If i downgrade from XP to 2000 will it be faster, i imagine 2000 doesn't need such good hardware, seems its older, and hardware back then is about what my pc has (256MB RAM!)

To be honest, im sick of my pc being so slow, and instead of upgrading all my hardware, ill just downgrade my software, should work with my network then for a start

so? will it be faster / what are advantages or disadvantages, and yes, ive thought of using linux, but it doesnt support my modem, and i cant afford a router

There are two issues with downgrading:
1. Unpatched vulnerabilities are more likely
2. It may not run everything (like Messenger 7.5, unless you hack the installer).

Hmm, vulnnerabilities i don't really mind, ill have to find an article on hacking the installer, oh, and here are my hardware specs

Computer:
            Operating System      Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
            OS Service Pack      Service Pack 1
            Internet Explorer      6.0.2800.1106 (IE 6.0 SP1)
            DirectX      4.09.00.0902 (DirectX 9.0b)
            Computer Name      XP (XP)
            User Name      Owner

        Motherboard:
            CPU Type      Intel Celeron D, 2666 MHz (20 x 133)
            Motherboard Name      Unknown
            Motherboard Chipset      Intel Brookdale-G i845GE
            System Memory      247 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
            BIOS Type      Award (08/05/04)
            Communication Port      Communications Port (COM1)
            Communication Port      ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

bearing in mind i bought my pc 350 days ago (approx) its not very up to date with hardware, hardware report from everest

Windows XP should be running smoothly with those specs: 2.6 GHz is plenty!
Have you done virus/spyware scans recently?

the one most important thing you need to know about downgrading.. is that you will have to format your drive. if you re-write over the xp windows.. everything will get really screwed up. you can only upgrade windows OS, you can't downgrade. (unless you want to waste time re-setting almost everything including the boot scequence)

ya u should just use the restore cd or scann for viruses and spyware type things...and check ur processes...start to end them so they dont take up so much RAM and go into msconfig and stop unneccessary programs to start up...

In my opinion, 256 MB RAM is not enough for WinXP. I would say at least 512. I have 1024, and want's more. RAM is cheap, I consider the hours I need to work with the PC with a complete install more valuable than spending some bucks on another 256 or 512 MB RAM.

In the end, it is your call.

Edit: typos...

quote:

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Originally posted by einum
In my opinion, 256 MB RAM is not enough for WinXP. I would say at least 512. I have 1024, and want's more. RAM is cheap, I consider the hours I need to wotk with the PC with a complete install more valuable than spending some bucks on another 256 or 512 MB RAM.

In the end, it is your call.

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I'm sure it is possible to tweak the OS to run much smoother than by default settings, but the average computer user, which is the ones that asks me for help every once in a while don't have skills to do that. So I recommend at least 512 MB RAM.

To me it happens all the time that the PC is running very slow because of insufficient memory, but the last 8-9 months I've installed loads of software and tested different stuff, and my harddrives are almost full, so I need a big cleanup soon...

do system restore or use the restore cd (if u have one)

i done a full format and reinstall in august...

256MB has never been enough to run my XP, on this computer and my other one, it would b alright if it wasnt constantly on, and wasnt bein used as a webserver

im goin to dual boot it, make a new partition, and install W2k on that, and then copy all my files over from XP, and then in time, delete that partition

oh, and how can i get rid of the grub bootloader?, cause i want to delete my linux partition, but am afraid to, seems its still usin grub

I don't have a restore CD, I have a clean WinXP install CD, because I didn't buy a branded PC, i built it myself. System restore will not be the best choice, because I have installed a lot of software I wan't to keep after I uninstalled software I didn't want to keep, so a system restore from months ago will lead to the fact that I have to install a lot of the software again. If I need to walk down that road I might as well start from scratch. It's a hell of a job for one afternoon/evening, but then the PC is almost as good as new again.

quote:

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Originally posted by einum
t's a hell of a job for one afternoon/evening, but then the PC is almost as good as new again.

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i have a restore cd, but i don't like it, cause iits bundled with loads of crappy HP stuff, that i only end up uninstallin, which normally ends up takin longer than installin the OS itself

Actually, I have a legal WinXP!!
So that isn't any problem.

Edit: I share spokes opinion on restore CDs! On the other hand, on some old branded PCs (Compaq ) they are almost necessary, because drivers to a lot of hardware is almost impossible to find.

quote:

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Originally posted by einum
actually, I have a legal WinXP!!

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MR_5_MR, that is SO wrong!

I've installed XP several times on the one and only PC I've got, even upgraded mainboard, CPU, RAM, graphics card and disks. The last time I installed XP, probably the fourth or fifth time, and with ALL hardware including floppy and optical diskdrives replaced, I wasn't any longer allowed to use the CD-KEY. So I dialled Microsoft (Norway) and got an activation key over the phone. Easy!

quote:

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Originally posted by einum
MR_5_MR, that is SO wrong!

I've installed XP several times on the one and only PC I've got, even upgraded mainboard, CPU, RAM, graphics card and disks. The last time I installed XP, probably the fourth or fifth time, and with ALL hardware including floppy and optical diskdrives replaced, I wasn't any longer allowed to use the CD-KEY. So I dialled Microsoft (Norway) and got an activation key over the phone. Easy!

