Upgrading Desktop Computer

I had this computer custom built and it has become outdated and wanted to upgrade. Actual use has been approximately one year as I have mostly used a laptop for the last few years.
Processor is an AMD Athlon XP 1600 1.40 GHZ.

I have been looking at hard drives and I see ATA on some and SATA on some, what is the difference?
I was thinking about going up to 1Terabyte, got lots of stuff to store. Do I need 7200 or 5400 RPM or does it matter?
What other factors, if any, do I need to consider when purchasing a harddrive?

Now have XP Pro and wanting to put windows 7 on it, have seen windows 8 and not impressed. What determines if I need 32 bit or 64 bit? Any other factors to consider?

The RAM is DDR -400mhz-CL3- PC 3200U-30330. When I have been shopping for memory, I have been seeing PC3200 without the 'U," does this matter?
Also, motherboard only has 3 memory slots, so can I just buy 1GB for each slot?

The processor is pretty fast and not looking to upgrade it but due to lack of RAM, memory is used up in hurry and slows computer down after about an hour of use.

Thanks much in advance for any advice.

 

Please don't take offense; however your current PC is not worth upgrading. Its CPU performance alone is pathetic compared to even the entry level ones out there today.

Windows 8.1 isn't all that bad - if you shop around you'll find either a notebook or desktop tower new for around $300 that will run circles around what you have now. If money is a major concern, you should be able to find an off-business lease desktop with Windows 7, 2 GB of RAM and a SATA hard drive for around $150-$175 that will still be a lot faster than your current one.

 

Thanks for the reply, fully understand and no offense taken. I don't need a lot of speed out of this computer, just storage and not bogging down to a crawl after an hours use.
I have another computer as a primary.
I figured I could spend less than $75 on the Ram and harddrive and I love XP but feeling it might have some security issues the further it gets out of support updates. Spent so much having this computer built back in the day, guess I just feel like i need to get some use out of it.
Would still like some replies to my questions and do not be afraid to comment just like Gman did, not going to hurt my feelings.
Thanks again!!

 

No offense intended to gman863, but telling someone their PC is "not worth upgrading" is beyond the scope of the OP's post, especially when the OP made plain his desire to upgrade the computer and asked specific questions to that end. The OP knows best what they want to do with the computer, not us.

Chero, It would help to know what the make and model of motherboard your system has. It's hard to determine what upgrades are possible and would fit within your budget. For example, your board may not have any SATA ports, or have a number of them. Does the board have an AGP slot or just PCI slots? Without more motherboard information, it's impossible for anyone here to really assist you. It's possible your processor can be upgraded, as well,, and CPU's can be had cheap. You will want to run the Windows 7 upgrade advisor software, to see if your board can support Windows 7, and what componants you must upgrade.

Windows 7 requirements:

1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)

16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

To answer your other questions:

--ATA referes to Parallel ATA (PATA), which is an older standard for the connection of storage devices such as hard disks in computers. PATA cables are the flat "ribbon" like cables that can have 40 to 80 conductors. PATA has slower data transfer speeds then SATA. Each PATA port will support two devices, but you cannot mix hard drives and optical drives (like CD and DVD drives) on the same channel. Most motherboards have two PATA ports.

--SATA referes to Serial ATA, which is a newer standard for connection of hard disks, etc. in computers. SATA is preferable as it uses smaller cables that contain only 7 conductors, and has faster data transfer speeds. Each SATA port can only support one device, but many motherboards have multiple SATA ports, in addition to PATA ports on some older boards. In recent years, PATA ports have been mostly phased out.

When dealing with standard platter-type hard drives, the faster the rotational speed, the faster the drive at reading and writing data to and from the drive. So, a 7200RPM drive will be faster than a 5400RPM drive. Also, the larger the Cache buffer a hard drive has, the better it will perform.

 

Forgot - you have a 32bit processor! I read right over that. Also sorry for mispelling "refers" in the last post. Dunno how I missed that either, lol

The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the way a computer's processor handles information. A 64bit system can address more RAM then a 32bit system, which is limited to 4GBs total addressable memory space.

 

As Spad said, with the 32-bit processor, you're limited to 4 GB total RAM. But the way Windows handles RAM you will only see 3.15 — 3.5 GB. Since you only have 3 RAM slots, I believe you're limited to 3 GB of installed RAM.

While it's true that a 7200 RPM HDD will have faster data transfer, they tend to generate more heat than a 5400 RPM HDD. So, the cooling capacity of your rig is a consideration as well.

Since you're running XP Pro, there's a registry key entry you could install that will allow XP, WEPOS, POSReady Microsoft Updates until April 9, 2019.

