XP/2000 installation ??

[quentincollins]

Hi. I got a Dell Optiplex GX240 from the trash at work this week. I am thinking of fixing it up for the kids to use. It currently has Win2000 installed, and I would like to upgrade to XP.
I have a system recovery disk that came with my wifes PC, and I am wondering if I can use that to install XP on the Dell.
If I wipe the Dells hard drive clean, is this a possibility? I do not have a product key for the Win2000, but I do for her copy of XP.
Do-able or no?
Thank you for your time.

 

[M1kkelZR]

yeah its do-able. but dont expect super speedy WinXP. but it will work

 

[quentincollins]

Should I not expect speedy XP because the Dell is old?
Also, do I need to wipe the HD before booting from the disc, or will the disk do that?

 

[Lollipop Garbage]

yes,format the hdd or you will have to pick which one upon start up.

so format it, getting rid of 2000, & DO NOT GET XP PRO WHATEVA U DOO! :trolldance:

GET XP HOME ,B KUZ IT IS BETTER ON OLDER SYSTEMS.

 

[wolfeking]

You should be able to run XP pro just fine. I run it for years on a IBM A20m with a 600 MHz P3 based Celeron and 128 MB of RAM. Yours will run it far better.

Also, your going to be more secure with pro.

If you dont mind me asking, why are you getting rid of 2000? It is the base of XP (like vista is to 7). I find it plenty usable these days.

 

[quentincollins]

I want to be able to use IE7 or 8, and I dont like Firefox, really.
If I am using a Recovery disc from another PC to install XP on the Dell, would the procedure be:
Wipe the Dells HD clean
then boot from the XP 'Recovery disc?

At what point will I be asked for the product key?
Will I need any information about the old Win2000 system, such as its product key, etc?

 

[wolfeking]

Assuming that it is the standard old style restore, OS and drivers separate, then you will just be using the XP disk like any other XP disk. You will boot to the disk and install via deleting (d enter L) the partition that holds 2000 and quick formatting the disk in NTFS to install XP.
You will be asked for the key about 2/3s of the way through the install.

 

[Lollipop Garbage]

nuff said.

 

[wolfeking]

1st off, that is unhelpful, and fanboyish. 2nd off, there is no commercially available download for the Chromium OS.

XP will run on the computer he wants to run it on, and that is what hes asking for help with.

 

[StrangleHold]

I want to be able to use IE7 or 8, and I dont like Firefox, really.
If I am using a Recovery disc from another PC to install XP on the Dell, would the procedure be:
Wipe the Dells HD clean
then boot from the XP 'Recovery disc?

At what point will I be asked for the product key?
Will I need any information about the old Win2000 system, such as its product key, etc?

Your going to be using a Recovery disc from another computer to install? Aint going to work and even if it did your not going to get it activated.

so format it, getting rid of 2000, & DO NOT GET XP PRO WHATEVA U DOO! :trolldance:

GET XP HOME ,B KUZ IT IS BETTER ON OLDER SYSTEMS.

There is no dfifferece in system requirements between Home and Pro. If Home will run on it, Pro will too. Pro just has added features, nothing more.

 

[wolfeking]

Your going to be using a Recovery disc from another computer to install? Aint going to work and even if it did your not going to get it activated.

that depends on how the recovery is set up. If it is a combined driver OS disk, or a recovery partition burned disk, then it will not work. If it is a separate OS disk, like it is with My HP, D630, Thinkpad A20m, Thinkpad R52, and Thinkpad R60, then it will install like any other windows disk, and ask for the drivers disk later in the install. Just choose cancel or continue when it ask for it.

In the second case you still need a valid either fresh OEM license or Full license to install.

 

[StrangleHold]

In the second case you still need a valid either fresh OEM license or Full license to install.

Yeah, that was more or less what I was getting at. If the computer he is upgrading that has 2000 on it, from his wifes computer XP cd. He cant use his wifes key number or his 2000 key wont work either.

 

[Lollipop Garbage]

There is no dfifferece in system requirements between Home and Pro. If Home will run on it, Pro will too. Pro just has added features, nothing more.

i have several diffrent pcs(ibm,2 dell(same model),acer,emachines,& toshiba.3 have home.(one dell w/ pro,1 with home)ibm with pro,& acer w pro.toshiba & emachines,just leave out.just concern the dells.

dell pro preformance(out of 768mb ram)
659/768 mb ram used 82/100 of time

dell home preformance(out of 768mb ram)
322/768mb ram used 75/100 of time

 

[wolfeking]

you can not go just on RAM usage for performance. And RAM usage is also dependant on what processes you have running.