Will XP Run OK at 450Mhz??

[JGM]

I have a Pentium III 450 Mhz and 160 Megs of Ram can it handle XP as well
as ME which is presently installed ???

many thanks Graham

 

[R. McCarty]

Yes, I have a notebook with a 450 P3 and 256 and it runs O.K,
as long as you turn off all the eye candy in the GUI. From your
message it sounds like you have two or more memory modules
installed. For around $30-40 you can purchase a single 256
SDRAM that might prevent issues with memory miss-matches.

 

[David]

The speed is slow but ok. The memory is another issue.
Consider 256 a minimum and 512 is even better.

Other issues to consider are hard drive capacity and what
you plan to do with the computer when XP is installed. If
you plan on graphic manipulation or gaming, then I take
back my comment about 450 being an acceptable processing
speed. It simply won't be.

 

[t.cruise]

I had an old Compaq Desktop, with the same stats. When I installed Windows
XP, I configured it to use the Classic Start menu, got rid of the menu/tools
tips transition effects, used Classic Windows folders, turned off anything
running in the background that wasn't necessary (like Index service, and
auto update which I did manually as needed). Surprisingly, after my
tweaking, the above system ran faster than a 1 GHz system with 256 MB of RAM
(with the above mentioned tweaks not done), even with system resource
intensive programs like Adobe Photoshop. I finally donated that system to a
school, and the students run from recess to get to use that system first,
rather than any of the newer ones. But, I would suggest a "Clean Install"
of the Windows XP Upgrade, especially on Windows ME systems.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

"Glacial" is the term that comes to my mind, I'm afraid. 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.)

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 this old, 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). 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

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