New computer - I submit for peer review

[Jess Maree]

I know you like XP, Pescado, but my old PC ran Vista with less than 1GB of RAMZ. I think I'll stick with Vista.

Also, is it even possible to have 8GBs of RAMZ? How much RAMZ could one PC have? Curious minds and all that.

[vecki]

And I've learned that depending on which brand of Vista or chipset or whatever you have (32 vs 64 bit), Vista may not be able to see extra RAMZ anyway.

I hear 32 bit can't see more than 3 Gig RAMZ.

[Jess Maree]

I hear 32 bit can't see more than 3 Gig RAMZ.

Well I have the 32 bit version, so I could only upgrade by 1GB of RAMZ.

Hmm...I wonder what the difference is between 32 bit and 64 bit. Might hit Google.

[witch]

Hmm...I wonder what the difference is between 32 bit and 64 bit. Might hit Google.

The difference is 32 bits. :p

[Jess Maree]

I meant what is better, 32 or 64. Meh, I won't worry about it. If I get my internetz I'll be happy

[jsalemi]

Also, is it even possible to have 8GBs of RAMZ? How much RAMZ could one PC have? Curious minds and all that.

Depends on the motherboard and the type of RAM sticks it takes.  There are 4GB sticks out there, so if your motherboard supports it, you can have 16GB RAM in the machine.

Of course, the 32-bit version of Windows XP/Vista will only see 4GB, and effectively give you 3.5GB usable memory.  You need the 64-bit versions to see it all.

I meant what is better, 32 or 64. Meh, I won't worry about it. If I get my internetz I'll be happy

If you have a need for more than 3.5GB RAM, then the 64-bit version is better. Otherwise, it's a toss-up for the average user, with the downside that you can't just upgrade from a 32-bit version to a 64-bit version -- you have to do a fresh install, and re-install everything on your system.  I remember that some applications had problems with the 64-bit version of XP, but I've read that applications written for Vista don't care one way or the other which one they run on.

[Jess Maree]

I'm happy with my 2GBs of RAMZ. Before it took my old PC five minutes to "set up" once I logged on so I could use the internet, but now it takes under a minute. I am so glad we got a new PC.

I don't need massive amounts of RAMZ or some fancy 64 bit Vista. I'm not picky and I'm happy with what I got.

16BGs of RAMZ. Whoa, that's a lot of RAMZ.

[jsalemi]

I'm happy with my 2GBs of RAMZ. Before it took my old PC five minutes to "set up" once I logged on so I could use the internet, but now it takes under a minute. I am so glad we got a new PC.

I was happy with 512Mb until I got 1GB.  Then I was happy, until I got 2GB and wondered how I lived so long with 1GB.  Then I built my own PC and put 4GB in it, and wondered how I ever got along with 2GB.  It never ends, Jess.

Also, don't forget that your new PC also probably has a more powerful CPU than the old one (I think they upgrade the CPU capabilities every other day these days  ), so that certainly influences how fast things happen.  But it's a kind-of PC formula -- faster CPU + Faster and more RAM = much happier user.

[Jess Maree]

I don't know a whole lot about computers, but I like whatever makes this current one run fast I suppose it'd be nice to have 4GBs...

[jsalemi]

I suppose it'd be nice to have 4GBs...

And so it begins... 

[Jess Maree]

I suppose it'd be nice to have 4GBs...

And so it begins... 

I'd have to buy it myself though and probably ninja my way into the computer to put it in. Apparently every time I touch the computer it asplodes.

[Zazazu]

format put xp pro sp2 on it(stay well clear of sp3), get a pny 8600 GTS(if you have the extra cash go for a 9600 GT ^_^)   and you're good to go I am otherwise what you have is a nice rig with alot of potential.

Whut?
 

[Jess Maree]

Yeah...didn't quite get what you were saying. Something about reformatting, getting XP with SP 2, upgrading my graphics card and mentioning my "rig" has a lot of potential.




I think.

[jsalemi]

Not to mention the silly advice with no backup reasoning to stay away from SP3, which is perfectly fine.

[Lord Darcy]

format put xp pro sp2 on it(stay well clear of sp3)

SP3 is perfectly fine if applied on freshly formatted system. Or better yet, when slipstreamed into the XP installation CD itself.

[Kyna]

Hijacking this thread with a question on finding a torrent.

Faizah got a new computer last week.  She didn't buy an OS as thought she already had Win XP discs (she doesn't).  My Win XP discs are recovery discs only - apparently Win XP was pre-installed on my machine, so I discovered I'm stuffed if I need to replace my primary hard drive.

I went looking for a win xp installation torrent on The Pirate Bay.  I got 989 returns for my search.  Taking a look at some of them I saw flame wars with accusations of "this torrent has trojans, I suggest you go get mine instead" (and similar remarks were made by the accused in the accuser's torrent thread).  I also saw downloads that had a lot more than win xp in them.  All Faizah wants is a bootable, installable Win XP without the "extras", basically something that's the same as if she went out and purchased it and upgraded to SP3.

It's all too confusing for F-types like us.  My techy T-type son would help, but he's in the middle of his exams right now and is so busy studying/revising that he hasn't had time to deal with his own computer issues (his hard drive crashed the week before the exam period started).

Can anybody point us in the right direction - what should we be searching for on TPB?

[Simsbaby]

Try here. That should be what you want. 

[witch]

Yeah...didn't quite get what you were saying. Something about reformatting, getting XP with SP 2, upgrading my graphics card and mentioning my "rig" has a lot of potential.

The other recommendation I would make is to got to an ATI Radeon card, rather than an NVidia one if you ever get the chance to upgrade. I swapped about 2 years ago when I built my current machine and although I have the odd graphics glitch, it's nothing like the problems I experienced prior to that with NVidia.

[Simsbaby]

I know it's a huge problem for a lot of people who have nVidia cards, but I've never had any problems with the one that I've had. (GeForce 7600GT desktop, GeForce 8600GT laptop, 6200 laptop). Maybe I'm just lucky.

[Lord Darcy]

Try here. That should be what you want. 

This ISO is from January 2008, which predates the official release date of SP3 (5/6/2008). It may contain beta release of SP3.
As I'm not using English version of Windows I cannot personally help you finding the right version. But I think if you want the version with the official SP3 slipstreamed, you should at least look for the one that was released after the official release date.

[vecki]

Yeah...didn't quite get what you were saying. Something about reformatting, getting XP with SP 2, upgrading my graphics card and mentioning my "rig" has a lot of potential.

The other recommendation I would make is to got to an ATI Radeon card, rather than an NVidia one if you ever get the chance to upgrade. I swapped about 2 years ago when I built my current machine and although I have the odd graphics glitch, it's nothing like the problems I experienced prior to that with NVidia.

Yeah...didn't quite get what you were saying. Something about reformatting, getting XP with SP 2, upgrading my graphics card and mentioning my "rig" has a lot of potential.

The other recommendation I would make is to got to an ATI Radeon card, rather than an NVidia one if you ever get the chance to upgrade. I swapped about 2 years ago when I built my current machine and although I have the odd graphics glitch, it's nothing like the problems I experienced prior to that with NVidia.

Woah, deja vu witch!

[Jess Maree]

Haha I thought that too

[witch]

Weird, I didn't notice the double posting, MATY was crawling and I was clicking submit, then I refreshed the page and clicked submit again. I suspect it was user error this time. 

How many times do I have to tell you Jess Maree! 

[Jess Maree]

* Jess Maree scribbles notes

- Get ATI Radeon card
- Don't refresh and re-submit posts

[witch]

PPPBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRTTT!!!!!