Upgrading From Win98 To Xp

[Gerry]

Hello Folks!

I would like to wish all a very happy and prosperous New Year, with

good health to be able to enjoy it.

On a PC that I purchased in 2000 I have been using Win 98SE.

As it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find good programs

that could still be used on this I would like to upgrade the operating

system to XP Home. But, I would first like to make sure that my PC

will be suitable for such an upgrade and for this I would appreciate

the advice from our experts on this.

The following are the important details of the PC:

Processor : AMD-K6 3D

Motherboard : Max CPU Speed 300 MHz

Actual Memory : 62 MB

Max Memory Module : 128 MB

Disc Space : "C" - 32216 MB, free 26386 MB

"D" - 14309 MB, free 11093 MB.

Kindly have a look at this and tell me if my machine will be suitable for such

an upgrade. Should any further info be required just post the details.

Any advice will be most appreciated.

Thanks.

Gerry

[jimras]

Well, you are barely at miminum specs for XP home.

Microsoft says that it will run on a 233 MHz chip with a minimum of 64 Megs of RAM

Most of the things I read about it was that you needed a 300 MHz chip and a bare minimum of 128 MG of RAM and

most people that were running XP had at least 512 MG of RAM. I know that you are trying to get by without

having to stick a lot of money into your system, but you might want to thing about upgrading your motherboard,

chip, and RAM to something that will run it a whole lot better.

The other way to look at it is that if you are going to stick a lot of money into upgrading, you might as well just get

a new computer.

[Pete_C]

I have to say with that setup your XP experience would be less than satisfactory.

Things would be incredibly slow and frustrating.

Computers have come a long way since then and even a really low end system or refurbished last years model would be a smoker besides what you have.

I mean you can buy a nice brand new laptop for $349

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_...duct_id=0293528

Not sure where you live but this gives you an idea of what you can get in the refurbished market for next to nothing

http://www.microcenter.com/storefronts/cle...ied/index.phtml

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_...duct_id=0303596

$99

Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition

Processor Intel® Celeron® Processor

Processor Speed 1.2GHz

Level 2 Cache 256KB Level 2 Cache

RAM Installed / Max RAM Supported 256MB SDRAM (Expandable to 512MB)

Hard Drive 20GB Hard Drive

$199

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_...duct_id=0294218

Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition

Processor Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor

Processor Speed 1.80GHz

RAM Installed / Max RAM Supported 512MB DDR SDRAM

Hard Drive 40GB Hard Drive

http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_r...oup=pc_desktops

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_...duct_id=0291877

$379.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Business***

Intel® Pentium Dual Core Processor E2180

1GB DDR2-667 RAM

160GB 7,200RPM Hard Drive

8x Double Layer DVD±RW Drive

Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950

10/100/1000 Network

Now is the time to start shopping, it is estimated 20% of the retailers will go under ; and the rest will be having sales (Martin Luther King day is next, then Valentines day and Presidents day) so look for the sales

http://www.techbargains.com/

Is a good place to check who has what on special

look there for coupon codes to use at places like Dell.com

Like their refurbished outlet store

http://www.dell.com/outlet

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/t...;l=en&s=dfh

Starting at $259

nspiron Desktop 530s Slim Tower: Intel Pentium dual-core processor E2200 (2.20GHz)

Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic

System Price : $259.00

I even saw 19 inch LCD monitors going for $99 this weekend (no rebate required).

[Gerry]

Thanks for the sound advice.

I realized that I would have to do some upgrading but was not sure exactly what.

Unfortunately computers and parts are expensive here where I am (South

Africa). Internet services are the most expensive in tjhe world.

Regards.

[Pete_C]

Ah, so sorry.

I do not know the currency exchange over there so have no idea how these prices compare

But it looks like about 10 rand to a dollar. So 5-6000R is not bad right?

http://www.comx-computers.co.za/computer-s...?products=20143

http://www.comx-computers.co.za/show-laptops-by-price.php

Hmm laptops starting at R 2349 not bad if that is the same as $234.90 although the acer aspire for R 4522 is better than an eepc which is probably running linux.

http://www.comx-computers.co.za/

http://www.shoptoday.co.za/

http://www.wantitall.co.za/

http://www.notebook.co.za/

Acer aspire one is R3725 here

[iccaros]

I'll talk now,,

Damn Small Linux Would run great on this, along Puppy or an old ubuntu.

[shanenin]

If you upgraded the computer to 256mb of total ram(I think that is your max), you could have a good experience. You would just have to make sure you are not running any ram hungry programs, if it was me, I would run without AV. If you made sure programs were not auto running, check msconfig, you could keep your total ram usage under the total capacity of physical ram installed.

[Pete_C]

I agree with the Linux suggestion.

Although it is learning a new OS ; well so would XP.

There are some small non demanding yet up to date linux distros which would have no major issues with running on a machine that old.

Of course then you run into the software issue again. Most Linux it is hard for the average user to install software and it is harder to find software .