Windows XP home question....

[rubberman]

I have a copy of XP home. I have used all those key-gens without any luck. At work we have 8 computers that are running XP Pro. I checked 2 of the computers so far and both have the same serial key. Those computers dont have the software with them since we bought them as a package with service. The company has then incase they need to work on them. Also none of the 8 computers are online and wont be for a couple years. Will the XP Pro serial key work on XP home? or do i need a copy of XP Pro and that serial key i found? thanks

what are the min. requiremnts for XP?

[thetieger]

1. just get win XP pro

2. it will install with 64mb of ram or more. recommended is 256 for performance though

[emad]

no...minimum is 128...if you want to see anything on the screen anytime this month

[HypERSoniC]

home serial won't work on a pro edition. also you have to consider the fact that you must activate your product, unless you use some aditional software.

also.. home is a disgrace.. get pro

on second thoughts.. all xp's are a disgrase.. get windows 2000

[ps24life(2)]

PM sent!!

[thetieger]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by emad
no...minimum is 128...if you want to see anything on the screen anytime this month [/QUOTE

why must we do this

64mb minimum to install, 256 for performance!

[RAISTLIN]

hehe...256....that's a given for any system these days. It kills me to see these bargain boxes---and don't EVEN get me started on the laptops with only 128 in them.

Any NT kernel'ed system should have a MINIMUM 384 installed--512 for smooth sailing. Until you cross the 300MB threshold, it will eat up almost 2/3 of physical RAM just loading the OS and Network services. If this falls below 170MB, it starts to swap out to disk pretty quick. At 66% load, this computes to roughly a 256MB install just to get it to run decently. You'll need more if you intend to do any developing, video/photo/audio editing, or serious gaming. If your box takes DDR, go for enough to push you to 512--it's still pretty cheap. Rambus is still a bit pricey, so if you're gonna trim yourself at 256, make sure it is quality memory with a high speed rating. Being able to run it at quad-speed should help overcome some of the slowdown a bit.

Good Luck!

Raist

[thetieger]

yes I would like to upgrade (by adding another stick) I have never added on ram and not sure on what the rules are, do I just need any stick of pc2100 ram?

[RAISTLIN]

Generlly speaking, yes. But, you really should check exactly what you've got installed so you get memory in the same timing range. You also might not have a free slot to put any memory in there, which means you'd have to replace one chip. Then there is the issue of how your board handles large banks if you want to go to 512 or higher--some boards need registered DRAM for a 512MB stick to work right. Usually this is a non issue up to a 256MB stick.

I usually recommend multiple sticks of 256MB PC2700DDR , filling each slot. This bypasses most issues with the finicky boards, so you can easily port them over to future DDR boards no problem. They'll often run 1/1 divisor on a 143MHz FSB at CAS2 no problem, faster with heat spreaders or good case airflow. With PC2100, you sometimes have to slow the chip's latency down to 2.5 or 3 once you break the 125MHz line if they aren't cooled well enough.

Extracting the memory's timing and converting it to the PC Rating is tedious, but there is a handy benchmark suite you can nab for free that will give you the details in plain text--without having to open your case. SiSandra will tell you straight up all the details on your memory configuration. Just run the "Mainboard Information" module and it will give all kinds of goodies on your system. First, in the "System Memory Controller" section, it will list each memory bank (slot) and how much is installed. Further down in the "Logical/Chipset" and "Memory Modules" sections it will give you the PC spec rating of your chips, as well as the CAS timing detected by the SPD on the chip. Note the Bank ID's will be a bit different then what is listed in the controller section above--this is the logical translation of the Bank, while the controller section lists the physical location of the bank (logical bank 0/1 is the first physical slot, 2/3 is the second, etc).

http://www.sisoftware.net/

I'm still using the MAX3 release from a few months back, but they have the 2004 release out now also. It's a big D/L for a dial-up (7MB or so), but it is a very valuable tool for snooping a sytem and tweaking it.

Good Luck!

Raist

[HypERSoniC]

windows xp barely runs on 64mb