Re: regretting upgrade from ME to XP Home

Forgot to mention that you'll need to know the RAM memory characteristics so
you can buy a compatible module. ASTRA32 provides that information in "SPD
Memory Info".

You don't have to read all the following articles, but all of them have good
information to help you upgrade your computer.

Build Your Own PC (lots of good info)
http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/step/7/

How to install an additional hard drive
http://www.basichardware.com/HowTo_Install_Hard_Drive.html

How To Install Internal & External Hard Drives
http://www.smartcomputing.com/Editorial/article.asp?article=articles/2004/w1510/07w02/07w02.asp

Add more memory to your computer
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/addmemory.mspx

Memory Module Physical Installation Procedure
http://www.pcguide.com/proc/physinst/ram-c.html

Install Memory (RAM), performing a RAM Upgrade, installing DIMMS
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/installing_dimm_memory_ram.htm

Memory Buying Guide
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/buying/hardware_buying_guide_ram_memory.htm

----------------------------------------------
"Ronaldo" <private_email5@xxxxxxxxxxx> escribió en el mensaje
news:ek6OWiIoHHA.208@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Melody" wrote:
Any suggestions on where I can look for specific instructions about how
to do this? Are there limitations on how much upgrading is possible
with
a given machine?

To know your machine's upgrade limitations (or potential) install ASTRA32.
The motherboard is the fundamental component, knowing the make and model
of
the motherboard you can search for information on it's full potential in
the
maker's website.. but any motherboard has support for at least two
harddrives, and at least two memory modules and your's probably has only
one
128MB module and room for another one.

Download ASTRA32 to know your computer's maximum RAM capacity (Look in DMI
Memory Info)
http://www.astra32.com/


-----------------------------------------------
"Melodie" <Melodie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> escribió en el mensaje
news:76CD3C82-C42E-478A-9CE2-405FFE3BC7D3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks, Ken. Your information is very helpful! (I posted a response
yesterday, but it hasn't show up, so I must have done something wrong.)
I
checked Add/Remove Programs. No luck there. So if I understand
correctly,
I
can backup my files and reinstall ME from CD, in order to get my machine
running again. (I'm really sick of hauling this heavy laptop back and
forth
from work!) That will give me some time to buy and install the new HD
and
RAM. Any suggestions on where I can look for specific instructions
about
how
to do this? Are there limitations on how much upgrading is possible
with
a
given machine?
Thanks so much!

Melodie


"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote:

On Sat, 26 May 2007 12:46:04 -0700, Melodie
<Melodie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

A couple of months ago I decided to upgrade because I was worried
about
security issues if I continued to use ME. Wish I hadn't done it. I
checked
the system requirements for this upgrade and thought I was OK, but
evidently
not. My hard drive is way too full.


And you have nowhere near enough RAM.


In My Computer it says my C: drive
total size is 37.2 GB and free space is 2.72 GB. I've removed a
bunch
of old
email and docs, but it didn't help much. Ran Disk Cleanup. Disk is
too full
to run Defrag. I think I even removed some of my virus and spyware
software,
just trying to clear enough space to defrag.



You might want to consider buying a second hard drive and moving a lot
of files to it. Your present drive is *very* small these days.


(Don't worry, the machine isn't
vulnerable. I'm using my work laptop at present and don't plan to
get
on the
internet again with my home machine until I can get this resolved.)
I've
been reading, and reading, and reading in these discussion
groups.....and now
I'm too scared to do anything else to it! At this point, if its
still
possible, I think I'd rather just go back to ME.


As a general rule, you can't uninstall an operating system. You have
to reformat the drive and install another operating system cleanly.

There's an exception to that, however. If you did an upgrade from
Windows 98 or Me, and took the option to save the previous operating
system and also did not convert your drive to NTFS, then you can find
an entry in Add/Remove Programs. Clicking on that will uninstall
Windows XP and revert to the previous operating system.

If there's no entry in Add/Remove Programs, then one or more of those
conditions wasn't met, and your only choice is to reformat and install
whatever operating system you want cleanly.


I have the reinstallation
CD that came with my computer, but I'm afraid I deleted ME files that
I
shouldn't have.


If you use the reinstallation CD, you'll be starting over, so what
files you deleted from the hard drive shouldn't be pertinent.


(I think I remember being asked about deleting ME files at
some point. Everything worked fine for weeks, so I may have done
that.
Sorry,
this was a while back and I just can't remember exactly.) My guess
is
that
I'd need a costly upgrade to make XP feasible.


Depending on what type of RAM your computer uses, you should be able
to buy another stick of 128MB (for a total of 256MB) for under $50US.
And you can buy a 60-80HD for not much more than $50.

If I were in your shoes, I'd spend the $100 or so to upgrade those two
components, and you should be all right.

It might make better sense to
just buy a new machine.....but I really don't feel comfortable
spending
the $
right now (possible layoff looming). So...if I can go back to ME,
that
may
be best.

My system specs:
Dell Intel Pentium 4 CPU 1.60 GHz,


That's fine.


128 MB RAM



Nowhere near enough. How much memory you need for decent performance
is not a one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the
amount of RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that
depends on what apps you run. Most people running a typical range of
business applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well,
others need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less
than 256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing
large photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even
more than 512MB--sometimes much more.


floppy disk drive and CDROM

As you can probably tell, I know just enough to get myself in
trouble,
which
is exactly what I've done! I'd appreciate advice from the experts
here, but
please "dummy it down" for me, or I won't get it! Thanks so much!

Melodie

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup









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