Nobody told me. I just extended the error message from setup, "Windows XP cannot be installed with your processor configuration" as a indication that it won't work.
Also, XP setup refuses to proceed with less then 64 MB of RAM.
UNLESS of course your using a illegitimate copy, which is a different scenario altogether.
Nobody TOLD me these things. I've tried. And it wasn't a "slow" 486, it was a 120 Mhz DX-2. with 32MB of ram, pretty much the same as your laptop's configuration.
So then I implore you to guess as to why windows setup refused to install? And don't say "disk space" of which there was far more then the 1.5GB XP requires. (not 2GB as you've said- minimum can even go down to around 900MB if necessary).
And even in the case it COULD install, the resulting OS would be unusably slow.
Lastly, a Toshiba 305 is a P3 machine.
I personally was able to get XP installed on my K6-2 via an upgrade install from windows 98SE. I needed to borrow memory since it refused to upgrade because I had less then 64MB of RAM.
I removed the RAM and returned it to it's owner afterward. The computer required the shutdown of almost ALL services and background tasks simply to run, and it's pagefile bloated to epic proportions, consuming almost 3GB of my 8GB drive.
Performance was not acceptable in this situation but being that I had no way to backup and simply reformat back to windows 98SE (and I hadn't been able to save uninstall information due to insufficient diskspace) I lived with it.
Upping the RAM to 128, 256, and finally 512MB made it a far more usable machine. In no way would I consider 32MB of ram for ANY machine running windows XP. to insist otherwise is ridiculous; there are other operating systems far more fit to run under such memory limitations, just as other Operating systems are more suited to older processors. the fact that it may be possible to force XP to install on such unsuitable machines is no the issue- it's performance.
Sure, with determination and a lot of spare time one could use switches, or even manual methods, to install XP onto a 486 with 32MB of RAM. but the purposes of such a pursuit can only be curiousity. to even suggest that such a configuration can be palatable to anybody is to portray your own inexperience on the issue.
