Upgrading to Windows XP

[Guest]

My old PC has the following specs:

Windows ME
192MB ram
15GB
633MHz

I cannot afford a new PC but would like XP. Will I be okay if I just buy the
XP Home Edition Upgrade for approximately £80 rather than the non-upgrade
version which is more expensive.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Hi Stuart,

I think the first question you should ask yourself is do you really want
to do an upgrade on your old system. You only have 192 MB of RAM running on a
633Mhz PC. I usually will not recommend a user upgrade an older PC unless
they are running at least 512MB of RAM and an 800Mhz processor. The more RAM
helps offset the slow Front Side Bus and Processor in the older PC's. You
might check out one of the online auction sites and see if you can purchase a
PC with Windows XP already installed. The older 1.0Ghz PC's are really
starting to come down in price now. Something else to think about is once you
buy and put Windows XP on your older PC you will then need to activate it and
then if you do get the money to get a nicer PC you will then have to call
Microsoft to be able to install your copy of XP onto your newer PC. Here is a
link to Microsoft's upgrade advisor, you may be able to get more information

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the response. I see that the link you posted takes me to the XP
Pro Upgrade Advisor. Do you know if this is the same of the Home Edition?

An upgrade now is the cheapest option as it'll only be about £80, I'm very
unlikely to find a PC with XP for about the same.

Regards.

 

[R. McCarty]

The "Key" to acceptable or usable performance on a low-end system
is to trim back some of the GUI affects. With proper adjustment you
can get a 633Mhz CPU and 192 Megabytes to run XP OK. (Most
Games will not). Use Classic Theme and set the Advanced operating
mode of the PC for Performance, not Appearance. The one thing to
check before upgrading is the BIOS's ACPI compliancy. This can
cause power issues if not fully supported at upgrade time. There are
a few other system tunings that will help an older PC carry XP.

 

[Guest]

Can you please explain how to check the BIOS's ACPI compliancy and the other
tuning features. I've no idea what the former is. Thanks.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My old PC has the following specs:

Windows ME
192MB ram
15GB
633MHz

I cannot afford a new PC but would like XP. Will I be okay if I just
buy the XP Home Edition Upgrade for approximately £80 rather than the
non-upgrade version which is more expensive.

There are two separate questions here:

1. Are your hardware specs adequate for Windows XP?

Your specs are marginal. A 633MHz processor is at the bottom end of the
acceptable range, but it's usable, if somewhat slow. Of more concern is your
RAM. How much memory you need depends on what apps you run, but almost
everyone needs at least 256MB for decent performance. For some people, for
example those who edit large photographic images, more than 256MB--even much
more--can be required for good performance.

And depending on what you load on it, a 15GB drive may or may not be a
problem. For some people it's OK, but recognize that most people running
Windows XP will use *much* more than 15GB.

If you don't buy a new PC, you should at least consider upgrading the RAM,
and possible the hard drive.

2. If you do upgrade, should you buy an Upgrade version or a Full verion?

You should buy an Upgrade version. It's considerably cheaper than the Full
version, it's identical to it, and since you own Windows Me, you qualify to
use it. Both versions will do either a clean installation or an upgrade; the
only difference between the two is that to do a clean installation with an
Upgrade version, you need to insert the CD of WIndows Me as proof of
ownership when prompted to do so.

 

[R. McCarty]

When you install XP, it (installer) communicates with the BIOS and will
determine which HAL (PC Driver) to install. Sometimes BIOS will tell
XP it is ACPI compliant when in reality it may not be. Usually, a BIOS
firmware flash update will resolve these potential issues.
On the "Tuning" items, one is to disable Fast User Switching and just use
Logoff, instead of Switch Users. It may also help to run the Video card
in a mid-level color depth instead of True color.
Before you start the Upgrade be sure to run the Advisor to get a listing
of possible conflicts with hardware & software. XP is especially "Touchy"
about older AntiVirus products and some flavors of "Easy CD Creator"
and it's Direct-to-Disk feature.

 

[Alan]

Seconded, although actual figures are subject to some variation. This
machine is running XP on a P3 running at around 600MHz with 384Mb, (it has 4
hard drives, 2 SCSI CD units .... no room left in the case) and is fine for
the vast majority of things. I don't have it in classic mode- it doesn't run
as well. Crap like animations is off.

It is more than just acceptable, although certainly not as fast as the other
machines I have and I tend to use it through choice.

 

[Guest]

I have a 600 mhz machine with 256 Ram in XP Pro works pretty well. The one
thing I definitely would advise someone to do is unistall and reinstall a lot
of your software after you load XP. Also, back up your Outlook file pst
file. XP has a hard time with software upgrading over alot of already loaded
software. It should flag the software that you will have trouble with, but
you will be better off reloading alot of it after you upgrade.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have a 600 mhz machine with 256 Ram in XP Pro works pretty well.

There is a substantial difference between 192MB and 256MB

And there *may* be a substantial difference between your workload and
Stuart's. What works well for you with your workload doesn't necessarily
work well for someone else with a different workload.

The one thing I definitely would advise someone to do is unistall and
reinstall a lot of your software after you load XP.

That makes no sense at all. If you're going to go to that trouble, you might
as well just do a clean installation. And the Upgrade version *can* do a
clean installation.

Also, back up
your Outlook file pst file.

Why do you even assume that he uses Outlook? Most people don't.

If he does an uprade installation, he should back up *everything* he can't
afford to lose. Although upgrades normally go very well, they are never any
guarantees and there's always a risk of losing *everything*.

XP has a hard time with software
upgrading over alot of already loaded software.

That's just nonsense.

It should flag the
software that you will have trouble with, but you will be better off
reloading alot of it after you upgrade.

Completely false.