 

The U behind the 3200 means unbuffered, Thanks to someone asking that same question years ago.
I'm trying to find, if you remove all the 3200U sticks, can you run just 3200 but since the computer was built for you, I can't look at specific brand name computer sites to get a good answer.

 

Regarding the RAM modules, this is from CNET's Hardware Forum:

You cannot mix/match the PC 3200 and PC 3200U modules. They all have to be the same.

 

Thanks for the replies and Spad, I am going to let the misspelled word slide this time but don't let it happen again. Note, two "S"es in misspelled. ))

To begin, I looked on the motherboard and can see no writing so I don't know the specifics on the board. Is there someway to access that within my system, ie, the way you can access to see the specs on a processor? I know when the computer starts up there is a lot of info about the computer that scrolls so fast I can't read it.
The info about the specs of the the computer from the person who built it is in storage and don't have access right now.

As for the RAM, would never need more than 3GB on this so I can live with that.
Thanks plodr for the info on the "U" and I appreciate you researching that.

I would also be open to upgrading the processor as long as is not too costly. The processor now has a fan mounted on it. Computer clean as a whistle inside, MB and components look like it was built yesterday...reason I cannot just toss it.

This is definitely an ATA HD as it has the ribbon cable.

As for 5400 versus 7200, would just as well go with the 5400 if it produces less heat.
Again, not going to be using this computer for anything that requires great speed.
Also mdonah, found that very interesting about extending XPs security updates. Does that only apply to Pro? I went to the link and read and it cautioned about backing up the system before changing the registry. If I decide to do these other upgrades and get this computer up to speed again, I would be interested in trying that...but will definitely need some assistance and direction.

As for Windows 7, would need to run that software that was mentioned to see if my system would handle it...after upgrades of course. Don't know about this either...DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Again, really appreciate all of you and your info and willingness to help. I admire your knowledge.

 

So if I use all 3200s or 3200Us, that is Okay or am I misinterpreting?

Thanks

 

OK, got the CPUID downloaded, THX.
Manuf- ECS
Model- L7S7A2
Biois- Brand- American megatrend
Version- 07.00T

 

This info will be helpful to Spad — Thanks.

One other consideration after the upgrades is device drivers for Win 7. They may not be available. I've got a Dell Precision M70 laptop that I couldn't get some device drivers for in Win 7. So, I went with Vista Ultimate. It configured all but two of my devices during OS installation. For the two devices it didn't configure, my XP drivers work flawlessly for — just a "heads up" about Win 7.

As far as PC 3200 and PC 3200U modules, the info I gathered is from this page on CNET's Hardware Forum. Run CPU-Z (make sure to read the info in red on the download page) as it states in one of the replies. Also, in one of the replies are two links to RAM module sellers.

 

That's OK.

Here are the specs for your motherboard:
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...?DetailID=267&MenuID=24&LanID=0#fragment-SPEC

SATA vs. IDE: http://www.diffen.com/difference/IDE_vs_SATA
Most modern HDDs have a SATA connection. To use one, you would need a SATA card that will fit in a PCI slot. Your max size will be 2TB for any drive. You may also need molex to SATA power supply adapters to connect your PSU to a SATA HDD.

Another possibility is a solid state drive (SSD), which works similar to a USB flash drive. They have much faster read/write times than a HDD. As they are more expensive than HDDs and XP predates them which requires some workarounds to get the full potential out of them, I'm only mentioning it to be complete. I don't think it would be cost effective for your old PC, but if you have money to waste it's something to consider.

 

roflmao I sure am batting a thousand in this thread :-o

Here is the ECS site for your motherboard:

Check it out and make sure the information matches your board. The information is for Version 1.1A.

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?DetailID=267&MenuID=24&LanID=0

Mdonah is correct, according to the information on the site, the board will only support 3gb ram total:

• Supports DDR up to 200/266/333/400 (enhanced) MHz SDRAM memory module
• Accommodates three unbuffered 2.5V 184-pin slots
• Each slot supports up to 1 GB with a total maximum capacity of 3 GB

From what I read at the site, the board supports 200/266/333 mhz normally, and 400mhz if overclocked. 400Mhz rated modules should still work even if the board is not overclocked, but it will "down-shift" to 333mhz. I'm a bit confused, but on the website the information indicates the board will only support 2GB of DDR 400 mhz? I can only assume that means on an overclocked board. There is also a caveat on the site stating "We do not guarantee that all DDR 400 memory modules will work properly with your mainboard."

Also according to the website, the board can support up to an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ processor with a BIOS version of 31201 or above. I've seen them online for around $12.00US shipped.

