Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (
More info?)
To add to Bruce's remarks, if you can purchase additional memory for this
laptop, do so.
I just had to do a Repair Install of WinXP SP2 on a client's PII-400 with
512MB Ram a few weeks ago after he trashed his OS. He has loads of junk on
this machine and it took >4 hours to do a Repair Install! I ended up leaving
and coming back hours later as my butt got numb from sitting there watching
"paint peel"!
Start up the install and go out to nice long dinner or shopping while it
agonizes over the installation rather than you sitting there agonizing with
it! <G>
--
Regards,
Len Segal, MCP
Microsoft - MVP
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"Bruce Chambers" <bchambers@cable0ne.n3t> wrote in message
news:OitbQ0hnFHA.1416@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> SandyO wrote:
>> Thank you Bruce,
>> My laptop is Pent III 500mhrz 256 meg ram 12 gig hd. It has OEM Win98se
>> and
>> I think I would like to upgrade to XP. I bought the XP upgrade for
>> another
>> computer 2 1/2 years ago, but that computer hasn't even been turned on
>> for
>> nearly 2 years.
>>
>> I guess I will be ok then.
>> Thanks
>> SandyO
>
>
> Acceptable performance is, of course, a matter of personal opinion and
> depends entirely upon what *you* expect to do with your computer. If all
> you want to do is play WinXP's built-in games, send and receive simple
> emails, browse the Internet (while avoiding the more "ornamental" web
> sites) etc., such a machine will easily meet your needs. If, however, you
> plan to take advantage of WinXP's multimedia capabilities, play
> graphic-intensive games, or do advanced word or data processing, such a
> machine would probably be woefully inadequate.
>
> "Glacial" is the term that comes to my mind, I'm afraid, even if your
> computer has a 500 MHz CPU with 256 Mb of RAM. If you turn off all of
> WinXP GUI eye-candy, it will still be slow, but it might usable for simple
> word processing, email, web-browsing, etc. It won't be any good for
> graphics-intensive applications, and most newer games. (During the public
> preview period, I tested WinXP on a 500 MHz machine with 256 Mb of RAM,
> and it was much slower than I like.)
>
> To help improve WinXP's performance on older machines:
>
> 1) Right-click the Task Bar > Properties > Start Menu, ensure "Classic
> Start menu" is selected.
>
> 2) Right-click an empty spot on the Desktop > Properties > Themes >
> select "Windows Classic."
>
> 3) Right-click My Computer > Properties > Performance > Settings > Visual
> Effects, ensure "Adjust for best performance" is selected.
>
>
> --
>
> Bruce Chambers
>
> Help us help you:
>
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>
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>
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> both at once. - RAH