Would Windows XP run on a machine with these specs?

[Palula Brasil]

Hi everybody!

I have a machine at work running Windows 98, and would like to know if it´s
architecture could withstand Windows XP (because I would only have to buy
the OS). Here is some information that could be retrieved with CPUID (CPUz)
software.

---------------------------------------
Name AMD Duron
Codename Spitfire
Specification AMD Duron(tm) Processor
Package Socket A (462)
Core Speed 797.1 MHz (8.0 x 99.6 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 199.3 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+)
---------------------------------------

It has 256 MB of RAM but 16 MB are being used for video (resulting in a
total of 240 MB). At first I´m not intrested in performance issues since the
tasks this machine runs do not consume much. I´m just intrested in finding
out whether Windows XP would run on it or not.

Thank you.

P.S.: If more information is needed to accurately reveal drawbacks to
running Windows XP on it, I can send CPUID´s complete information analysis
report.

 

[R. McCarty]

It would probably load & run, but not very well. I wouldn't bother with
upgrading it. XP has a base line memory footprint of 225+ Megabytes.
That spec alone is enough to retire your Windows 98 PC.

As far as cost goes, PC prices are so affordable a new desktop can be
bought for not much more than a XP license. New/Latest hardware has
many advantages over trying to use an operating system on hardware it
wasn't designed for.

 

[SC Tom]

Hi everybody!

I have a machine at work running Windows 98, and would like to know if
it´s
architecture could withstand Windows XP (because I would only have to buy
the OS). Here is some information that could be retrieved with CPUID
(CPUz)
software.

---------------------------------------
Name AMD Duron
Codename Spitfire
Specification AMD Duron(tm) Processor
Package Socket A (462)
Core Speed 797.1 MHz (8.0 x 99.6 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 199.3 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+)
---------------------------------------

It has 256 MB of RAM but 16 MB are being used for video (resulting in a
total of 240 MB). At first I´m not intrested in performance issues since
the
tasks this machine runs do not consume much. I´m just intrested in finding
out whether Windows XP would run on it or not.

Thank you.

P.S.: If more information is needed to accurately reveal drawbacks to
running Windows XP on it, I can send CPUID´s complete information analysis
report.

Here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314865

 

[Erwin Moller]

Palula Brasil schreef:

Hi everybody!

I have a machine at work running Windows 98, and would like to know if it´s
architecture could withstand Windows XP (because I would only have to buy
the OS). Here is some information that could be retrieved with CPUID (CPUz)
software.

---------------------------------------
Name AMD Duron
Codename Spitfire
Specification AMD Duron(tm) Processor
Package Socket A (462)
Core Speed 797.1 MHz (8.0 x 99.6 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 199.3 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+)
---------------------------------------

It has 256 MB of RAM but 16 MB are being used for video (resulting in a
total of 240 MB). At first I´m not intrested in performance issues since the
tasks this machine runs do not consume much. I´m just intrested in finding
out whether Windows XP would run on it or not.

Thank you.

P.S.: If more information is needed to accurately reveal drawbacks to
running Windows XP on it, I can send CPUID´s complete information analysis
report.

Hi,

It will run but your computer will be swapping a lot.
(Swapping is using (slow) harddisk as real memory.)
I think XP needs 200MB or something just for itself, so your machine
will be extremely slow.
You better keep using W98 on it or buy better hardware.
A few hundred dollars (300-400) should get you something modern.

If you don't want to spend money on it at all, I expect you can find
computers with better specs at the dumb.
That is not meant in an unfriendly way: I mean you can really find
replaced computerhardware of better quality.
I don't know where you live, but here in The Netherlands we have
'environmental collection locations', a place to bring all kinds of
garbage that will be disposed of in a sensible way.

They also collect old computers. I browsed through it once, and saw a
lot of reasonable equipment. If you are handy with hardware and not
afraid to assemble it yourself, you can maybe try that. I revived a lot
of old computers, and it is fun (if you are a geek).

Good luck.

Regards,
Erwin Moller



--
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to
make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the
other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious
deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult."
-- C.A.R. Hoare

 

[Jim]

Hi everybody!

I have a machine at work running Windows 98, and would like to know if it´s
architecture could withstand Windows XP (because I would only have to buy
the OS). Here is some information that could be retrieved with CPUID (CPUz)
software.