The board has an 8X speed AGP port, which is good if you wanted to add or upgrade your video system. New AGP based cards are not being made now, to my knowledge, but used AGP cards can be had online. I have an AGP based Radeon HD3850 card that I put in an old machine (P4 based board) and it improved performance greatly. It actually scores 7.1 on the Windows Experience Index. Considerations for upgrading your video card are your power supply . . . a beefy card like the HD3850 requires a seperate connection to your power supply, which should be a 450 watt or greater, though I have run my loaded system on a quality 350 watt with no issues; also, some cards (like the 3850) are pretty large - actually fitting in the case can be an issue. On any video card you consider (if that's an upgrade option for you) avoid any that have less than a 128bit memory bus, no matter how much onboard RAM they tout. One issue with older video cards is they support lower DirectX, Shader, etc. versions, but there isn't anything for that.

As far as hard drive capacity goes, it appear the motherboard will only support up to 250GB drives . . . but you need to research that further.

The first thing I suggest is running Windows 7 upgrade advisor software:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20

It will scan your system and tell you what does or does not support 7. If something is not compatible that can't be upgraded, like the chipset lets say, then you know Windows 7 is not an option for you.

 

"As far as hard drive capacity goes, it appear the motherboard will only support up to 250GB drives . . . "

I should have added that your board does not have any SATA capability. Like Just Playin advised you would need a PCI (not PCI-E) add on card to use SATA based hard-drives. In that case, the hard drive size allowed may be determined by the card itself and not the motherboard, but I really don't know about that. That is something the cards documentation can tell you. You may or may not still be stuck with a 250GB maximum hard drive size.

PATA (or IDE) based drives can still be found used or refurbished. I just recently purchased a used 250GB PATA Seagate Barracuda drive offline for around $18.00US for a project computer I was working on.

 

Truthfully, can you be sure that a used drive is reliable enough to support the operating system? I wouldn't put a used drive in any of my computers if it was to house the OS. For data, no problem because if the data is important, I usually archive it in more than one place.

Looking here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Athlon_XP_microprocessors
that CPU is either from 2001 or 2002. I also would not put Win 7 on hardware that is 12 or 13 years old.

Sometimes it just makes more sense to e-cycle some of the parts.

 

Also, in line with what Spad and Just Playin said about PATA/SATA, if your rig isn't upgradeable to Win 7, you'd need to run Vista for SATA drive support. XP doesn't natively support SATA drives.

 

I've purchased or salvaged at least a dozen used drives - SATA and PATA; and have yet to experience an issue with one. Salvaged drives I run tests on to see if there are any issues. Refurbished or used drives I make sure there is a liberal return policy in the event there is an issue. My point being, buying a refurbished or used hard drive from a reputable source has proven a pretty safe bet in my experience. More so considering this is not the OPs main PC. Ever bought a used car?

Once again, let me state the OP has made plain the desire to upgrade this computer. The OP has also stated he has another computer which is the primary. Telling the OP the computer should just be scrapped is beyond the point of this thread. The OP wants to upgrade this computer, and what better way to gain experience with such matters then on a PC that is not critical to them. I've always felt that's what the mission of this forum is. Sure, there's an element of nostalgia in this OP's project, and there isn't a thing wrong with that. I put Win 7 on a 10 year old P4 based board and it's doing fine. What someone else would or would not upgrade is not relevant to the OPs request.

Sometimes, when someone comes looking for advice on a project, it just makes sense to give them the help they asked for.

 

Thanks guys for all of the info:

I ran the windows 7 updater and this is what it came back with:

Custom installation required You'll need to perform a custom installation of 32-bit Windows 7 and then reinstall your programs. Make sure to back up your files before you begin.
Go online to get important information about installing Windows 7 on a PC running Windows XP
Windows Aero support Your current graphics adapter won't support the Windows Aero user interface. If you want to experience the benefits of Windows Aero, contact your PC manufacturer or retailer to see if an upgrade is available.
Go online to learn more about Windows Aero
256 MB of RAM Your PC needs at least 1 GB of RAM for 32-bit Windows 7 for optimal performance. Contact your PC manufacturer or retailer to see if an upgrade is available.
16 GB free hard disk space required You need at least 16 GB of free space on your hard disk to install 32-bit Windows 7. Either make room by removing unwanted files from your hard disk, or contact your PC manufacturer or retailer to see if a hard disk with more capacity is available for your PC.

