Worth upgrading windows?

Jet

OK, I'll do that when I go round later.

Do you not think that the processor speed is correct then?

Mr_Skint_2

Jet wrote:

OK, I'll do that when I go round later.

Do you not think that the processor speed is correct then?

I wouldnt like to trust that reading, a benchmarking tool is loads better.
And takes about 30seconds...

frak

it will give a roguh idea. A pentium 3 in the 800 mhz range with 512mb is more than enoguh for xp. Do a clean install and that machien will feel a million times better.

Rex_Mundi

I'd be tempted to leave this OS the same (the computer is 5 years old), and wait till I get a new computer before upgrading to XP. I've done this with my old machine and left it running W98SE. It works so well that it would be a waste of time/money to upgrade just for the sake of it. I'm now sorting out my list of components for my next machine, and will (probably) use XP on this.

Jet

Mr_Skint wrote:

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html Get this run a scan and get the true processor speed

Just checked this and it's 850mhz.

Mr_Skint_2

Seems a bit low to run XP I would consider upping the Processor only
as everything else seems Ok.....

Download and Run this to find the correct processor http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en

or http://www.cpuid.com/ zipped file

frak

i run a test desktop with 400 mhz pentium 2 with 512mb ram.
Its got office, firefox, activestateperl,nero works fine. You may need to turn downa few things like menu scrolling, show contents in windows but for day to day use you will be fine with 850 mhz and that ram. If you load it to the hilt will all kinds of things yes it will run slow. However, it will run better with xp on it than any win 9x version


dan

webhamster

Firstly why do you need to upgrade at all , if everything is running fine then dont mess with it.If you want to learn try ubuntu , which is a version of linux and would probably be a better increase for a lower spec pc.

Upgrading to xp will NOT give you any benefits , othere than security updates (which will bog it down).

There is however a couple of programs that will tell you what is inside your pc , aida and hwinfo32, both are free(ish) if you choose to do it.

If your asking to get reassurance then dont , I have been building and repairing custom pcs for over 10 years and find that most folk that appear to know what they are talking about to the average user infact do not at all.

AN XP install , even home, is not needed in your case , but if you decide to do so as a learning curve then use the programs listed above to get the drivers beforehand and copy to a cd....format the hd and clean install xp....if its a "copy" then you will have lost everything.Dont forget to backup important stuff like your favs , docs and anything else you dont want to lose.

I would reccomend knowing at least how to get your internet up and running from scratch as you may come into bother and not have anyway of getting files , updates and acess to inet help.

frak

not quite sure what you are gettign at here but i've been building pcs for just as long. Versions of Win9x are very inefficient when it comes to managing Ram above 128mb. There are number of benefits to running xp over 9x. Stability is one. A nicer interface, wide range of software, better hardware support. It is always importnat to ensure you have the drivers to ensure your system will work, i still standby my origianl comments that XP will run and the machine will run better with a complete install of xp.

MPwannasavemoney

I have an old Pentium II 333MHz running XP and it works just fine. I agree with flak - you may need to turn off some of the 'flashy' features like animated cursors and menus etc etc.
I aslo agree with webhamster - why do you need to upgrade. I had to upgrade as when I got given a digital camera as a present I couldn't move anything off the camera onto a windows 98 based system so I bought XP Home upgrade and everything carried on working fine plus my pictures could be downloaded. Only issue with the upgrade was the huge number of security upgrades to get - even though I had a CD with SP2 update on it. Only problem then was the poor little 10G drive ran out of space and I ended up buying a new PC anyway so there would be enough space to keep all the pictures and videos from the camera! Anyway the old machine is now a useful games machine for my 5 year old.