[plehsdeen]

Hi was wondering if anyone could help me with upgrading my pc.I would like to be able to run XP[currently have ME] Azureus : Java BitTorrent Client and do other things without it crashing.
Here are my Specs
http://www.shopping....leron_Processor
http://www.epinions....lay_~full_specs
http://h10025.www1.h...cname=c00009344

If anyone could take the time to help me it would be wonderful

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The major concern when moving from ME to XP is drivers... no older 9x (ME) drivers will work with XP. Though XP has a lot of drivers included, there is a chance that XP may have no drivers for your video, sound or modem. The modem is especially important if that's how you connect to the net (if you use cable or dsl modem, you'll still have a NIC in your computer, another device that needs a driver) because if you loose access to the net, you can't get online to get drivers you need.

So, the time to find XP drivers for these things (or check to see if XP has any drivers for your devices included) is before you upgrade.

go here
http://www.microsoft...ng/default.mspx
you can read the pages, but mostly use the upgrade advisor to show you what drivers you'll need to get before you upgrade.

Other than that, XP should run OK on your system... it will be more stable than ME, but your computer in all likelihood will run slower with XP

[Tim Wellman]

The major concern when moving from ME to XP is drivers... no older 9x (ME) drivers will work with XP. Though XP has a lot of drivers included, there is a chance that XP may have no drivers for your video, sound or modem. The modem is especially important if that's how you connect to the net (if you use cable or dsl modem, you'll still have a NIC in your computer, another device that needs a driver) because if you loose access to the net, you can't get online to get drivers you need.

So, the time to find XP drivers for these things (or check to see if XP has any drivers for your devices included) is before you upgrade.

go here
http://www.microsoft...ng/default.mspx
you can read the pages, but mostly use the upgrade advisor to show you what drivers you'll need to get before you upgrade.

Other than that, XP should run OK on your system... it will be more stable than ME, but your computer in all likelihood will run slower with XP

[plehsdeen]

Thanks for that info I will try and check on it

Other than that, XP should run OK on your system... it will be more stable than ME, but your computer in all likelihood will run slower with XP

If my PC will run slower with XP then are there any parts that I could buy to increase performance.[Ram HDD... etc]

[macten]

From the link it looks like you have 128M of RAM. I would buy another 256. I noticed that it won't support more than 512.

Something to keep in mind. I have a AMD Thunderbird 850 with W2k and 384m of RAM. Its fine for what i'm doing. However, it will not install/play a lot of the demo games I receive with my subscription to Maximum PC. Those games won't run very well on my Gateway laptop with XP Pro, P4 and 256M of RAM. I'm waiting for a sale on memory and will add another 256 to the laptop. With 512 I would expect those demo games to run on my laptop. I noticed that the last demo required a minimum speed of 1G.

It's some times a tough call as to whether a person should upgrade or buy a better computer. Whatever you do buy the full install of XP. Upgrades can be nasty. Go with XP pro. You have a lot more networking capability with PRO.

[plehsdeen]

Upgrades can be nasty. Go with XP pro. You have a lot more networking capability with PRO.

Ah so it would be better to buy the full version of XP rather than the upgrade.Thanks for that info

From the link it looks like you have 128M of RAM. I would buy another 256. I noticed that it won't support more than 512.

Yes so it would be wise to put more ram then how does this look and what would be the best purchase.
http://www.crucial.c...08US.&submit=Go
http://www.memoryx.n...pres50ser4.html
http://www.ramcity.c...S/5005SR/5008US

Also if I may ask what kind of Hardrive should I purchase to increase size capacity and what is the capacity certin operatingsystem's can support?

[macten]

I glanced at those memory links. Didn't really study them. You can't go wrong with Cruical. I don't understand that Kingston price. $214???????? I just put in a stick of 128MB PC133 SDRAM Kingston in my W2k box. Full price at Office Max is $50. Its on sale right now for $40 and you get a $10 rebate.

Some general advice....don't buy off-brand memory. Stick with name brands like Crucial and Kingston.

As far as more hardrive space goes, I like the usb external hardrives. I also just installed a 60G Maxtor drive as a slave. I got it on sale for $38. Your BIOS will limit the size of hardrive you can install. Someone else can comment on BIOS limitations for hardrives. Off hand I don't know. But you can look it up on the web.

Try not to use the software that comes with the hardrive. Here's why and this is according to Scott Mueller, later if the MBR gets messed up and you go to run fdisk /mbr to repair it, you could end up with a system that will no longer boot.

[plehsdeen]

I glanced at those memory links. Didn't really study them. You can't go wrong with Cruical. I don't understand that Kingston price. $214???????? I just put in a stick of 128MB PC133 SDRAM Kingston in my W2k box. Full price at Office Max is $50. Its on sale right now for $40 and you get a $10 rebate.

Some general advice....don't buy off-brand memory. Stick with name brands like Crucial and Kingston.

Ok then I should just go with crucial then.

s far as more hardrive space goes, I like the usb external hardrives. I also just installed a 60G Maxtor drive as a slave. I got it on sale for $38. Your BIOS will limit the size of hardrive you can install. Someone else can comment on BIOS limitations for hardrives. Off hand I don't know. But you can look it up on the web.

Try not to use the software that comes with the hardrive. Here's why and this is according to Scott Mueller, later if the MBR gets messed up and you go to run fdisk /mbr to repair it, you could end up with a system that will no longer boot.

Do they really make external hardrives that work with just regular old USB?[if so do I have to worry about the BIOs with an external one?]