And these are the 3 requirements it listed:

Requirement Details
Virtualization technology not supported Your PC does not support hardware assisted virtualization technology.
256 MB of RAM Your PC memory doesn't meet the 2 GB requirement for running Windows XP Mode on 32-bit Windows 7. When running XP Mode, you might experience poor performance.
Extra 15 GB of free space For best performance, make sure your PC has 15 GB of free space before installing Windows XP Mode.

None of this is outside of what you guys already thought I would need to upgrade. Said it would run on the current processor but I would not be opposed to updating it as suggested if it would increas performance, which I am sure it would.

I don't know what it is referring to in this report about "virtualization."

As for the "Windows Aero" guess that is something to do with the graphics card that was mentioned. Did not really say if it would run with my present video card or if that is an issue.

 

If I upgrade to the AMD Athlon XP 3000+ processor, would that address being able to use a harddrive with 64 bit versus 32 bit which would allow more RAM to be recognized?

Also 3 GB or Ram will be plenty for my needs on this computer.

As far as the ATA harddrive, I would be okay with the 5400RPM, again, this will never be a "super" computer so SATA is not an issue to even consider or is it? That is a bummer that only 250GB can be installed. Not a deal breaker though.

This question is a repeat from another thread that I was curious about: Also mdonah, found that very interesting about extending XPs security updates. Does that only apply to Pro? I went to the link and read and it cautioned about backing up the system before changing the registry. If I decide to do these other upgrades and get this computer up to speed again, I would be interested in trying that...but will definitely need some assistance and direction.

Tried to go back and edit last post about Windows 7 but 10 minutes had expired so I'll ask here. If I upgrade the processor as noted above, can I then use Windows 7, 64 bit versus Windows 7, 32 bit?

Spad, you mentioned in your 1st post about Windows 7 reqiurements:

"DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver"
The updater did not address this I don't think unless it is listed differently. Does this need to be a concern?

Thanks again to all for your contributions.

 

+1 on buying a newer machine! But dead set against Win8 read the links in the Google search below you be the judge!
https://www.google.com/search?q=win...la:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb

 

Initially, I thought the POSReady registry key was for XP Pro but, upon further investigation, it seems it will apply to all versions of XP WITH SP 3. Do as the article says and back up the entire system before applying the Registry entry in case of problems. I applied the key to XP Pro SP3 and so far, no issues. But, I don't know about XP Home.

I had mentioned the pssibility of a higher end graphics card because you've got a 430 watt power supply. It seems that you're going to need one. It should also address the Direct X 9 issue and the driver for the video card should be WDDM 1.0 or higher. If you decide not to upgrade the video card, you could run the Classic Theme. But, it's awful — believe me when I tell you — I tried the Classic Theme in Win Vista, UGH!

You definitely need to upgrade your RAM to 2 GB at least.

You won't be able to drop a 64-bit CPU into your machine to run Win 7 64-bit. There's much more that makes a 64-bit machine than just the CPU. So, if you decide to run Win 7, it'll have to be 32-but.

See here for a description of Hardware Virtualization which would be needed to run Win 7's XP mode. This would enable running XP inside Win 7 on a "Virtual Machine".

Your machine only supports IDE/PATA drives as it stands now. If you were to get a PCI SATA card, you would need to run Win Vista or later. As I stated, XP doesn't natively support SATA. To run XP off of a SATA drive, you would need an AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) driver that would need to be installed prior to installing the OS..

Phew, I hope I didn't forget anything.

 

Even with an Athlon XP 300+, you have a 32 bit CPU, so a 64 bit OS is not an option.

 

Wouldn't worry about the Virtualization issue . . . not something you would probably use anyway on this machine.

Video - Sounds like you do need to upgrade your video card. I've found the most noticeable performance increases are had when upgrading video. What card is your system using now? Newegg does have a few AGP cards listed - they have a Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-Bit DDR3 AGP 4X/8X for $50.00US. A bit steep, but it's new and has native HDMI and 7.1 surround sound support. The 64bit bus is a bottleneck though, to be sure. Getting harder to find AGP based cards, so options are limited. Ebay is good source for used cards, but always make sure it's a reputable seller with a good return policy.


RAM - I suggest maxing the ram if you can. RAM is the second area where a performance increase is noticed, especially if upgrading from less than 1GB.
When dealing with RAM, know there are two types . . . Low-density (which is more expensive, but will work in pretty much any motherboard), and High-Density (cheaper, but not guaranteed to work in all boards. Only a few chipsets can use High-density RAM). Some ViA, nForce, and SiS chipsets, will accommodate High-Density RAM. Your board has an SiS chipset, but I'd suggest sticking to low-density RAM anyway if you can, even if your chipset will support the cheaper RAM.

