Will this system support xp pro?

[greg77 via WindowsKB.com]

I have a friend who basically needs a PC to surf the web and emailing so I
found a compaq deskpro PIII 500mhz with 128MB RAM and though it might be good
to use for her. Would a system such as that support windows XP pro? If not
what would ne the minimum system requirments?

 

[Donny Broome]

1 GHz CPU (minimum)
512 MB of RAM (minimum)

Anything less is a REAL drag. It will run on the machine you describe below,
but she won't be happy.

 

[Ron Martell]

I have a friend who basically needs a PC to surf the web and emailing so I
found a compaq deskpro PIII 500mhz with 128MB RAM and though it might be good
to use for her. Would a system such as that support windows XP pro? If not
what would ne the minimum system requirments?

The system you are considering needs additional RAM in order to have
any chance of providing reasonable performance. If you cannot add at
least another 256 mb of RAM (for 384 total) then it is probably not
going to be worth considering.

If the system comes with a properly licensed version of XP Pro (highly
unlikely with that amount of RAM) then you could continue to use that
edition. However if you are going to be purchasing Windows XP then
there is no reason, based on the information you have provided, to
purchase the more expensive XP Pro. XP Home will be fully adequate
for the work you described and for this type of usage there is zero
difference between Home and Pro. There are differences, of course,
but none that would affect this type of usage, and also there are none
that affect performance or stability under any circumstances.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

1 GHz CPU (minimum)
512 MB of RAM (minimum)

*Way* overstated on both counts.

Anything less is a REAL drag.

Not at all. It depends entirely on the applications that are run. This is
*not* a one-size-fits-all situation.

It will run on the machine you describe
below, but she won't be happy.

I agree, but the major limitation Greg's friend will have is the 128MB of
RAM. But 512MB is not at all necessary to surf the web and do E-mail. In
fact, boost the RAM to 256MB, and for E-mail and the web, any difference
between a 1GHz 512MB machine and one with 500GHZ and 256MB will be well-nigh
unnoticeable.

I know many people who happily run Windows XP (even doing more than the web
and E-mail) with only 256MB of RAM and processors well under 1GHz.

 

[Ian R]

I have a friend who basically needs a PC to surf the web and emailing so I
found a compaq deskpro PIII 500mhz with 128MB RAM and though it might be
good
to use for her. Would a system such as that support windows XP pro? If not
what would ne the minimum system requirments?

A 500Mhz PIII is a bit close to the edge and with such little RAM it could
really struggle.

Ive got an old 850Mhz PIII with 256MB RAM laptop running XP Home.

About 10MB of the system RAM is used for the display so it has appox 246MB
avaialble.

Its not a speed demon but its OK with a 2Mb broadband for basic browisng and
it runs word docs (without any graphics) ok.

Has all the latest windows updates installed too.

Not all 850Mhz PC's are the same though. Fortunately mine is a good one. Ive
seen 1Ghz+ Celerons which are painfully slow!

I recommend upgrading the RAM to the max the board will take - and yes 512Mb
is the preferred minimum.

BTW dont even think of loading Norton Anti Virus on there otherwise it will
grind the machine down to a snails pace. Best stick with light footprint
a/v such as AVG or eTrust AntiVirus.

HTH

Ian

 

[DanS]

I have a friend who basically needs a PC to surf the web and emailing
so I found a compaq deskpro PIII 500mhz with 128MB RAM and though it
might be good to use for her. Would a system such as that support
windows XP pro? If not what would ne the minimum system requirments?

It would probably be OK....at best, IMO. What is the purchase proce of
this system ? That, is the deciding factor. Personally, w/o a monitor, I
might pay $50-$60 for the above. (You might think that is pretty cheap,
but a year ago I picked up an Intel Dual-P3 server MB w/2 450 mHz CPU's
with fans for $20. It's runs 24/7 without a hiccup.)

Used 17" CRT monitors go for around $25-$30 here. I just looked at the
Dell site, and while they don't have the $300 deal anymore, the lowest
model that I quickly saw was $350 with a 2.5Ghz Celeron, 256 Megs of RAM,
80G HD, CD Burner, and a 15" LCD panel monitor. Doesn't sound like really
killer, but compared to the aforementioned 500 mHz P3, it would most
likely 'blow it away'.

So figuring the initial cost of the PIII, plus a RAM upgrade (absolutely
necessary, possibly a LITTLE more expensive, since it's an older system
and may not support the high-density SD-RAM that is the less expensive
SD-RAM you see).

One other point, the HD is the system is probably a bit small, maybe not
for her, but, I would venture to guess that it is a 5400 RPM HD and not a
7200. In my opinion, upgrading to a 7200 RPM HD from a 5400 is probably
the upgrade that gives the user the most _perceivable_ performance
improvement. Sure, when you're on the internet on a dial-up connection,
that is your bottleneck, and a slower PC will seem OK. But sitting there
and waiting for 30 seconds for IE to open really sucks.

 

[Rock]

I have a friend who basically needs a PC to surf the web and emailing so I
found a compaq deskpro PIII 500mhz with 128MB RAM and though it might be good
to use for her. Would a system such as that support windows XP pro? If not
what would ne the minimum system requirments?

Increase the RAM to 256 MB and it should be ok. You need to check to
see if there are XP compatible drivers for it.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have a friend who basically needs a PC to surf the web and emailing so I
found a compaq deskpro PIII 500mhz with 128MB RAM and though it might be good
to use for her. Would a system such as that support windows XP pro? If not
what would ne the minimum system requirments?

It may be possible, but I wouldn't call it a "good idea." As for
performance, the word "glacial" comes to mind, if the computer doesn't
have a CPU of at least 500 MHz along with at least 256 Mb of RAM.

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 may well 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 probably be woefully inadequate.

If you turn off all of WinXP GUI eye-candy, it will still be very
slow, but it might be 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.


--

Bruce Chambers

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[Mr. Yhonquea]

This system will support Windows XP Pro (which needs a min. of 300 MHz CPU,
and 128 MB RAM, 1.5 GB HDD Space, and a video card that will support 800x600
resolution). I would recommend upgrading the CPU and amount of RAM if at
all possible. Hope this helps.


Paul Yhonquea
MCP