XP Upgrade

[harley70]

Hi

Is there anyway that i can upgrade my laptop from windows ME to XP for free or do i have to purchase the upgrade ?

Many Thanks

Matt

[soybean]

You have to buy it.  Before you take this step, you should verify that your computer is capable of running Win XP.  Can you tell us your hardware specs?  What processor?  How much memory?  Size of hard drive and how much free space? 

What make and model is your computer?

[Dustinator]

Don't upgrade to xp it will cost a lot of money plus it makes most computers that run me really slow. I would only update if i had a 1gh prosser and a min of 256 mb of ram. But hay if you have about 100 dollars and the the speed go for it. But you will most likely have a bunch of missing drivers just a warning.
Hope this helps!!!

[BC_Programmer]

I ran XP for a year with a AMD K6-2 350 Mhz and 32MB of RAM. (took some coaxing to get XP on there at all). Then 3 years after that with 512MB.

It certainly wasn't what I'd call a speedy experience, but coming from my 486 it was usable for VB6 so I was happy.

And then I Installed XP onto my new PC, since I had the disk- and reverted my old one to; well, nothing, I guess. Just a benchtest machine. has Windows NT 3.51 right now, I think.

[soybean]

In 2003, I installed XP on a computer running a 600 MHz AMD Duron processor, with 384MB of memory and it ran fine.   

But you will most likely have a bunch of missing drivers just a warning.

Obtaining drivers, or confirming their availability, before proceeding with this upgrade is a good idea.  Windows will probably have drivers for many devices installed in your computer, but you may need to get some, or update certain drivers, after installing XP.

I also ran XP with 256MB of RAM for some months before doubling the RAM and didn't find it too painful.

[x2543]

i thought windows xp needed at least 64 mb of ram present to be able to be installed?

[soybean]

I ran XP for a year with a AMD K6-2 350 Mhz and 32MB of RAM. (took some coaxing to

Whew, that had to be an exercise in extreme patience.  It's just unthinkable.  Microsoft says:
"128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)".   Everybody knows even those stated requirements are rock bottom minimum.  So, how you actually used XP with 32MB is beyond my comprehension.

i thought windows xp needed at least 64 mb of ram present to be able to be installed?

For all practical purposes, I'd consider 256MB the minimum acceptable amount of memory and 128MB the absolute minimum to even attempt to run Win XP.

[patio]

You may want to consider Win2K Pro on that ME machine...less stringent requirements...solid performance....and basically XP without the eye candy for the most part.

[Dustinator]

I meant with good performance Heck my friend runs it on a 300mz and 64mb of ram but it is really slow.

[x2543]

my dad's old laptop back in the day had 64mb of memory and it has windows xp on it..... 

[BC_Programmer]

Whew, that had to be an exercise in extreme patience.  It's just unthinkable.  Microsoft says:
"128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)".   Everybody knows even those stated requirements are rock bottom minimum.  So, how you actually used XP with 32MB is beyond my comprehension.
For all practical purposes, I'd consider 256MB the minimum acceptable amount of memory and 128MB the absolute minimum to even attempt to run Win XP.

I was sneaky. It was actually an upgrade from Windows 98, I think I ended up forcing it by installing a ram doubler to trick the installer.

then my first order of business was pretty much uninstalling all the services. I didn't have the internet so that reduced the strain.

[Karnac]

You may want to go over this KB article before you make your decision. Upgrading
OSs' in laptops can be tricky since the installed OS is usually a particular build for that particular laptop.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q307153

[x2543]

i'd check out the drivers and hardware to see if you XP has drivers for them so you can use. That's what I'd do first. Else, if you don't have drivers for XP due to older hardware then you're probably stuck with a computer that has nonfunctional parts because of that.