Your board supports 3GB. You can get by with 1GB for Windows 7, but at least 2GB is best, IMO. Not a great increase in performance between the 333mhz and 400mhz RAM modules. Ebay is a great place to find RAM, both used and new. Like with video cards, make sure any online merchant is reputable and has a good return policy. I've seen new low-density RAM from China for around $9.00 per gig shipped, which is pretty good. They also had a 60 day money back guarantee.

CPU - I think your PC would be more responsive with the Athlon XP 3000+ Socket 462 CPU. They can be had used for cheap. It has a faster Bus speed, and a 500mhz boost in frequency. Of the three upgrade options, this is probably the most involved when it comes to installing it, but it's not that hard. Just remember you would need some thermal grease to put between the CPU and the heat-sink. Any AMD approved grease will be fine, and can be had online for cheap (STARS brand is cheap and effective. I've used a ton of it, and it can be had for $1.00US or cheaper).

I think you could get all three upgrades and still be within your budget. But you will notice the biggest performance boosts from RAM and a better video card. The CPU upgrade is good, but it is more involved to install. Also, make sure you research the ECS website for your motherboard and verify which CPU's it does support. People here can answer any questions you may have concerning the how-to of these kinds of upgrades.

 

I bought a little adapter card that plugs straight into a SATA HD and has an IDE/PATA interface on the other side ready for you to connect your IDE cable from your m/b in.

In fact I bought two (different ones), the first one would only have the SATA adapted drive in Master mode however I jumpered the other disk in Master position on the cable. This one did not have the facility to jumper the adapter board. Other tan this drawback which was serious for me) it appeared to work fine. The second one I bought had jumpers to enable Master, slave, or cable select options. IIRC the CS jumpering did not work properly, but the Slave position jumper did, and I am now using a SATA 500GB in my PATA-only connected rig. It works as the slave drive very well, but I'm only using it as a data store.

There are many on ebay, much smaller then the Startech one (cheaper and probably lower quality but they all use one of two chips to do the conversion): if you need slave capability on your SATA drive be certain to select an appropriate adapter, of about 5 I looked at in detail, only one had this capability, some claimed to have but there was no evidence of any place to put jumpers/do the selection.

(bought from ebay for <$10 equivalent, direct from HK/China)

Dumb_Question
19.July.2014

Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A under XP/SP3
Processor - Celeron 2.7 GHz
Motherboard - MSI MS-6577 v2.1
RAM - 1GB + 512MB (1GB +1GB max) DDR PC2700
PSU - Octigen 300W model 10270PSOTG ('upgraded' from original Bestec 250W PSU [in 2011?])
Nvidia GeForce 6200 graphics card in AGP slot.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

To start with:
Along the lines of support for XP, last evening had the desktop on and it actually loaded 22 updates upon shutdown. Do you think that the system has somehow recognized I am running XP Pro and is already doing updates without me physically making the registry entry?

McD, Another question I have is when you are advised to back up your system, as before making registry changes for the XP support update, exactly how is that done? I have a laptop that is still running regualr XP sp3 and would like to get the support loaded for it also. I have a seagate external hard drive but I am sure that backup is not the same as the backup I am asking about. Also if things got wrong, how do you reinstall the backup? Thanks!


Spad, will try to find the low density RAM and I do plan on 3GB.
When looking to purchase, will this “low versus high” be spelled out by the seller?

Since my machine only supports IDE/PATA drives, will either of these be ok to run with WIN7 as well as 5400RPM? And is 250GB still the max as to where I stand now as limited by the motherboard?

I found a guy who will install WIN7 for me if I decide to go ahead with this project.

Is the graphics card McD mentioned and the video card mentioned by Spad one and the same?

I don’t know that much about computers as I’m sure your guys can tell and I am getting a little mixed up in trying to keep all this straight. Please keep me on the correct thought process and thanks again for all the help.

 

Just a note about my experience

I run 2 PCs (well, I don't use one much) which have XP Home on them, and still get the odd update from MS, sometimes they are to do with MS applications software, sometimes they are to do with Microsoft Security Essentials. Once I paid some attention to an MSE update, I interpreted as updating the Malicious Software Removal Tool (or something similar), I looked for a new version of msert.exe, but couldn't find one, so that couldn't have been it. I think Microsoft said something extending security cover for those who had it installed as for as July 2015 (mdonah is better informed on this point I believe). IDK if I installed MSE, but I suppose I must have done.

