Can my PC handle WinXP?

[AMDIsTheBest010]

hey everybody:

i've been fixing up my dads PC which currently runs Windows Me, and he wasnts me to upgrade hime to XP. I didnt know if Windows would run effectively on his PC.

heres his specs:
900MHz AMD Athlon CPU
80GB Westernt Digital 7200RPM
128MB PC100 RAM
128MB ATI Rage All-In-Wonder Pro on an AGP slot
CD drive
3.5" floppy drive

it meets the minimum system requirements but i dont want it to take an hour to do something, so i just want to make sure that it will run somewhat good.

thanks
...AMD

 

[howard_hopkinso]

It will run, but will probably be a little on the slow side.

Maybe you should consider increasing the amount of ram to at least 256MB and preferably 512MB. That would deffinitely help to speed things up.

You can of course turn off all the eye candy, that will help to make it quicker.

Regards Howard

 

[vnf4ultra]

It will run xp, but with only 128mb of ram it will run very slow. 512MB is about how much I like to see in an xp machine, with 256mb being what I would call "bearable."

 

[AMDIsTheBest010]

Well i was going to upgrade the ram to 320MB but i bought another stick of 128MB PC100 and i had an old stick of PC100 64MB, but they wont fit into0 the RAM slots. He had this PC custom built bty a shop that went out of business a couplke years ago. So im not sure the brand of the mobo. It has three RAM slots with one occupied and it has The APG slot and 3PCI slots (1 occupied by modem)

 

[N3051M]

I think all is said.. up the ram to a more fatter size and its good to go

Don't forget to partition that hdd (20/60 or whatever) so you can do a quick restore without loosing (much) data...

EDIT: you can find any hardware (model/make) info by using SIW/Everest home etc..
also, just check over the PSU to see if its still good for another few years..

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Maybe the Everest programme from HERE will help you identify the mobo. You can also look at the mobo itself, there should be some kind of identification on it.


Regards Howard

 

[AMDIsTheBest010]

ok thanks howard i'll check on that, as for N3051M we are going to use the clean install feature for the HD, since windows is known to run better on a blank drive.

...AMD

 

[N3051M]

ok thanks howard i'll check on that, as for N3051M we are going to use the clean install feature for the HD, since windows is known to run better on a blank drive.

...AMD

lol.. yeh.. of course a clean install of XP.. i ment partitioning the hdd for, say, 20GB=windows xp/programs, 60GB=Data

so when XP crashes (and you come to us to help you out ) you can just format that partition and reinstall without fear of lossing your documents..

 

[AMDIsTheBest010]

oh, ok i see what you were saying. i though you meant 20GB for Windows ME and 60GB for XP.

My windows XP PC doesnt crash a whole lot thoguh

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Windows ME is just plain garbage(no offence) and should not be used as a backup OS. The most safest and reliable choice is Windows 98. Assuming u want a backup OS though. I keep Windows 98SE up-to-date(although that's a paradox now, seeing that Microsoft stopped releasing patches for it) on one partition on my PC as a backup OS in case XP crashes or gets seriously corrupted.(it's happened before and I'd rather be safe than sorry).

 

[AMDIsTheBest010]

yes, i agree that Me is very much garbage. it crashes constantly and is incompatible with alot of programs and is junk. That is why my dad wants to upgrade to windows XP

he mainly uses his PC for web browsing, banking online, and email.

So i think XP home will be a nice upgrade for him.

...AMD

 

[AMDIsTheBest010]

BTW i have a friend that runs XP on 64MB RAM and its pretty slow, and alot of the features are disabled

 

[AMDIsTheBest010]

I got ahold of 512MB RAM from Crucial so that will bring the total up to 640MB for XP, which seems that it will run pretty good on that.

...AMD

 

[SNGX1275]

It will run great. I have an Athlon 1ghz that runs XP with 512 megs of ram and it runs great. I wonder how many people saying things won't run (not just in this thread, in several, including the Vista ones) have ever actually ran XP or 2000 on anything that wasn't released within the last 2-3 years.

 

[JimShady23]

Exactly

I installed Xp on as little as a K6 233mhz with 256m ot ram without a hitch. It ran slow, but it still ran. I dont think XP is as resource hungry as lets say windows ME and all the older hardware supports that just fine and dandy. If i do recall ME was a RAM hog.

So yeah, I mean anything K62-500mhz with 256 or better memory will run XP.

 

[AMDIsTheBest010]

Yes, Me is a resource Hog, after startup I only have 30MB free RAM of 128MB total. The only autostart apps are Zonealarm firewall, and PC-Cillin Antivirus. but yea, im excited to get it upgraded to XP

 

[AMDIsTheBest010]

BTW all that the mobo says is a little symbol that says

"VIA" in a wierd symbol form

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

That's probably the chipset. The actual motherboard make will be different.

 

[AMDIsTheBest010]

ohh, ok. the mobo is a blue color. Dont know if that will help but its the only mobo i've seen myself thats blue.

Usually there greenor red.

...AMD

 

[CrossFire851]

download CPUZ from the download section of techspot here https://www.techspot.com/downloads/27-cpu-z.html then Unzip all the files

Start the program by clicking on cpuz.exe (the one with picture of a computer chip). Then click on mainboard tab and Vivla you got your model and manufacture.