Questions about installing Win XP

Well it appears my trusty 98SE has given up the ghost
So I thought I'd (reluctantly lol) join the 21st century and install XP.
I plan on formatting the C drive and doing a clean install, probably by
purchasing an OEM XP Home disc (saves me $100 and I can live without a box and manual.
I figured on getting a copy with SP2

The system is as follows:
AMD Athlon 1.4GHz processor (266MHz bus speed)
PCChips M810LMR motherboard
20GB ATA/100 hard drive
640MB RAM

I believe this will support XP fine.
If I need to update the BIOS how would I go about doing that?

Also, am I correct in my belief that XP installs from a CD with no need for
a boot floppy?
Does the CD have drivers on it for the drives so I can just run the CD on a formatted (clean) drive?

While I consider myself a novice when it comes to computers, I manage to
figuge out most things.

Any advive,tips,suggestions (prayers) would be very appreciated

 

For Bios update, go to PcChips web site, you'll need floppy drive mostlikely to update bios, if there is an update avaible.

XP cd's are bootable, so no floppy needed for that, unless you have SATA hdd which I doubt you do.

You can format with XP cd, format & use NTFS file system, it's better than Fat 32!

Xp has all the basic drivers, you may need to load your mobo cd with controllers/chipset drivers after you load XP.

You might look into XP pro (OEM) instead of home, Xp pro oem online for around $80
Sp2 on CD can get at microsoft free.

You asked for advice, load windows first, than sp2, then mobo cd drivers etc, I load all my stuff than connect online, dont forget firewall & antivirus protection, lot's of great free ones here at MG.
Last note, PcChips products are the bottom of barrel, ya might consider upgrading your mobo too! something like Asus/Abit/Gigabyte product

 

I noticed you recomended Pro over Home, what makes Pro better/different from Home?

 

If you shop around can get either for about the same price, pro has more features, etc.
here is link's:
http://www.ucs.ed.ac.uk/usd/scisup/faq/homevspro.html
&
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx

There's nothing wrong with XP Home, Pro just offers more.

 

I guess that answers my question. Looks like I'm gonna get Pro when my taxes come in.

 

I've been doing some shopping online and from what I'm learning if you buy the "OEM" software you can't register it with Microsoft and can't update online (windows update)
can any one shed any light on what you sacrifice (besides the pretty box)
when you get the (much less expensive) "OEM" software vs "Retail"

 

I read an article somewhere that said the OEM Windows still registers with Microsoft(inherent in the software, prevents multiple computer use of same product) you can still get the free updates. The main difference is the retail comes with free online/e-mail/telephone support. Several people in this forums have told me too save my money. There are some people here that may work for microsoft and a lot of people here will know how to fix any problems that you may have.

Oh and you don't get the full user's manual.

 

Sporty:

See this site for a guide.
Print it if you like so you can refer to it during the install:
WinXP Clean Install http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Also, if the disc you buy doesn't include SP2, you might consider the following:
WinXP SP2 Slipstreaming:
Download the WinXP SP2 Manual Download/Off-line Installer http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...be-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&displaylang=en
WinXP SP2 Slipstreaming http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp

I've seen the MS retail WindowsXP HE version with SP2 already integrated on store shelves so the OEMs may have it too.

Happy trails,

 

BULL - POO !
The only thing you dont get is 2 free calls for support and pretty box.
You can get all the support ya need, free here at MG.