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Didn't you read wat I just said? I didn't have to buy or lie or anything. The first 3-4 times I just clicked activation and everything was OK. The last time I installed, I recieved the message that my key was no longer valid, so I called Microsoft, telled them the truth that I had upgraded my PC and needed a new key. No problem at all, I just had do dial another phone number, got an automatic answering machine, entered (on the phone keypad) my old code and the machine read me a new code.

This is no BS!

PS! I don't know how it is in Texas, but here in Norway, when we have bought something, we have the right to use it. (On only one PC of course).

Edit: typos... It's late, almost midnight, and I'm tired!

quote:

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Originally posted by einum
he first 3-4 times I just clicked activation and everyything was OK

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I only bought ONE license, a student license actually, but the CD-ROM is the same, only the price is different.

We need to activate it for each install here too, but it is normal to upgrade hardware and reinstall the OS on a PC, even MS understands that. But there is only a certain amount of activations allowed per license, so when you exceeds that amount, you need to call MS.

I believe they have some sort of database, so they immediately finds out if the code you try to use has been used dozens of times, and often. In that case it is most likely to believe that the key is illegal.

I assure you, consumers have so strong rights in Norway that even big Microsoft would have had trouble if a person with a legal, bought and valid copy of Win XP wasn't allowed to activate it.

OT: Norway is not a part of the European Union, but because we have signed an Economic Threaty with EU, a lot of regulations from the Union also affects Norway. The Norwegian Parliament actually turned down the MP3-regulations that came from the Union. I believe the EU's MP3-regulation is less strict than what you have in the states. But even so, our government said that the Norwegian people should have more rights digitally copying - but of course not distributing - music that they have bought! And in Norway it is actually legal to borrow music CDs from friends and copy them, as long as you don't widely distribute them, and as long as your friend doesn't make any money of them!

quote:

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Originally posted by einum
I only bought ONE license, a student license actually, but the CD-ROM is the same, only the price is different.

We need to activate it for each install here too, but it is normal to upgrade hardware and reinstall the OS on a PC, even MS understands that. But there is only a certain amount of activations allowed per license, so when you exceeds that amount, you need to call MS.

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Well, the only money spent in my case was a couple of ohone calls.

quote:

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Originally posted by einum
Well, the only money spent in my case was a couple of ohone calls.

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I don't remember if that number was toll free, normal fee or an expensive number, it was short calls, and a LOT cheaper than buying a new license, and also easier and more convenient than trying to crack XP.

quote:

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Originally posted by spokes

oh, and how can i get rid of the grub bootloader?, cause i want to delete my linux partition, but am afraid to, seems its still usin grub

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i suggest you buy more memory xp should run ok on 512MB

and you could always go to control panel\system\Advanced\Presformance settings\
and Adjust XP to run for perfomnce,  instead for appearance, so remove all the xp visual graphics crap and end up with a faster machine
this is so common for laptops....

Also you need to format the whole drive in order to create partitions, so everything will be lost,

i once formatted a single hdd to hade 1 partition windows 98SE and teh other partition to have XP, but the problem with 98 is that they are using FAT32 filesystem instted of the one used by XP NTFS, so 98 could not read teh other partition, but xp could read both...
ok their are utilties to fix this....

Generally i dont beleive it is good to hack your hdd in two, it is best you buy another drive.... it strains the motor and hardware staff, so the drive could fail sooner that expected...

My suggestion buy more RAM
i mean you have a processor of 2.6GHz and you give it minimum amount of info (RAM) to work with, so you dont utilise the full potential of the processor

quote:

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Originally posted by TazDevil
Generally i dont beleive it is good to hack your hdd in two, it is best you buy another drive.... it strains the motor and hardware staff, so the drive could fail sooner that expected...

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xp runs fine on another machine i have on which the cpu is running at 900mhz, 256mb ram and a GF FX 5600, you really shouldn't have any problems at all with xp on your machine.

quote:

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Originally posted by raceprouk
I'm sorry, but that's a load of bullsh*t. Partitioning a hard drive can actually be beneficial. Far from wearing it out quicker, it'll actually protect you against catastrophic failure! Imagine your Windows partition got nuked - if your work's on a different partition, and/or you have another OS on another partition, you can still use the PC. Not to mention you can get more efficient use of space. The smaller partitions willr esult in smaller cluster sizes = more data can be squeezed on the disk. While not as much of an issue with NTFS, it can still be a benefit (recuded MFT means more space).
I know you can do this with two HDDs as well, but for some that's not an option.

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It won't actually reduce read/write times - the drive can only spin so fast. It's comparable to using two programs on the same partition, but at different ends of it. All in all, it won't wear the disk out quicker. It won't prolong it's life either.

You've also got to remember hard disks are spinning constantly. Only floppies, CDs and DVDs stop spinning - hard disks carry on because they need to to support faster data transfer rates. The only time a hard drive stops is when you turn the machine off.

OK, it completely screwed up thanks to the grub bootloader, i accidentally moved my linux partition down one, therefore pc couldnt find bootloader... then i made an XP Bootdisk on my friends pc, but that didn't work cause my system was missing a file 'HAL.DLL' and i had no way of putting this file on the pc...
then the GAY HP recovery thing kept coming up and i had to close it fast, but one time it wipe my partition table...

so i had to reformat, im going to give it another go later now i don't have GRUB on here, hopefully it should work.

And XP runs ok, if i use my pc like average users do. turn on, use internet turn off

but i don't use it that way, it's a webserver, i use it for internet, i do my homework on there etc...