Upgrade This Old Pc From Me To Xp?

[Pegster]

ME is so unstable!

My 85 year old Mom just got this machine - her first - when my uncle bought a new pc.

I'd like to upgrade to XP - Microsoft website says it will work, but need real expert advise from my buddys here. Specs are:

Gateway Select 1200 PC - purchased in 2001

Athlon 1.2 GHZ

240MB RAM

S3 Graphics Prosavage Graphics

Peripheral that might not work: UMAX AstraNet e5420 scanner - although their website seems to say that it will work.

Thanks... I know I only come here when I need help, but, with my Dad's cancer & the 700 mile trip down here every few weeks, I don't have 'me' time anymore.

[shanenin]

it is a reasonably fast system, XP should run great on it. A little more ram would be great, but it could do fine with what its got. Do you have any questions in particular?

[TheTrueDarkOne]

What advice are u looking for exactly?

[Pegster]

You both answered as I had hoped... I was pretty sure it would work, but didn't want to invest a hundred bucks, if it wasn't going to be worth it.

Thanks for your help. Just wish MS had a senior citizens discount for 85 year old newbies

[blim]

Eighty five year old newbies...bless her heart, and yours, too, Pegster!! I second Shanenin's answer as I have 256 "gigawatts" of ram and XP works fine--I don't know about the Athlon "thing", but I have a 60 "gigawatt" hard drive and a Pentium 4 processor, again, XP runs great.

I THINK I once read of a "student and teachers edition" of XP that is sold "without questions asked" and is much cheaper...I think, anyways (not sure, might be thinking of MS Office)...but you should check that out. I never tried EBay for such things, but that's another option for a cheaper OS.

Another option would be to stick with ME. If the computer is taken care of (cleaned of cooties--you can do that for her) and your mom "surfs safely" (which I bet she will! Oldsters are super paranoid about clicking links and stuff, and I don't see her doing a lot of OS hungry projects or heavy multitasking) ME might be just fine for her, as she will probably do real simple stuff on it. Send a PM with a link to this thread to Bearskin--he has used ME for a long time trouble free and is an expert on it.

AND if this is her first computer, buy her a "Dummies Book". Those books were my Godsends when I got my first idiot box and they read like an Erma Bombeck article--humorous and easy to understand, even for an "oldster newbie"

Liz

Edited October 17, 2005 by blim

[JDoors]

The RAM is, IMO, "just" enough, more would be immensely better. The current amount will be the bottleneck in the system but only if she's used to multitasking. For casual useage it won't be a problem. Otherwise the system should be fine. As for the scanner, they're really inexpensive so I wouldn't worry if you can't get the old one to work, a new one won't cost an arm-and-a-leg.

[Pegster]

Thanks for advise - Dummys book is a good idea. She won't be mulittasking, but I'm going to find her some more RAM when I caome back down here Christmas time.

Liz - that student edition is MS office - I have it, in fact... wish it was Windows!

Her hands are pretty crippled up with arthritis (looking for a friendly mouse for her) so she clicks wrong things frequently, I do have AVG, AdAware, Spybot - the standards - installed.

Want to upgrade because ME keeps having problems ("___ has caused an error in ___"). and she keeps forgetting and shutting it down improperly.

Been working on errors and putting in a new mobo battery today, because it forgets what time it is every time we shut it off

I just thought - should I post a HiJack This log... would you all be able to help me trouble shoot? I'm going to my uncles tomorrow (if the rain lets up) to help him with his new computer, then back here for a day or so in a couple of days.

Thank you all for so much help & advise... I'd be lost without you. Why don't you all come over... I'll make hot chocolate & we can tweek this thing together!

[blim]

hmmmm, I wonder if there are special mice for your Mom's hands....perhaps call around to "Disability Advocate" groups, Senior Centers or Nursing Homes??? I betcha something exists that will be perfect for her. If you don't get anywhere on that route, make sure you take her with you mouse shopping so she can try them "hands on" (yeah, a pun, couldn't resist)

As far as a hijack log, I think that would only be beneficial if you keep ME--any quirks would hopefully be fixed with a new OS--BUT I'm not sure on this, hijack logs might show hardware problems, too (not sure) so keep a heads up for an experts opinion.

If you do decide to post a hijack log, make sure you put it in the Malware/Hijack Log section here so the log readers will see it.

Hot Chocolate!! Yum

Liz

[Pegster]

Punny, Liz... very punny. Thanks for suggestions, I'll check around those resources for a mouse, becaue all the mice (mouses?) I've seen are basically the same, difficult for her crooked little fingers. The end joint on all of her fingers are bent at a right angle to the outside. Can you believe that she still makes quilts?

Ya like marshmallows in your cocoa?

[JDoors]

Are trackballs still available? You don't have to "grasp" the larger ones like you do with a mouse. I recall others have said they use them because of their arthritis.

Windows itself has some "accessiblity" options that can be helpful so don't forget to check those out. Also it's a good idea to use a lower resolution display than you might choose for yourself (smaller numbers in the Display/Settings box): Larger items are easier to click on. Check the mouse settings once you install one, some have a "detect accidental doubleclicks" option that helps.