I would be very interested in the responses by the others to your questions, Cher

Dumb_Question
21.July.2014

Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A under XP/SP3
Processor - Celeron 2.7 GHz
Motherboard - MSI MS-6577 v2.1
RAM - 1GB + 512MB (1GB +1GB max) DDR PC2700
PSU - Octigen 300W model 10270PSOTG ('upgraded' from original Bestec 250W PSU [in 2011?])
Nvidia GeForce 6200 graphics card in AGP slot.

 

If you have not run this PC for a long time, it will still download the remaining updates created since you last updated and until MS dropped support.

Use a disc imaging program, like one of these:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_free_edition.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/easeus_todo_backup_free_edition.html
Both will allow you to make a bootable CD to restore the backup you made in case something goes wrong. I used Easus but Macrium is very good also. Go with whichever one is easy for you.

Yes, Windows 7 will run on IDE HDs.

Yes.

 

Regarding RAM: whether the modules are low density or high density is NOT always spelled out by the seller. If using ebay, look at the item title and in the item description to make sure you get the right modules.

As stated, if you hadn't used a computer in a while, updates that were available up until MS dropped support for XP will still be available. As Dumb_Question mentioned, definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials will be available until April 2015 and apparently MS is still putting out the Malicious Software Removal Tool for XP for a while longer — how long, I don't know.

@ Dumb_Question,

The MSE updates are for MSE only. The MSRT is a separate entity entirely.

Your external drive would be ideal for backing up your system.

Just playin pointed you toward EaseUS and Macrium. I've used both and found (in my opinion) something better in AOMEI Backupper (download from the Freeware link). I found the interface much simpler and it does a better job on compressing the disk image you create. It also allows creation of a bootable CD so you could restore your System Drive and unlike Macrium free allows incremental and differential backups (another topic). If you create the "Rescue" CD in a Win PE (Windows Pre-installed Environment) format you can back up/restore individual files/folders when running the CD (also another topic).

Sorry, if all this is confusing you. But, I must say you've asked the correct questions! :major We may make a Major Geek out of you yet.

 

Thank you mdonah and Just Playin.

There is some info on low density/high density RAM here. I believe some machines can use both types, but others (most ?) will fail to work (in some way) with high density RAM (please correct me if I am wrong)

I use a version of Easeus which does not compress the image, but (I believe) makes an identical replica of the source disk (saves on decompressing the image if you have a whole disk to spare).

Dumb_Question
23.July.2014

 

That's simply cloning the disk and both Macrium and AOMEI offer that feature as well. You'd use it mostly if you're replacing your system drive. I believe if you go into Settings in EaseUS you'll find that there is a compression algorithm you can invoke.

I use the high compression setting in AOMEI along with allowing VSS and save the image to an external HDD. If I run into issues, I boot from the Rescue Disk and my computer's restored in 20 minutes from that image (after I wipe the drive). It beats the heck out of going through malware removal which (it seems to me) invariably results in a messed up system drive and having to re-do everything.

 

@Chero - Sometimes the low or high density of the RAM is not plainly described by the seller. I always make sure a seller is well established, has a good return policy, has good feedback, AND explains in detail the product they are selling.

Quite right - High Density RAM will only work with some chipsets, usually ViA, SiS, and nForce/Gforce . . . and not even all of those. The only way I'd buy high density RAM is if my motherboard info clearly says it does support it. High Density RAM is attractive because it usually is a lot cheaper, mainly because a lot of motherboards will not accept it. In my understanding, low Density RAM will work in pretty much any board . . . which is why it is usually more expensive.

 

Thanks everybody for the replies.
As for the Windows updates, I made sure I had this computer running before the April deadline and it was updated then. Just find it odd that just a few days ago it installed 22 updates. Upon each time I shut it down it seems to have one upgrade.
Also want to do this backup and install the registry entry for the upgrades so I don’t have to question that.
As you can see, I have not fully convinced myself to pull the trigger on this. I understand that if I continue running XP, and just upgrade my RAM, the processor is still going to be very limited in what it can accomplish as well as the small harddrive capacity is a whole different issue. I guess that may not be an issue though as the OS really has nothing to do with the size of the HD. And as far as the harddrive, even if I stay with XP, I could still get a larger HD as long as it is an a IDE harddrive, 5400 RPM. Am I thinking correctly on this? Also more RAM within itself has got to be an improvement.

I will go with the low density RAM. The article was interesting and over my head for the most part... Not nearly there Mdonah. 

Thanks again!!

 

No, you can go with a 7200 RPM drive.

 

Even if you do nothing else, get the RAM. You'll notice a huge speed improvement because as it stands now, your computer is using the pagefile.sys as additional RAM. It's going to be slower this way because it's part of the hard drive and hard drives are naturally slower than RAM.