---------------------------------------
Name AMD Duron
Codename Spitfire
Specification AMD Duron(tm) Processor
Package Socket A (462)
Core Speed 797.1 MHz (8.0 x 99.6 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 199.3 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+)
---------------------------------------

It has 256 MB of RAM but 16 MB are being used for video (resulting in a
total of 240 MB). At first I´m not intrested in performance issues since the
tasks this machine runs do not consume much. I´m just intrested in finding
out whether Windows XP would run on it or not.

Thank you.

P.S.: If more information is needed to accurately reveal drawbacks to
running Windows XP on it, I can send CPUID´s complete information analysis
report.

If this is a works machine , you may have to get the IT department
involved .

 

[Paul]

Hi everybody!

I have a machine at work running Windows 98, and would like to know if it´s
architecture could withstand Windows XP (because I would only have to buy
the OS). Here is some information that could be retrieved with CPUID (CPUz)
software.

---------------------------------------
Name AMD Duron
Codename Spitfire
Specification AMD Duron(tm) Processor
Package Socket A (462)
Core Speed 797.1 MHz (8.0 x 99.6 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 199.3 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+)
---------------------------------------

It has 256 MB of RAM but 16 MB are being used for video (resulting in a
total of 240 MB). At first I´m not intrested in performance issues since the
tasks this machine runs do not consume much. I´m just intrested in finding
out whether Windows XP would run on it or not.

Thank you.

P.S.: If more information is needed to accurately reveal drawbacks to
running Windows XP on it, I can send CPUID´s complete information analysis
report.

Have you checked for drivers for WinXP for the hardware on the computer ?

There are programs like Everest, Belarc Advisor, Sisoftware Sandra, that
can list some of the supporting hardware on the motherboard. You may want
to check whether all the hardware has driver support, to make such a proposal
practical.

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181 (Everest Free edition)

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html (Belarc Advisor site)

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php (CPUZ - use the 32 bit no-install)

WinXP will run, but there may not be a lot of room
to work in there. The OS will adjust for the lack of
resources. There might still be room to bump up the
memory to 512MB. Using the hardware information from
the computer, try Crucial.com or Kingston.com and
see what memory upgrades are possible. Perhaps you can
find some memory on Ebay cheaply. At least understand
what your memory expansion options are - you could install
WinXP, and then decide to double the amount of RAM. 512MB
of RAM will also work with Win98.

Note - if you are copying the output of Belarc Advisor, be
aware they sometimes print the license key for your software
in the report. Do not post a Belarc output, until you have
removed personally sensitive information.

Paul

 

[Daave]

Techinically, yes.

Practically, no.

Even if you were to increase your RAM, your processor would still be
fairly slow.

Considering you would need to buy the OS anyway, you might as well
purchase a PC that is three or four years old that already comes with a
license for XP. The difference is price is small!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi everybody!

I have a machine at work running Windows 98, and would like to know if it´s
architecture could withstand Windows XP (because I would only have to buy
the OS). Here is some information that could be retrieved with CPUID (CPUz)
software.

---------------------------------------
Name AMD Duron
Codename Spitfire
Specification AMD Duron(tm) Processor
Package Socket A (462)
Core Speed 797.1 MHz (8.0 x 99.6 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 199.3 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+)
---------------------------------------

It has 256 MB of RAM but 16 MB are being used for video (resulting in a
total of 240 MB). At first I´m not intrested in performance issues since the
tasks this machine runs do not consume much. I´m just intrested in finding
out whether Windows XP would run on it or not.

Would Windows XP run on it? Yes.

Its performance would be marginal, but depending on what you run on
it, you might find it acceptable. My wife used to run XP on a machine
that was even slower. All she did was e-mail, light web surfing, and
occasional light word processing. Several times, I offered to upgrade
her machine and she always turned me down, telling me its performance
was adequate for her needs.

 

[Palula Brasil]

All your opinions were very worthwhile and I will account those within my
decision. But I have a new question. Another machine has Windows 98 running
on it and I want to upgrade it too. But I think this one isn´t problem. Here
are the specs:

-------------------------------------------
Name AMD Sempron
Codename Thoroughbred
Specification AMD Sempron(tm) 2300+
Package Socket A (462)
Core Speed 1577.2 MHz (9.5 x 166.0 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 332.0 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE
-------------------------------------------

This one should be very much Ok to upgrade to Windows XP wouldn´t it?
Your help has been very aprecciated!

