Upgrading - which o/s ??

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reddragon

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Hi all,
I'm thinking of upgrading my system by buying just the
base unit - i've already got a 17" monitor - and i wonder if
anyone couild advise me on which Windows O/S is best/stable
enough to run live feed Java charts, i.e XP pro, Windows 2000
Pro. Any advice welcome.
Cheers!.
 
Don't want to hijack the thread but just a quickie - everyone seems to say XP/2000 Pro is the way to go for OS, how easy is it to change to either of these? - I am currently using Athlon 1.1ghz, 512mb ram and Win ME which is total pants! I am a bit of a technophobe so answers in words of one syllable will be appreciated.

TIA
 
Eminem,

I am not sure why you want to trade when you have made millions from songwriting ? Anyway I upgraded from Millenium to XP Pro and had no problems other than on some very old hardware that I was using for which there were no drivers. This was for musical equipment I have that I use for songwriting. Your PC hardware is fine and unless you have some additional and very old hardware there should be no problem. Of course if you are the Eminem of songwriting fame then it may be a problem (LOL) otherwise you should be fine.

Cheers


Paul
 
I have been using Win Xp Pro since its release without any problems. Please don't upgrade but opt for clean install.
 
Trader333 - Famed for songwriting yeah, but I needed a way to move the money made from my ho's and dealing ma $h1t, hence the trading ;) , ahem, just kidding.
My hardware is about 2 1/2 years old so I think it should be OK. What d'ya reckon?

BlueChip - You say clean install, would that be effectively buying XPPro and just following the install procedure instructions or is there more to it with regard to the exisiting OS? (PS Don,t laugh at the dumba$$ question, I have to refer to the manual each morning just to get my computer switched on :eek: )
 
Hi eminem,

No I'm not laughing. The fact that you can start your PC is sufficient knowledge to install Win Xp.

If you already have lots of software installed and don't want the hassle of saving work and reinstalling then upgrade would be your only option.
 
Hi,
and could I just say I much admire the brown ones? Apart from that, a 'clean' install would be to take a nice new hard drive and install a full version of Win XP Pro on it - or reformat your existing drive and get it all wiped then install. For ugrades you buy the Win XP Pro upgrade disk, and when you install it you leave your current Me or whatever drive alone, XP sort of 'converts' it to be XP Pro instead, and tries to leave all your programs etc ready installed. Obviously the 'clean' install requires you to dig out all your program disks to reinstall afterwards, and probably some of your driver disks for printers and whatnot.
A 'Clean' install tends to have few problems afterwards, 'upgrade' installs CAN (be might not) throw the odd problem up later... hence a clean install is preferred by many. If you will excuse the imagery here, if you find an etch a sketch has too many buttons, then a DIY Clean install and reinstall of all your programs etc is probably best not attempted - better to try the upgrade route, and if you hit trouble get help /advice to sort it.
Win XP Pro is great in my view, I use it on a couple of PCs and it'll be on the wife's laptop... I still have an old PC for the kids running Me, and an old laptop running 98SE, and XP Pro is far better in my view.
Dave
 
Reddragon,

I forgot to say that I remember a post by Helen where she had found the cheapest place to buy WinXP Pro so if you contact her she may put the link up again.

Cheers


Paul
 
Just to be different - Have tried both XP and 2000, and definitely prefer 2000. Mainly for the networking side - XP tried to be too helpful and would'nt let me tweak various settings - also had problems networking between XP and an old laptop using 98, no problem with 2000 though. Also XP seemed to run slower, perhaps I need more memory or a faster machine.
 
Hmmm,
I've networked XP Pro to 98Se no problem - from past experience in another life etc networking has its own particular bunch of wierd problems if you happen to be unlucky... I think Bill Gates electronically 'tags' CD's at random, so many 'golden samples' followed by a thousand 'grade A turkeys' <g>
Main thing XP has over 2K is a later date for M'soft stopping support. If you buy along with any qualifying hardware - CPU, Mobo, for all I know even a £5 mouse - you can buy an 'OEM' copy of XP Pro for about £100 legit. I've bought 2 so far, prob three by this time tomorrow...
Dave
 
XP can be problematic with Win98, but its easy to fix. By default it does somrthing (cannot remember what!) before establishing a connection that means you might lose patience. There is a registry hack for this (again cannot remember).

Shows what a great MCSE I am.

I've had XP Pro running better than Win2K on PII 350 CPUs. Memory is the secret, try at least 384K if not more as XP loves it whereas 2000 plateaus.

Personally it's XP all the way for me now. It's brilliant.

JonnyT
 
Anything wrong with xp home -- I'm just about to get a pci? card and second monitor?
 
hmmm.... stuck between a rock and a hard place now! XP Pro seems to be the consensus of opinion and clean install the better option. I had hoped to go the upgarde route but that seems to be a no-no (also there doesn't seem to be any easy route from ME to XP Pro, unless its via upgrade to XP Home first, then upgrade to XP Pro - anyone confirm/deny this?) Don't like the sound of formatting, etc, a bit too technical for me! Is XP Home a viable alternative and an upgrade to that OS a simpler option? As I said earlier I am a bit of a technophobe so I am trying to keep the "fiddling" to a minimum as if it goes wrong at any point I know I am going to be stuffed and it will end up costing me more to get the pro's in to sort it out!! :eek: I am beginnig to think that it might be easier to buy another computer based on what you can get nowadays for about £800. :confused:
 
Oatman - Any problems with XP Home in terms of stability? Which OS did you upgrade from?
TIA.
 
Hi eminem

I was running Win2Pro. I was advised that XP is stablest. At first I had problems but it's settled down now, if that's possible. I've put it on 2 machines and networked. XP does it all for you.
The other thing for non techies is "System Restore". If you get a problem just revert to a previous point when it was stable.
I'm happy with it.

Cheers

ps. you can upgrade from any OS.
 
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