You may be correct about the size of the hard drive. The specs for my Dell state that the maximum size of a drive that can go in a media/modular bay caddy is 40 GB and in the main drive caddy is 80 GB. Yet, I've used/am using a 120 GB drive without issue. You MAY be able to use larger than 250 GB. But, depending on what you're going to use the computer for, that 250 GB may be ample. As far as 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM, that will depend on the cooling capacity of your computer. As I stated earlier, 7200 RPM disks produce more heat than 5400 RPM disks.

 

Thanks, that's why I mentioned the 5400 RPM because I remember you saying that about the heat it produces.
I tried to back up my computer with the program I downloaded but do not have any medium with enough space to backup the computer.
Do you think it is critical to back it up before doing the registry entry to increase the support of XP? Or, as mentioned in the previous email, do you think I am already getting the proper updates? Any way to tell other than me getting those 22 updates at one pop and just thinking I was getting the continued support?

 

Kingdston nor Crucial have this RAM listed on their site. Both had no results.

 

More than likely the updates you received hadn't yet been installed for some reason so you got them then because they were part of the last ones on or before the 4/18 deadline. On the next patch Tuesday (8/12/14) I don't believe any updates for XP will be available. Microsoft is still providing definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials, the monthly Malicious Software Removal Tool and I got an unscheduled update for Silverlight but, that's all you'd get without the POSReady registry entry.

You don't have a second hard drive with enough space on it to back up your System drive? Well, I did the registry entry without backing up because I have the resources to completely reconstruct the drive if I need to. Most people don't. I haven't had any problems but, it doesn't mean you won't. We've got different machines.

These are "older" modules so, you may not be able to get them from places like Crucial. You may have to pick up used AND tested units from ebay. You could also try Amazon.

 

Thanks, that makes sense about the XP updates. I do have an exteranl harddrive that I use to back up the docs and all on a laptop and it has enough space. Just did not know if I could use it since I have stuff on it from the laptop. Could I just treat it like any other thumb drive and name the backup and it not interfere with what I already have on it?

Yesterday I could not get the tool from Crucial to run but today I did get it to and it provided me with "ddr pc 3200 unbuffered non-ecc 2.6v 128meg x 64" as what my computer could use with this MB. getting ready to do some searching for that.

Thanks again~!!~

 

I don't know which backup software you're using but the backup will be an image file that your backup software can use to restore your hard drive (you did make a bootable CD from within the backup program didn't you?). For all intended purposes, it will be another data file and won't interfere with anything else you have on the external hard drive.

I'm glad you got Crucial's tool to work. I forgot to mention it. Sorry. :-o But, you wanted to increase your RAM so, look for ddr pc 3200 unbuffered non-ecc 2.6v 256MB, 512MB or 1 GB modules — especially the 1GB modules if you intend to run Win 7. If you intend to stick with XP, the 512MB modules.

 

Thanks. I am using the backup software you suggested, AOMEI Backupper. I had a thumb drive with 4 GB and it was full after about 15% I think it said. Sounds like I am doing something wrong.

"(you did make a bootable CD from within the backup program didn't you?). "

No, did not know I needed to.
Will you explain the steps I need to take in doing this, I would certainly appreciate it and hate to be a pain.
Thanks again!!

 

Yeah, you need to make the bootable CD. Otherwise, you'll have your backup image but won't be able to use it to restore the drive. It's simple.

1.) Launch Backupper and click on the Utilities button on the left. Then click on Create Bootable media (see att. 1)

2.) Leave the top choice for type selected (see att. 2). This way you'll be able to make the CD directly from within Backupper and won't need to download/install Windows Automated Installation Kit (1.5GB!). Then click Next

3.) Select the top choice (Burn To CD/DVD) (see att. 3) and select the CD/DVD drive you want to use to burn the CD from the dropdown. Insert a blank CD in the drive and click Next. Backupper will create the bootable CD. It will take less than 5 minutes. Once it says "All operations completed successfully", click Finish and the CD should eject. If successful, you'll have a bootable CD that you can use to restore your system from the backup image you created.

There are occasionally problems using the burning software incuded in Backupper. If you run into any, instead of doing the CD directly, create an ISO then burn it to CD using your burning software.

You're not.

 

Thanks lots. And as far as the system bakup itself, it will take up lots of room on whatever drive I use? Just want to make sure I am doing that right. abd, you see whih key has beome inoperable on my keyboard, you see it missing throughout this sentene.

 

Yeah, I see that the "C" key is inoperable. Maybe time for a new keyboard.

As far as the backup taking up a lot of space, open Backupper and click on the Settings label.

