Re: Upgrade ME to XP

Bruce,

Thanks for the feedback. Those Home Editions on a corporate LAN are from a
friend's client. Over and over again, he has tried to get them to buy
equipment through him, but they run down to Fry's (egad!) and buy eMachines
with Home Edition. We go in and (clean install) upgrade them to XP Pro. It
ends up costing them more in the long run, but they just do NOT get it!

Gregg Hill




"Bruce Chambers" <bchambers@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e$zV9TwMGHA.1088@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Gregg Hill wrote:
Bruce,

If what you say is correct, then why would formatting and re-installing
the exact same OS and the exact same applications speed up the system
significantly?


A lot of applications cause memory leaks and other problems, not to
mention the trash with which most users will clutter their systems, over
time, and the reinstallation cleans this up. This has little or nothing
to do with the OS, itself. There will be no perceptible difference in
performance between a properly maintained two-year old installation and a
fresh installation. Experience bears this out, both on my personal
machines, and the hundreds I oversee on an enterprise LAN.


I have done that many times, going from XP Pro to XP Pro, with all the
same software, but the new install ALWAYS outperforms the old
installation of the exact same OS and applications. Boot times are
faster, programs open faster, etc.



You might want to look into the nature and quality of the applications
being used.


I have seen several "properly operating" Windows XP Home Edition systems
cause bizarre behavior when upgraded to XP Professional. These were not
home users, they were Home Edition on corporate LANs.



Why in the world would WinXP Home machines be on a corporate LAN? That
fact alone clearly demonstrates that the IT department in question is
completely inept; there's no way I'd believe the machines overseen by such
an organization could ever have been properly maintained.


As for the drivers, you are wrong. Several antivirus versions will crash
the new OS or prevent the installation if the old version is not removed
first. Upgrade Advisor does not always catch them.



You need to learn the difference between hardware device drivers and
anti-virus applications. The two are not even remotely connected.


I am one of those who learned from DOS 6 on up. I know every person will
have differing experience, but the experience I have had shows that a
fresh install beats an upgrade every time for speed and reliability.


I learned the same way, although I started well before MS-DOS 1.0, with
CP/M. My experience show that, in most cases, your observations are
reasonably accurate as far as they go, because the overwhelming majority
of systems (both in the corporate and home arenas) simply are *not*
properly maintained. IT budgets and time are often too constrained, and
most home users too computer illiterate. But my experience also proves
that there is *no* performance disadvantage to when upgrading a properly
working and maintained system.



--

Bruce Chambers

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