Computer Wiz Kids...

[Julie Wright]

Ok, time to update to update the ole system, I have pentium 4 1.7Ghz with 256mg sdram. video graphics card 16mb ATI Rage Ultra 4X AGP 40GB ATA-100, 7200RPM hard drive, Windows ME (arg...), V.90 56K PCI data/fax, copier modem, and 16x/10x/40x CD-RW drive.

1. I am planning on putting Windows XP (FULL Version) onto this system. What is the best way to go about this?

2. I am also planning on putting Studio MX onto this system. I know that I need to add more memory.

I want to get a new graphics card, my system hangs up after about 30 or so mins of looking at and leaving up 5+ webpages. I was looking at the RADEON 9200 128MB AGP 8X VIDADPT as a replacement. Lots of extra memory.

http://www.pagecomputers.com anyone purchased anything from this company?


Let me know what you all think. I have already contacted Dell and they gave me some links to read and said Good Luck.... Well, the links only pertained to spare parts that they sell, imagine that...

Thanks

Julie

[John Miliunas]

Julie, you're on the right track! ME....ME su.....Well, let's just say if that was Microsoft's first operating system, Mr. Gates would be in bankruptcy court right about now.

First, do NOT take the "upgrade" path with the XP install. Backup any/all your important data and do a clean install of XP. This point is NOT open to discussion! Clean install or ditch the whole project!

RAM is still pretty cheap today. Considering you wish to do some heavier duty multimedia, 512MB would be good. You'll need to check to be sure what you have in there for open slots. You don't mention which Dell you have. If it has RDRAM (Rambus), that needs to be installed in pairs!

Nice upgrade vid card! You're right about the additional memory on it. Too many people figure a fast processor and lots of system memory is all they need, when in reality, for graphics-intense applications, the vid card plays an all-important role. For starters, modern-day vid cards typically have a processor on board, which is *faster* than the main processor on the PC itself!

Good luck with the upgrades, Julie. Feel free to drop me a line if you need assistance and I'll be happy to see if I can point you in the right direction!

[Jason Roehl]

Julie, just a small point FYI here. You can still do a clean install of the upgrade version of XP. Not too long ago, I bought a new hard drive myself, and decided to make it the master drive with a clean install of XP. XP wouldn't read my ME install disc (disc was in rough shape), so I ended up verifying that I had a previous version of Windows with a Windows95 install disc (original version--yes, I was one of the first victims). The only differences between the upgrade version of XP and the full version are the version verification I described above, and $100, which is not about the amount of software contained in the box, but about licensing, and rewarding Windows addicts. Hope this helps, and happy upgrading!

[John Miliunas]

Jason, Julie. I hope you're not misunderstanding me. Taking the "upgrade path" is installing *on top* of a previous O/S install (such as 98 or ME). Jason, you're right in the fact that the "upgrade" version of XP will install either way. My point was only to be sure it ends up being a *clean* install and yes, all you need is a copy of a previous Windows version to let the installation routine to verify against.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, what they said--do a clean install including a reformat of the drive. 512M is the minimum RAM to go with, especially running MX and other graphics applications. I went with a Gig on this new computer. 128M on the video card is also a minimum I'd recommend. I really do notice a difference running Dreamweaver on this machine!

[Dan Mages]

I just finished building a new PC at home. It is an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ processor with 512 megs of ram. If you want some serious memory for your computer, I reccomend Corsair memory. They score at the top of the pack in every comparison they are put in. It can be a little pricey, but you are paying for performance. They can be found at www.corsairmemory.com. For the video card, I would also reccomend that you look at ATI's All-In-Wonder series of cards. For a few extra dollars, these cards will give you TV on your computer, TiVO like service for recording shows, DVD functionality, video editing, etc...

Good luck!!

Dan

[Michael Perata]

Julie

The P4 1.7 Mh can be upgraded to a 2.4 Mh chip (less than $90). There are three 2.4 chips, you want the one marked "A"

If you are going to use Studio MX (I have Studio and IMO Adobe is MUCH better BTW). Then populate your board with as much memory as it will hold. 2Gb of ram will be less than $200.

I have both a ATI Radeon 7500 64MB adapter - very good, and a NVidia GeForce MX200 32Mb - good, in my system (dual monitor). The 9200 has had some poor reviews. Since I have had good luck with the ATI I would recommend the brand again, but I think I would opt for the 9800 with 128Mb RAM ($250).

XP will slow you down with all of its bells and whistles. Get a copy of Windows 2000 Pro ($250). It is XP on steriods and without the cosmetics. It is easier to install and work with than XP. XP has the same kernel as 2000.

