TinyXP - What the ?

davidoftheshire

Hope someone can advise.

I went to a neighbours house to help him with some PC problems. I am very familiar with PC's and have lot's of experience on fixing Windows problems.......but....

Never seen anything like this before.

Mighty powerful quad core beast of a machine, I noticed it was running only XP SP2 and couldn't find anywhere to check or enable Windows update. No evidence of IE on the machine either.

I then discovered that it was running TinyXP which had been sold with the machine by this chaps previous 'computer man' that built the machine for him.

I said I would go away and do a bit of research as I was a bit uncomfortable with the set-up. When I read up on TinyXP I was appalled actually. I reckon he has an illegal version of Windows (without knowing it) plus no IE and no way of enabling Windows updates.

My advice to him would be to buy a pukka version of Win 7, scrub everything, install Win 7 and then go from there.

Any thoughts from any experts?

spakkker

It seems not everyone in the world is a fan of microsoft products and some people do strip out bits of operating systems that they don't want/like. On this forum many say IE is for idiots-see browser thread. TinyXP can be only 100MB so there's a lot missing. Certainly won't be a lawfull install but I'm sure neighbour is aware it's not any retail version you can buy in tesco's or ebuyer.
You could advise him to return to his old pc supplier and see if he can sort things for your neighbour- cheapest option , or maybe buy a legit copy of xp off ebay if he likes xp. I am still using xp myself like the majority of people.

TwistedPsycho

Have to agree.

Most editions of TinyXP have been reverse engineered, stripped and repacked, usually with a nifty little program that bypasses Windows Genuine Advantage because its.... well not genuine.

Sounds like the "computer-man" is on a scam.

Cane

Yeah I think its a pirated version of XP where most non-essential components have been removed hence no IE I suspect. Your on the right track in suggesting wiping clean and installing Windows 7 (or even Vista if money needs to be saved). Being a powerful machine it deserves a decent operating system anyway dont you think!

amcluesent

>Any thoughts from any experts?<

If it's a gaming rig, then running a stripped out (nlite) build in XP makes sense.

TwistedPsycho

It does, but only if you use Windows Versions from LEGAL sources.

DatabaseError

tell him to check his invoice, if it shows that he's been sold a copy of windows, he should complain and ask for media and a key, if the sale was just for the box, and it happened to have tinyxp installed, then the supplier is very naughty, but your friend hasn't been ripped off (microsoft have).
I have a few licences of XP, and I ran tinyxp for a while, it's a great installation
..now running 7, genuine and bought!

Cane

amcluesent wrote: »

>Any thoughts from any experts?<

If it's a gaming rig, then running a stripped out (nlite) build in XP makes sense.

Well if its a gaming rig would'nt he want the latest Direct X11 only available on Vista and Windows 7.

Since Vista service packs and the release of Windows 7 the 'XP is best for gaming' argument is over unless your sticking with old tech and playing DirectX9 gaming > which is hardly hardcore gaming is it?

Knarf44

I know you said it was a quad core PC but does it meet or exceed Win 7s minimum requirements? If he was shortchanged on the OS he might have been shortchanged in other areas too eg RAM or Graphics card?

I'd recommend using Win 7 OEM or if he's happy to pay for the full retail version then so be it. Bear in mind though you may have to upgrade the RAM and Graphics Card if he is principally a gamer.

DatabaseError

Cane wrote: »

Well if its a gaming rig would'nt he want the latest Direct X11 only available on Vista and Windows 7.

Since Vista service packs and the release of Windows 7 the 'XP is best for gaming' argument is over unless your sticking with old tech and playing DirectX9 gaming > which is hardly hardcore gaming is it?

well, I for one am happy with DX9, DX10 adds little to justify the performance drop, and DX11 isn't supported by my GPU..or most games
Don't be fooled into believing that because it exists it's got to be worthwhile, most enthusiasts are pretty grounded in reality

..currently playing !!!!! II @ 1680x1050, high, all on except physX which adds very little to the game for the performance cost (some particle effects etc..)

mr-mr_2

can I get a legit version of tinyxp sounds like it would be fast?