Windows XP is obsolete. This is not a bad thing, but you have to be comfortable with that. If you plan on squeezing every last dime out of XP that you possibly can, this guide will show you how to do it. Portions of this guide will recommend that you buy some hardware, but it’s nothing that will put you in the poorhouse. Furthermore anything mentioned you should buy is obviously optional.
We’ll start with hardware first, then move on to software.
Hardware: Hard Drive
Windows XP was originally designed to run on 512-byte sector hard drives, a sector standard that goes all the way back to the floppy diskette. In this year 2011, 512-byte hard drives are going to become increasingly difficult to find because the new standard is 4096-byte or 4k for short.
XP can operate on a 4k-sector hard drive, but not without special software which will cause it to perform poorly. In other words, don’t run XP on a 4k-sector drive.
It’s also well known that XP runs like absolute crap on Solid State Drives, better known by their abbreviation SSD. I strongly recommend not to run XP on those type of drives either. Performance isn’t the issue with XP on SSD, it’s stability. XP turns into a crash-happy mess when running on SSD storage media.
512-byte hard drives are still for sale, but they will rapidly disappear from the market starting this year.
My suggestion is to buy a 512-byte sector hard drive now, leave it in the box unused and save for when you do need it in case the primary hard drive you have now fails.
The price of a simple 80GB 512-byte sector HDD is about $35. Remember, you only need enough space to host XP, and for bigger storage, use add-on or external drives.
Hardware: Optical Drive
If your computer uses SATA ports (the red cables with black ‘stubby’ connector ends), this technology is going to be around for a good long while yet. If your computer uses IDE on the other hand (ribbon cables), you can purchase IDE-to-SATA adapters, but you’re better off having a spare IDE-specific DVD drive. Alternatively you can use a USB-connected optical drive if you don’t feel like cracking open your computer.
Hardware: Keyboard and Mouse
The only time you have to worry about this is if you use peripherals of this type that are loaded to the hilt with extra options.
"Plain" keyboards and mice connected via wired PS/2 or USB will be supported on XP for at least another decade, so if you use those, you’re okay and don’t need to buy anything.
Enhanced keyboards and mice such as ones that are wireless and/or have a lot of extra functions to them are all software-controlled. That software requires a supported OS in order for it to work. You’re going to start seeing fancy peripherals that will not support XP starting this year.
If you have a keyboard or mouse with enhanced features that you really like, buy another and store in the closet until you need it. Otherwise if you wait until it breaks/wears out, by the time you go to purchase it will no longer be available and the newer model’s software won’t work in XP at all.
Hardware: Printer
The only thing I can recommend here is that if you’re using inkjet, dump it and go with laser.
A simple black-and-white laser printer easily outlasts any injket printer on the market and with regular use can last a good 5 to 7 years. On average, you will not have to replace the toner more than once every 18 months even with high-volume printing.
What you’re doing by going to laser is beating the obsolete curve by using something that has good longevity to it.
Hardware: Monitor
The only thing you need be concerned with is not the monitor but its connector. The industry at the moment is making a huge push to stop supporting the VGA port (the trapezoid-shaped blue one) in favor of DVI (the wider white one) exclusively. That being the situation, what matters more here is your video card. If all you have is the old VGA port, consider buying a video card with DVI or VGA and DVI.
Left: DVI, Right: VGA
If you don’t game with your PC, a video card with DVI+VGA that gets the job done is as little as 10 dollars purchased through www.newegg.com.
Once you have a DVI port ready to go, if your monitor dies, you can buy another one and it will plug right into the DVI port and work. How do I know this? Because the vast majority of monitors are all hardware-controlled and not software-controlled. In other words, if you have the port, the monitor will work.
Hardware: Networking
Wired Network Cards
As long as your NIC (network interface card) is 10/100/1000 (10 megabit/100 megabit/gigabit), you’re a-okay. If you happen to have a card that’s only 10/100 but not 1000, buy a NIC. They’re very cheap.
Wireless Network Cards
These cards are all software-controlled regardless of type whether it’s a slot-style on your motherboard or USB-based. The software is what makes these cards work. That being the case, you need a wi-fi card which has control software that runs on XP.
If you use wireless networking on XP, I very strongly suggest you buy another wi-fi card in case and save just in case your existing card fails.
The easiest way to go about this is to purposely purchase a USB-based wireless adapter. Here is the link to all of them, and you’ll notice the starting price is dirt cheap. My suggestion is to buy one, purposely set it up, then stuff in a drawer until you need it should your primary wi-fi card fail. When you do this, the USB wi-fi stick will be ready-to-use without any software configuration because you already took care of that beforehand.
Hardware: USB
As long as you have USB 2.0 compliant ports (you’d know if you didn’t have them), the 2.0 spec is going to be around a long, long time due to the fact hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of USB 2.0 devices exist. The only thing you may want to consider purchasing is a USB 2.0 hub to save the ports on your PC from wearing out, but that’s optional.
Up next: Part 2 – Software (coming soon)
Leave A Reply (1 comment So Far)
You must be logged in to post a comment.