, but it might usable for simple word processing, email,
web-browsing, etc. It won't be any good for graphics-intensive
applications, and most newer games. (During the public preview period,
I tested WinXP on a 500 MHz machine with 256 Mb of RAM, and it was much
slower than I like.)

To help improve WinXP's performance on older machines:

1) Right-click the Task Bar > Properties > Start Menu, ensure "Classic
Start menu" is selected.

2) Right-click an empty spot on the Desktop > Properties > Themes >
select "Windows Classic."

3) Right-click My Computer > Properties > Performance > Settings >
Visual Effects, ensure "Adjust for best performance" is selected.

However, with a PC as old as yours must be (at least 5 to 7 years,
judging by the CPU speeds you've mentioned?), it's essential to make
sure it's components are WinXP-compatible _before_ proceeding. Have you
ensured that all the PC's components are capable of supporting WinXP?
This information will be found at each of the PC's component's
manufacturer's web sites, and on Microsoft's Catalog:
(http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx). Also bear in mind
that computer components designed for use with Win9x/Me very often fail
to meet WinXP's much more stringent hardware quality requirements.

Can you obtain OS-specific device drivers for your PC's components,
and any necessary motherboard BIOS updates? Additionally, you can
download and run Microsoft WinXP Upgrade Advisor to see if you have any
incompatible hardware components.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp



--

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

 

[Guest]

Minimum requirement for Windows XP Home Edition is 233 MHz (300 MHz or faster
recommends) clock frequency, 128 MB RAM-memory and a 1,5 GB hard disk. Not so
much.

 

[Malke]

Beware. For hardware reasons, XP might not work at all - laptops are
notorious for tweaking the hardware and not telling anybody.

Me, absent compelling reasons to the contrary, I wouldn't replace a
working Win98 on a five-year old laptop.

But it don't cost much to try.

I completely agree with you about not upgrading a laptop, but the OP
didn't say he has a laptop. If the machine is a laptop, you are
absolutely right that he should leave it in Win98.

Malke

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Minimum requirement for Windows XP Home Edition is 233 MHz (300 MHz or faster
recommends) clock frequency, 128 MB RAM-memory and a 1,5 GB hard disk. Not so
much.

True, but have you actually tried to do anything useful with WinXP
installed on a computer with those specifications? You'll grow old just
trying....


--

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

 

[kurttrail]

Minimum requirement for Windows XP Home Edition is 233 MHz (300 MHz
or faster recommends) clock frequency, 128 MB RAM-memory and a 1,5 GB
hard disk. Not so much.

And the minimum requirement not to be consider retarded is having an IQ
of 76, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to go through life being that
stupid.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Minimum requirement for Windows XP Home Edition is 233 MHz (300 MHz
or faster recommends) clock frequency, 128 MB RAM-memory and a 1,5 GB
hard disk. Not so much.

As always, offical minimums tell you what you need to be able to run the
product at all. They don't at all represent what you really need to run it
with acceptable performance..

Assuming that you want to do more than play solitaire, trying to run Windows
XP on such a machine would be an exercise in frustration.

 

[Winux P]

would like to upgrade Gateway 550 mghz, pentium 3, 256 ram, 10 GB hd to XP
Home.
would probably "clean" the hard drive..and startt over. Or, buy new hard
drive. (nothing on existing that is really worth saving as far as files
go...What we need can be saved to floppys)

Any input?...easy to do?

Go anywhere between 512~1024 MB Ram, given the age of your computer you
probably won't be able to go beyond 32GB HD unless you can (want to) fit an
IDE extender\controller card in. Get XP OEM with the hardware. Weigh the
cost of all that with a new box and needs with future needs in mind.

Easy to do, though Win2K would suite your hardware fine (won't be able to
play too many games) and, if you can get a friends copy of it you'll have no
problems justifying yourself and won't pay a cent.

- Winux P

 

[Plato]

would like to upgrade Gateway 550 mghz, pentium 3, 256 ram, 10 GB hd to XP
Home.

Not enough ram. Hard drive too small.

 

[Plato]

Minimum requirement for Windows XP Home Edition is 233 MHz (300 MHz or faster
recommends) clock frequency, 128 MB RAM-memory and a 1,5 GB hard disk. Not so
much.

Minimum requirement for XP Home for teenage son involded in graphics.
1.5 gig ram, 80 gig+ HDD, 2.5+ gig cpu.