[John Weber]

Julie,

If you are going with a full new version of XP, I recommend purchasing a new hard drive and start fresh like John said. Hard drives are cheap and you can then transfer your old files and programs when you find the time. You also now have a backup hard drive and keep all your old files. I would check the prices and go 128 MB video card if the price was right. I'm running a XP Pro PIII 500 Mhz, 384 MB, and a 32 MB video card, and haven't had any problems watching multi media, although I don't any editing to speak of. I bet switching to XP will help a lot with your system hang ups. The best money I spent on PC stuff was a high end 19" Sony CRT monitor and broadband internet connection.

John

[Roger Myers]

I just did an XP upgrade over windows 98 this past weekend (I should have asked here first ) and everthing (finally) seems to be ok.... What did I lose or compromise by not doing the clean install? Should I still consider going that route? Does that mean reinstalling all of the program files, etc?
Things seem to be ok...I had to reinstall outlook, and reinstall my firewall, but otherwise everthing appears ok..
Roger

[Ken Garlock]

Julie, you are probably getting more help than you planned on, so I will add my recommendation also.

When it comes to memory, go with Crucial memory at Cruical Memory They are the retail outlet for Micron Memory up in Idaho. It is guaranteed and their website will walk you through the process of selecting just exactly what you machine requires, and you get next day delivery. I run 1 GB on my machine, and never touch the page dataset. Memory is cheap( $140 for 512MB,) so get as much as your machine can handle.

[John Miliunas]

I just did an XP upgrade over windows 98 this past weekend (I should have asked here first ) and everthing (finally) seems to be ok.... What did I lose or compromise by not doing the clean install? Should I still consider going that route? Does that mean reinstalling all of the program files, etc?
Things seem to be ok...I had to reinstall outlook, and reinstall my firewall, but otherwise everthing appears ok..
Roger

Roger, what you did WILL work BUT, we have found that those systems with a "clean" install of XP are more stable in the long-run. According to our Technologists, it's their belief that the two different "Registries" of each operating system start to "fight" each other. They did a side-by-side with identical boxes and, except for one being a 98 upgrade, ran identical software, etc. Invariably, the fresh install XP box performed better, faster and stayed more stable.

If you should decide to re-do your machine, yes, it would require re-installing all the apps. You would, of course, have backed up ALL your important data first!

BUT, having said all that, I would just concentrate on keeping all my data backed up as current as possible and just keep running the way you're running. Regardless of the probably advantages of doing clean installs, your box is running properly now. As much as I'd recommend doing a clean install, I'm equally, if not more so, a big proponent of: "Hey, if it works, don't fix it!" In other words, just keep doing backups and if something "blows up", then go ahead and setup for a clean install.

[Roger Myers]

BUT, having said all that, I would just concentrate on keeping all my data backed up as current as possible and just keep running the way you're running. Regardless of the probably advantages of doing clean installs, your box is running properly now. As much as I'd recommend doing a clean install, I'm equally, if not more so, a big proponent of: "Hey, if it works, don't fix it!" In other words, just keep doing backups and if something "blows up", then go ahead and setup for a clean install.

John,
Appreciate the advice...so far everything is good. Next project is a larger hard drive which I will back-up everything onto.... I know I've become too lazy in that area....

[Jim Becker]

Next project is a larger hard drive which I will back-up everything onto....

This is fine for incremental backup and easy to access storage, but you should be backing up important data files and documents to some form of removable media that is not part of your system. An attached storage device is still succeptable to things like virues, system crashes and other things that could destroy both your primary data and "backup data". I use a 750mb ZIP drive and/or CDR for this purpose and put a copy away "outside the house" monthly. "Stuff happens".

[Chuck Wintle]

From what I have read StudioMX places a big demand on memory and processing power. I just installed an ATI 9600 XT and like it a lot. You could upgrade the MoBo, add a new P4 processor and memory for not too much money. Add Win xp to that, in a clean install, and you could have a pretty fast computer.

[Julie Wright]

Time to do some more homework. New CPU or upgrade????

extra hard drive
memory
video card
new procesor
new mother board
etc etc etc.....

The current memory in my machine is 256 MB SDRAM, PC133, Non-Parity, Unbuffered and this machine only takes 512MB - OOPS big mistake when I bought this one

One more thing have any of you purchased anything from this site? http://www.abspc.com/app/search.asp?...x=0&submit.y=0


Anyway thanks again and I'll let you know whats happening, Better go turn more pens so I can get all the new stuff for my Computer