1.) On compression screen, select high compression (see att. 1).

2.) On Inteligent sector tab select Intelligent sector backup (see att. 2).

3.) On VSS tab select use VSS (see att. 3)

Then click OK. These settings will now be global and apply to all backups you make. Using high compression will give you the smallest file size as will using smart sector copy (copying only the sectors that are being used instead of the whole drive including free space). And VSS will allow you to do other things on the computer while it's being backed up.

I know you saw the option to make a bootable USB drive when you were creating your CD. Your computer's a little older than mine and I don't know if it supports booting to USB storage so, I didn't recommend that option.

 

Thanks Mdonah, I got the boot CD made and also backed up the system and it verified it would work if needed.
I went to the website you provided to get those security updates registry key and it was a little confusing to me, (imagine that) especially after I read some of the comments.
Is this the actual registry key?: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA\PosReady]
"Installed"=dword:00000001

Or would it be simpler to just?: "I have uploaded a Registry file for you that you can use for that purpose. You can download it here: xp-security-updates.zip" (16343 downloads)
Would this not just be automaticic once I unzip it?

These are some of the comments that confused:
"Ron S May 26, 2014 at 7:27 pm # So, Win Update worked fine, and updated with 4 files. Wasn't sure if it was necessary to run the ...for POS files, but thought these might be the OS name that displays instead of Win XP and went ahead."

What are POS files?

And this one, the POS talk confuses me: "coakl May 28, 2014 at 1:17 am # One caveat: If you switch the registry to identify yourself as a POS embedded system, Windows Update will try to send you ALL POS embedded updates that you don't have. Including the ones before April 8, all the way back to 2009. That's at least 100+ patches or several hundred MB's of stuff, a.k.a. several hours of updating. Yuck.
Before you try this trick, switch automatic updates to "Notify but don't download or install", then read the MS security bulletin to find the exact KB number of the post-April 8 update that you want. In the automatic updates pop-up box, pick just those KB numbers.

Another caveat: Some MS patches rely on earlier patches. If you don't install all of the earlier POS updates (pre-April 8), the newer POS updates might not work or crash XP.
But the more POS updates you install, the more likely you will run into problems.

I don't this one will be a problem since I did run updates before the April deadline.

Thanks again very much and you know I may have some more questions on this...sorry, not really that dense but just cautious...well maybe dense when it comes to computers.
That seems like it should be "sparse" instead of "dense."

 

POS is 'Point of Sale' in this case. These would include ATM machines and cash registers. While the basic OS is Windows XP, it is customized for these kinds of machines and their more specialized roles. It has features your home PC never needed and has some features removed that present unacceptable security risks for machines that actually process money. Since there is a difference between the embedded(POS) OS and the one on your PC, there is a risk that one of the updates could cause problems for systems it was never intended for.

Either way, you take your chances.

 

Once you unzip the file you downloaded from the "upload", you double click on it and you'll be asked if you want to add the registry value. Click yes and it will be installed in the correct location automatically.

As Just Playin said, POS means Point of Sale. But, in this case you're telling Microsoft that your machine is Point of Sale Ready NOT WEPOS (Windows Embedded POS) that's used for ATMs and Cash Registers. You're saying that your computer COULD be used for POS transactions and indeed it could be just like mine.

Also as stated, there are differences between "regular" XP and Windows Embedded which is based on XP SP3. But, there are, also, differences between all the variations of XP that may be used on a home computer.

The number of updates that will be needed can vary. When I went to Microsoft Update immediately after installing the registry key, there were 9 XP updates and 4 for WEPOS/POSReady. Each time since, there's been about 4 updates for WEPOS/POSReady and 1 for XP — the Malicious Software Removal Tool. I'm staying with what I've done.

We take our chances no matter what OS we use — Windows, OSX or Android. We just have to be selective about what sites we visit, which links we click on and what files we download.

You backed up your system and can restore it now. If you encounter any problems, feel free to do so. It's your computer.

 

I can still get the Malicious malware removal tool monthly and the Office 2007 patches/updates without doing any registry hacks. I just run Windows update on the XP computer and it offers those to me.

Unfortunately, there have been updates to Internet Explorer since May that XP will never receive. Since IE is tied closely to the OS, even if you never run IE except for updates, XP is not safe for daily surfing.

If you can't afford a computer running a newer OS, at the very least, run a linux live CD with persistence to surf then pull the cable (ethernet) off the XP system when you are done surfing.

 

sorry it posted twice - not my intention.

 

I've received those IE updates in May, June and July (for WEPOS and POSReady) since incorporating the POSReady registry key. Otherwise, as you say, I would not have received them.