Adice Needed For Windows XP Upgrade

None ^ | March 2, 2014 | cva66snipe

[cva66snipe]

I have two computers running XP. The most important one to upgrade right now is my desktop. I've gone back and forth trying to decide whether to go with 7 or 8. Furthermore the terminology being used for OS packages adds to the confusion for me. For example Starter, Builder, etc. Here is what my computer has.

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600

Service Pack 3 Build 2600

System Manufacturer Dell Inc.

System Model Inspiron 530s

System Type X86-based PC

Processor x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 13

GenuineIntel ~1795 Mhz

BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. 1.0.12, 3/1/2008

SMBIOS Version 2.5

Available Physical Memory 634.88 MB

Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB

Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
It's a 32 Bit system

I found a Windows 7 Upgrade disk for over $200. However I need to know if I can go a cheaper route and install a full system package over the XP without having to manually wipe my HD? I know I'll loose my data and I'll back up My Documents so that isn't an issue. Spending money for a Full System OS and it not want to install would be a huge issue.

I have to upgrade with a Disk. Downloading an upgrade or OS is out of the question. I'm on 52K dial up. Would Windows 8.1 full system work? That would get me around the 300MB download. W/7 as much as I would like to have it over W/8 would likely have me doing a couple of days of downloads to bring it up to date.

The last upgrade I did on a computer was W/ME and it was an upgrade disk. Oddly enough a W/8 upgrade disk for previous versions is not to be found in stores in my area just the full system. As I understand it an Upgrade disk is a full system disk.

To further confuse me a tech at a local store said yea W/8.1 would install no problem. But the darn box states not for use with computers with XP or VISTA. Now if that is simply because you would loose your documents etc fine I can work around that part. As I understand it using an Upgrade disk from XP to W8 that's going to happen anyway the Upgrade disk will do a full install wiping all files.

My system is basic a CD/DVD player and I have an external HD for back up and additional storage. A new machine is not afordable for me right now and besides I'd have to puy a dial up modem in it.

Any advice? Thanks.

[TChad]

Any suggestions?

See if the problem persists if you run SeaMonkey in safe mode. Safe mode should be an option in your Programs menu under SeaMonkey. If not, run this in Start > Run or from the command prompt:

"C:\Program Files\SeaMonkey\seamonkey.exe" -safe-mode

Choose to disable all your add-ons.

If that gets rid of the problem, you have to isolate the add-on that is playing the sound. In regular (not safe) mode look at your add-ons AND extensions in Tools > Add-ons manager, and keep disabling individual items until you find the culprit.

If that's not it, and if the sound is not just SeaMonkey notifying you that you have email, I don't have any idea what is causing the sound to play. You can always track it down with Sysinternals process explorer, but that is a pain.

[Baynative]

Does anyone know if Windows Vista Home Premium is safe from this discontinuance of XP?

My system detail looks like this

[TChad]

You have three more years.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle

[Baynative]

Thank you for that. It looks like I have three more years to wait until the last day to do something. These software guys sure have feathered their nest, I’m thinking.

[roamer_1]

Seven. Home Premium is fine. Don’t know if your box is 64bit compatible, but if it is, it would be worth getting a 64bit used processor for it and going 64 on the installation.

32bit Seven will want at least 2 gigs of ram, but I would recommend 4g... the system can only use 3g (like all 32b win), but if you share video ram, the vid won’t be borrowing from the OS anymore. If 64, sky’s the limit on ram, only limited by what your board can take... 4g is cool, 8g is AWESOME.

No doubt, if you dig around, you can find a blowed-up box with Seven on it that you can get for free. Cut the numbers off it, and put them on your box (I literally cut the number off the old case with tin-snips and attach it to the new with a keychain). You will need to find an OEM Win7 Home Premium disk to install with. Borrow one from a friend and make a copy for your own use.

Then your ‘seven’ is *free*

CLEAN RUB - You are on these tech-threads enough to know. Upgrade or overlay installs are troublesome.

[George Varnum]

Installed classic shell but can’t see much of a difference.
Only the start menu seems a little different but it does not work any better.
Explorer is still slow, quirky, and annoying when saving or fetching files.

So much for that experiment, but thanks 4 suggestion anyway.

Still getting the fingers on chalkboard noise when opening a window or tab in Sea Monkey, too.

Apparently i’m not smart enough to dig that out and fix it.
Posted question on MOzilla TS forum and we’ll see if they have any ideas.

[George Varnum]

Have tried to install LINUX several times over the years but have never been smart enough to install it on any computer.
I could only download “tarball” files which I didn’t have a clue as to what to do with. Have (and have wasted)several CDs full of useless tarball files.

Just downloaded MINT “Cinnamon” to a thumb drive but it’s a “hybrid *.iso” file which I have no idea how to install.

None of the instructions make any sense to me, so apparently I’m still too stupid to join the ranks of LINUX users.

Do you still have to be an advanced technogeek in order to run LINUX?
Is there any other way?

[rarestia]

ISO files are basically CD/DVD/BRD files. Check out Virtual Clone Drive which allows you to "mount" ISO files to your local computer to read the contents.

Tarballs are the Linux version of ZIP files. They're not usually self-executing, and I don't know that many Linux variants are deployed with just tarballs except source-based distributions that you have to compile on your own. I understand and mirror your frustration if that's what you've been trying to do.

I personally suggest Ubuntu for most folks. It's a more robust mainstream Linux distribution (Mint is more pared-down and bare bones), and the support community is enormous. 12.04 is currently their most popular long-term support (LTS) distribution. You can find it here:
Download Ubuntu Desktop

The installation instructions provided are pretty simple.
Install Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS