Windows XP

[cc12008]

I was planning on decomissioning my old Dell that came with XP, thinking I could us the old OS for my new build. Now I'm wondering if that will work. I do have the XP reinstall disk but have read that sometimes it won't work, that sometimes the factory disk is set up so that it will only work on a factory PC. Has anybody had any problems doing what I was planning? I thought since I have already purchased the software I should be able to continue to use it. Thank You

[The Wise Monkey]

No, you won't be able to use the disc on a new computer. The disk that comes with pre-built machines is hardware specific, so you can't use it on another computer - sorry!

[cc12008]

OK, now the big question. XP of Vista? I've heard that there is an update for Vista comming out soon but there are still some issues with drivers. Are there any Vista users that can comment. Thank You very much.

[RickyTick]

I'm currently running Vista Home Premium 64-bit on my 4month old home-built gaming pc. It runs flawlessly and has since the beginning. I have another desktop on Vista Basic, and a laptop on Vista Home Premium. All 3 are on a home network with one printer, and they all run perfect.

If you have Vista compatible hardware and peripherals, and play newer games, then I would recommend Vista.

JMO

[The Wise Monkey]

Vista has finally sorted itself out, but I still have one or two issues with it:

1. Games take about 50fps hit when moving from XP to Vista
2. If I turn User Account Control on, it "helpfully" stops me from accessing one of my hard drives... :/
3. It takes ages to shut down, for some reason. I've tried various things to improve it, but nothing seems to work
4. I cannot uninstall some programs that I forgot to remove before upgrading, as they are not compatible with Vista

Apart from that, everything works well. :)

[RickyTick]

Hey Wise Monkey.

I've heard you mention the slow shutdown of Vista a couple of times. All 3 of mine shut down faster than my old XP system. In fact, they all shut down almost instantly.

I wonder if there's something else going on there? Just curious.

[The Wise Monkey]

I dunno, it really is quite weird. I've check the performance logs and it says that there is definitely a problem, but it doesn't give any other information.

[Spiffs]

my laptop has vista and it takes a while to shut down, but then-again it is a laptop :rolleyes:

[ronniebee]

Running XP 64 here on a dual channel ASUS P5E - SLI dual channel with 4MB of mem and 4.2 quad processor. I swear it's faster than greased lightning. Brings win XP 64 up from log-on in about 4 Seconds, and logs-off about the same. The only thing that slows it down is having to wait on the internet sites with slow connections.

Also I'm using Driver Dectective, ($19.95), and found all my drivers except for a few very old peripherials. Had to replace my Cannon F-3200 scanner (5 years old), with an Epson V-350 which works great with XP-64. My wife can still use the cannon on the old Dell 8100.

I will probably upgrade to Vista 64 down the road when they get it in the sweet spot and working great.

Ronnie Bee