Getting rid of ME for XP

[Rossy]

Right now i have windows ME which likes to crash, freeze and tempt me to stick my foot through my pc case. I've decided it's time to upgrade and I want to go with xp. I have the cd and i'm just curious if there is a heads up for doing this upgrade. Is there anything else im going to have to do or is it pretty much idiot proof?

[james8547]

I am also thinking of upgrading my old dell ME to XP. The only thing stopping me is the RAM. It only has 256MB of unknown RAM, P4 1.5Ghz. I know it's enought to run XP under normal conditions, but I have alot of progs running in the background. I don't think the RAM can take it.

[DEC777]

I guess I wonder why you are having all the probs with ME??
Are your crashes due to inadequate hardware back-up when running whatever---whats your Memory??

Is that the reason you want to upgrade??

Your specs would be nice...

Yes, XP is basically idiot proof but not with a corrupt or infected system....

Lots of variables that we don't know about here---give us a synopsis/chronological diary of when you probs occurred with ME so we can rule-out some things...

Have you kept up with AV(Restore Point disabled??)

512MB Ram Memory is pretty standard now..."James"----I assume you have RDRAM(specs again??) in old rig which is expensive---more so than the now popular DDR, go figure...Guess cost dictates if its worth it; expecially on some of the "Dell deals" available right now---skip a few nites out and dinner and buy one of their specials...JMO...

[Rossy]

here's the specs, i have a 800mhz celeron with 384mb of ram. As far as the crashes, they're sparatic. I thought it was kind of funny that right after installing windows again it crashed. But anyway, it just has a tendancy to crash, and yes i have system restore disabled, if thats what your talking about.

[DEC777]

James, just wondering and I know it may not be any biggie, but with P4C-E Dlx, why not SATA?? Just like to hear what you know and why....Thanks...

[HAL9000]

Rossy, are you wanting to upgrade? If so, just drop the CD in and follow the instructions. If you're wanting to wipe it out and start from scratch (highly recommended) set the boot order in your BIOS and boot from the CD, then follow the instructions which are pretty straight forward.


james8547, XP will run just fine on that. 256Mb is OK, but ya, it can benefit from dumping in another 256Mb.

[bailey]

just a thought here

if your having problems with ME

don't be too positive that going to xp will cure all your problems

you need to know for sure what is causeing any problems before you blame the O/S

I agree tha M/E is problematic, but I just want to make sure your not expecting a mircicale

[Rossy]

i do agree with you, but i've been wanting to get xp for awhile anyway so the crashes were just a small part of my reasoning. So can i just pop the cd in and install xp then all my drivers and i'm good to go?

[james8547]

DEC: I think my HD can only handle ATA133 config. Tell you the truth I wouldn't know the difference between SATA and ATA133 even if it hit me in the face. All I know SATA is better. I don't know if my HD is SATA capable or how to make it SATA

[sdkfz]

You both should be able to install straight from the CD, in both cases I would argue for backing up anything you want to keep onto CD and then doing a clean install rather than an upgrade install. Yeah you lose all of your settings and stuff from ME but I have heard of some cases where problems were brought along with the upgrade.

Since it sounds like you both have XP already, go ahead and start the install and only complete the system check portion. This is both a stand alone down load from MS and the first step of the install. Basically it looks at your system for devices that will not work/ work well in XP. This way you can first grab the new drivers you need for any problematic devices and then restart the install with the assurance that you will be able to go trough with no problems.

Yet another point, some programs/games will not run under XP, granted they are mainly pretty old stuff now, but there is some arguement for having a dual boot system so you can still have access to these.

And finally- defintily get the extra RAM, check out www.crucial.com, the system I have really did run faster when I went from 256 to 512 (RDRAM in an ECS P4ITA Mobo with a 1.5 P4 (with 423 pins so my upgrade path is nill))

[RenamonXP]

Freind running on an an older dell model machine and he has windows ME on it and that ting locks up more than anything i have ever seen in my life. I came to watch a problem he had on his machine He double clicked on 'My Computer' and that thing I kid you not took at least 45 seconds to a minute to load. Hes packing 256Mb or ram in his computer so I dare not say its because of low ram I just think that maybe his computer has a few bugs in it and his father refuses to upgrade to windowsXP why?.. I'll tell you why he says "Windows Xp is not user freindly" I was like Bull$hit man! XP is soo much better than ME. Anyway go ahead with the upgrade to XP shouldnt be much of an issue you may need to get some driver up dates for NIC, VIDeo card etc. things of that Nature but you should be alright. Im running WindowsXP Professional on 128MB of ram do you think that I'm having a hard time YES! I just upgraded from a Gateway Astro all-in-one that has a 433Mhz Celeron in it to a brand new dell with a 2Ghz Celeron in it hehehe. Not bad for me doubled my RAM for free. Not bad $487.27

[DEC777]

James, your mobo can run Serial ATA; you just gotta have Serial ATA HD which yours isn't-----if you did have a SATA, you would plug it into another place on the mobo....

I only asked cause you have a pretty up-to-date rig with good stuff------really you probably wouldn't notice that much difference in speed.....The other thing is that I building a new rig with near same specs: WinXP Pro, same mobo, Seagate Barracuda 160GB/SATA/8MB cache and same amount/kind of ram but the P4 3.0Ghz chip====>got the Antec View Plus AMG1000 case!!

The newer SATA HDs are performing better so eventually its use will be noticable with certain apps and gaming and the cost is coming down...

Well, anyway, its an ungrade that you can think about but you may really not need it for what you always your PC for..

Thanks for the reply