Upgrading to XP - any good buys?

[Rob]

There were, recently, half-price sales at two local stores. Couldn't decidem
missed them. No sales since. Does anyone know of any good-buy sites, or
stores? With Vista out now, many users, I think, are looking. Have to
upgrade from 98 SE in order to get broadband, and other "gets". Many
thanks, any ideas (except to stay with 98, which I'd like to do, but can't).

 

[Alias]

There were, recently, half-price sales at two local stores. Couldn't decidem
missed them. No sales since. Does anyone know of any good-buy sites, or
stores? With Vista out now, many users, I think, are looking. Have to
upgrade from 98 SE in order to get broadband, and other "gets". Many
thanks, any ideas (except to stay with 98, which I'd like to do, but can't).

Why can't you connect to broadband with 98?

NewEgg.com has good prices for a generic OEM version of XP. It cannot be
used to upgrade from your 98; you will have to do a clean install.

Alias

 

[Rob]

|
| Why can't you connect to broadband with 98?

I don't know. One cable-based provider states on web site Win 98 no
longer supported. Don't think I can use the generic XP 'cause don't know
much about it or the non-generic one. Thanks for response.
RobF


|
| NewEgg.com has good prices for a generic OEM version of XP. It cannot be
| used to upgrade from your 98; you will have to do a clean install.
|
| Alias

 

[Guest]

If you upgrade to xp the min. recomended memory is 128. I ran xp on 98 se and
it was too slow i reverted to se. I had no trouble using cable connection.
with 98 and i found all the updates and downloads i could and saved them to
cd. because they will be even harder to find in the near future.

 

[DanS]

|
| Why can't you connect to broadband with 98?

I don't know. One cable-based provider states on web site Win
98 no
longer supported.

Hogwash.

1) The ISP doesn't want to support setting up Win98, usually because their
tech support is just generally lacking in knowledge.

2) The cable-modem they use is USB only and there are no 98 drivers for it.

Those are the only 2 reasons that I could possibly think of. #1 is the best
bet. #2 is possible. You should never accept a USB-only cable/dsl modem
anyway, expecially if you have more than one PC.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

If you upgrade to xp the min. recomended memory is 128

No way! 128MB is *much* too little to do anything much more than play
solitaire under Windows XP.

How much memory you need for decent performance is *not* a one-size-fits-all
situation. 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.

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


.. I ran xp on

 

[Alias]

|
| Why can't you connect to broadband with 98?

I don't know. One cable-based provider states on web site Win 98 no
longer supported. Don't think I can use the generic XP 'cause don't know
much about it or the non-generic one. Thanks for response.
RobF

The OS has nothing to do with connecting a cable modem. As another
poster wrote, don't let them talk you into a USB cable modem. I am using
Linux, which my ISP does not "support", and it connects just fine.

Generic OEM's have the disadvantage of not being able to update and can
only be used on one computer and never transferred to another. They are
much cheaper than the Retail versions that can do an update and can be
moved to another computer.

Make sure your computer can handle XP before buying it. Min: 800 Mhz
processor, 64MB video card and at least 512MB RAM.

Alias

Alias

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Make sure your computer can handle XP before buying it.
Min: 800 Mhz processor, 64MB video card and at least
512MB RAM.

That's overstating it. I have a Dell desktop made in January,
1999, that has a 450MHz PII with 384MB of RAM, and the
original video card, and it runs Visual Studio.NET, JBuilder, and
SQL Server just fine for software development purposes.
PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat are a breeze.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Guest]

No way! 128MB is *much* too little to do anything much more than play
solitaire under Windows XP.

How much memory you need for decent performance is *not* a one-size-fits-all
situation. 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.

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


.. I ran xp on

I was just stating what xp had to say about memory not what i would recomend. I have put xp in with 96 mb. But on my own comp. i run 320 gb HD. i was online with 96. i don't know what the ip has to do with getting online. i go thru roadrunner. my browser i use is msn ie. for downloads.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Two points:

1. If you want to state the *official* minimum requirement, that's fine, but
be careful to clarify that that's what you mean, rather than what you
recommend.

2. The official memory requirements for Windows XP are actually even worse
than 128MB. They are 64MB.