P.S.: If you need more information, the complete specs analysis report can
be sent upon demand.

 

[Palula Brasil]

That link isn´t working Tom.
Too bad. I would like to read Microsoft formal info.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

All your opinions were very worthwhile and I will account those within my
decision. But I have a new question. Another machine has Windows 98 running
on it and I want to upgrade it too. But I think this one isn´t problem. Here
are the specs:

-------------------------------------------
Name AMD Sempron
Codename Thoroughbred
Specification AMD Sempron(tm) 2300+
Package Socket A (462)
Core Speed 1577.2 MHz (9.5 x 166.0 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 332.0 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE

The CPU is fine. How much RAM does it have?

 

[Mike Easter]

I have a machine at work running Windows 98, and would like to know if
it´s architecture could withstand Windows XP

For what specific reason do you want to replace the W98 OS with XP? To
run some specific program or application, or for some other reason?

(because I would only have
to buy the OS).

Do you mean that you would buy a one machine license to install XP on
that hardware? That would not be a good investment. If it is your
intention to continue to use that hardware and spend some money
upgrading it, you should buy some more ram and install a newer and free
OS.

Alternatively, it is still possible to buy a very very cheap XP machine
with license with about 1G of ram for less than $200 on sale.

 

[SC Tom]

That link isn´t working Tom.
Too bad. I would like to read Microsoft formal info.

Try this one:
http://support.microsoft.com:80/kb/314865

Looks like it has changed slightly from when I first copied it. Go figure!

 

[Mike Easter]

Palula Brasil wrote:

Do you mean that you would buy a one machine license to install XP on
that hardware? That would not be a good investment.

Alternatively, it is still possible to buy a very very cheap XP machine
with license with about 1G of ram for less than $200 on sale.

You Palula are posting from .br connectivity. I don't know the price of
MS licensing or computer hardware in Brazil.

In the US, it would cost me about $70 for an XP license for 1 machine
which yours won't run XP without more ram, which is going to be some
more $. But I can buy a cute little 'nettop' computer today at my local
Fry's for $199 plustax.

The nettop would have 1G ram, XP, no optical, 160G hdd, and an Atom 230
running at 1.6G in a handy little AspireRevo rig.

Here's the Fry's ad for the Revo http://snipr.com/tti0z

 

[John John - MVP]

No need to bother, the published minimum requirements for various
Microsoft operating systems has always been completely unrealistic. If
Microsoft were building automobiles they would classify half ton trucks
as 2 ton trucks and they would stuff 22 babies in a sedan and then
declare the sedan to be a 22 passenger car!

This is what they have to say about Windows XP:

The minimum hardware requirements for Windows XP include:

* Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is
recommended)
* At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
* At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk

The minimum requirements will barely allow Windows XP to run, this is
fine if you want to boot Windows XP and then use the computer as an
ornament, just don't try to do anything else with the computer. Even
the "recommended" requirements don't come close to being acceptable for
most computer users, you should at least double the recommendations if
you intend to do anything barely useful with the computer.

John

That link isn´t working Tom.
Too bad. I would like to read Microsoft formal info.

 

[HeyBub]

No need to bother, the published minimum requirements for various
Microsoft operating systems has always been completely unrealistic. If
Microsoft were building automobiles they would classify half ton
trucks as 2 ton trucks and they would stuff 22 babies in a sedan and
then declare the sedan to be a 22 passenger car!

This is what they have to say about Windows XP:

The minimum hardware requirements for Windows XP include:

* Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is
recommended)
* At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
* At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk

The minimum requirements will barely allow Windows XP to run, this is
fine if you want to boot Windows XP and then use the computer as an
ornament, just don't try to do anything else with the computer. Even
the "recommended" requirements don't come close to being acceptable
for most computer users, you should at least double the
recommendations if you intend to do anything barely useful with the
computer.

Oh bother!

Lots of things will run under that configuration:
* MS Calculator,
* Editpad,
* Command Prompt, and, er,
* Other things.

 

[Palula Brasil]

The price of something like Windows XP Professional Edition would cost about
R$ 450,00 (local currency), which is about U$ 233,51 dollars.

 

[Palula Brasil]

256 MB

The CPU is fine. How much RAM does it have?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

256 MB

That amount is at the very bottom of amounts that may provide you with
acceptable performance. It depends on what apps you run, but you could
very well see a performance improvement with more.