[copywriter]

I am a modern anachronism.

Can you imagine a Windows XP computer so darned laughably old and grizzled that it only has a half gig of RAM and only 37 gigs of harddrive? And get this: NO SOUND since 2004 when the Sasser worm somehow took the sound from my computer.
Talk about computer illiterate!!

Now imagine that same computer, still running SP1.

Yeah. Everyone on this board right now, is prostrated out on their office floors all over the world, laughing their 8sses off. Some of you are in acute danger of suffocation because you are laughing so hard at my plight.

You've heard of Darwinian candidate for stupid, but you've NEVER heard of someone like me ever before.

Well there's always a first time.

Why am I still using such an OLD, ARCHAIC computer? Maybe I should use an abacus?

The ECONOMY.

I can't afford a new computer. I got vacant houses all around me on my block. No, I don't live in Detroit. I'm just plain poor.

I know it's real hard to imagine.

Everyone in America has a desktop computer with at least 8 gigs of DDRAM and about 850 gigs of hard drive. And they have not had to learn to make do with no sound on their computer for over 6 years. I read voraciously because I can't hear a thing on presentations to save my life.

Some folks are toting around laptop computers with 250 gigs of hard drive and about 4 gigs of DDRAM.

Then you have me with my humble old anachronism from 1325, a computer so old it is STILL RUNNING SP1!!!!!!

Amazingly it still runs.


Oh what should I do?

I have about 20 gigs of free memory. Do I stand a chance in a billion years of actually being able to successfully update my computer to SP2? I've heard that SP3 is a HUGE file.

Or should I just get off the Net ASAP, go back to reading print books and forget the Internet until 2070 when the economy finally recovers?


EDIT: Amended the title to something a bit more useful lol

Edited by copywriter, 13 April 2010 - 08:45 PM.

[Advertisements]

Soooo your question is "Can I update to SP2 and SP3 with my current hardware?"

I regularly update computers with older hardware than that to SP3. And actually SP2 is much bigger than SP3.

I would go for it. But I'm not guaranteeing anything. Do you still have an XP installation disk?

[Cold Titanium]

Soooo your question is "Can I update to SP2 and SP3 with my current hardware?"

I regularly update computers with older hardware than that to SP3. And actually SP2 is much bigger than SP3.

I would go for it. But I'm not guaranteeing anything. Do you still have an XP installation disk?

[peter99]

Order Windows XP Service Pack 3 on a CD

To order Windows XP SP3 on a CD, visit one of the following Microsoft Web sites, as appropriate for your region:

Asia
https://om2.one.micr...?...&NewTrans=1 (https://om2.one.micr...n-us&NewTrans=1)

Europe and Africa
https://om2.one.micr...?...&NewTrans=1 (https://om2.one.micr...n-us&NewTrans=1)

North America
https://om2.one.micr...?...&NewTrans=1 (https://om2.one.micr...n-us&NewTrans=1)

South America
https://om2.one.micr...?...&NewTrans=1 (https://om2.one.micr...n-us&NewTrans=1)

backup before installing sp3

Edited by peter99, 13 April 2010 - 08:31 AM.

[DaffyKantReed]

I have about 20 gigs of free memory.

You mean 20GB of hard drive space I assume? That's plenty.

Download this 316MB file then save it to a CD-R or USB stick.
http://www.microsoft...;displaylang=en



Having a Windows install this old, I would backup your data and perform a fresh install of XP. You could just install SP3, but I'd advise against it.

Find your Windows product key using the following utility:
http://www.magicalje....com/keyfinder/

Do not misplace this key.


After this, SP3 should be installed, *before* the network cable even gets plugged in.

At this point, with a bit of tweaking, your computer will actually be pretty fast, even though it's not new.

[copywriter]

I have about 20 gigs of free memory.

You mean 20GB of hard drive space I assume? That's plenty.

Download this 316MB file then save it to a CD-R or USB stick.
http://www.microsoft...;displaylang=en



Having a Windows install this old, I would backup your data and perform a fresh install of XP. You could just install SP3, but I'd advise against it.

Find your Windows product key using the following utility:
http://www.magicalje....com/keyfinder/

Do not misplace this key.


After this, SP3 should be installed, *before* the network cable even gets plugged in.

At this point, with a bit of tweaking, your computer will actually be pretty fast, even though it's not new.

What's a good backup service? Is http://Carbonite.com/ reputable? Heard of 'em, never used 'em before. Which backup service would you recommend?


I like the idea of backing up all my hard drive files then reinstalling Windows. I think I may have the original Windows Home Edition CD - Need to check out my folder cabinet. It is probably in there somewhere.
Once I reinstall Windows, will Microsoft validate that install? I love the idea of getting Service Pack 3 on my old, grizzled computer. I'd have one hell of a great defense against malware! THEN BRING IT ON, Internet!!

Edited by copywriter, 13 April 2010 - 09:54 PM.

[DaffyKantReed]

Most computers should have a CD or DVD burner from the factory. If you need to buy a DVD burner, you're looking at $21-30US to purchase the unit. A package of ten 4.7GB DVD-R media is <$10US. This would be one cost effective solution. An 80GB to 160GB hard drive for $40US would also work well. You can install XP Home to the new hard drive and set the old 40GB hard drive as a slave, or simply remove it and store it in a /sealed/ anti-static bag.

Carbonite is said to be a decent service, but it is $55/year. Your ISP probably has data transfer limits and exceeding those limits can be quite expensive. You can use Skydrive for free. It has a 25GB capacity, with individual file upload limited to 50MB. WinRAR will allow you to split larger files into 50MB pieces if you wish.

http://www.rarlab.com/rar_file.htm

http://skydrive.live.com/


Microsoft will validate the install online if the key is legitimate. Rare cases might require a toll free call to Microsoft.