krot Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Hi:I have a rarely used Dell Inspiron 3800 notebook with W98SE on it. PIII/600/128MgRAM/20GbHDD/CDR/Networked.I'd like to upgrade this to XP Home. 1. I ran the system compatibility checker using my other system's XP disk (purely to check compatibility with XP), but the message appeared saying I cannot upgrade W98SE to XP!! This is a full version of XP. It then said to check to see if any updated setup files existed at MS. So I had it get them, but the message just repeats itself, even when I rebooted from the XP CD after the new setup filed were installed. Any advice on whether I should be able to use XP on this model of notebook (with a RAM upgrade to 256Mb)?2. Can I buy any good quality 128Mg RAM for the second RAM slot, or do I need to get a 256Mg RAM card, and do I have to buy DELL?3. How well, with 256Mg RAM, should I expect the system to run compared to W98SE with 128Mb, given all I hear about XP being a hog?Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 From the results of 98SE -> XP upgrades that I've done in the past, I would stick with what you have.As XP is so very different in operation compared with previous (9X) versions, you will most likely find that many of the essential parts of the machine do not work at their best and may not work at all. A PIII 600 is far from ideal, 20GB HDD likewise. You are aware of the memory shortcomings. Other crucial parts of the motherboard werre not designed for XP (as it wasn't developed then) and may not function efficiently.Summed up, you will not be able to use many of the advantageous parts of XP on an old system so, it really isn't worth doing an upgrade. There is nothing wrong with 98SE - tune up your computer with this O/S on it and it will most likely work better than the same machine upgraded to XP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Welcome to NP. I can only add, that by far the greatest number of complaints about XP that I have seen here and on other forums are from upgrades. Relatively few problems seem to occur on brand new XP machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krot Posted June 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Thank you guys!What you say makes a whole lot of sense. In particular that the h/w wasn't designed with that non-existant s/w (at the time).So I'll take your advice and let sleeping racoons lie :) No need to give myself headaches without pills to fix 'em.Have a great weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Have a great weekend yourself - come back often :) Remember - a good W98 system is far, far better than a rubbish (or even mediocre) XP one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upg...ng/sysreqs.mspxalthough they recomend 128 (64 minimum), 128 is barly enough to run the OS itself. 256 is minimum in my eyes.I'd stick with 98. Sure you would have the pretty effects of XP, but it is not going to run the same as 98. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krot Posted June 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Thanks again. My W98 system says thanks too for saving its dear life! :)You guys are great. I'll be back for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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