MICHAEL C. HAYDEN

TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

"Microsoft Certified OEM System Builders"

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE BUYING WINDOWS XP:

FIRST THINGS FIRST: GO TO THE MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP SITE FOR RELEASE NOTES, KNOWN

ISSUES AND PRE-INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS AS SUGGESTED BY MICROSOFT.

THE URL IS: www.microsoft.com/windowsxp

NOTE: WHILE AT THE MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP SITE, DO AN ONLINE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE CHECK OF YOUR SYSTEM SO YOU KNOW AHEAD OF TIME OF ANY ISSUES THAT MAY OCCUR. NO PERSONAL INFORMATION WILL BE SCANNED OR RECORDED. THIS MICROSOFT SERVICE IS FREE AND WILL MERELY INFORM YOU OF WHAT MAY OR NOT MAY BE COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS XP ON YOUR SYSTEM (AT LEAST UNTIL THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE MANUFACTURERS COME OUT WITH THE PATCHES AND FIXES). FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, PLEASE MAKE NOTES OF ANY AND ALL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE WARNINGS RESULTING FORM THE ONLINE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE TEST.

System Requirements for Windows XP Home and

Windows Professional Edition

DISCLAIMER: ALL OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS ON THIS PAGE ARE BASED SOLELY UPON OUR EXPERIENCES WORKING WITH WINDOWS XP AND ALL PREVIOUS VERSIONS, AS WELL AS THE COMPONENTS MENTIONED HEREIN. WE HAVE NOT BEEN PAID, COMPENSATED OR ENDORSED BY ANY OF THESE COMPONENT MANUFACTURERS, NOR WOULD WE EVER ACCEPT SUCH. WE ARE VERY MUCH LIKE THAT WELL-KNOWN MAGAZINE THAT ACCEPTS NO ADVERTISING.

NOTE: MY THANKS TO THE MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP TEAM FOR PROVIDING THIS INFORMATION ON THEIR SITE SO WE COULD BRING IT TO YOU AS WELL. IN ADDITION TO THE MICROSOFT RECOMMENDATIONS, I HAVE INCLUDED OUR RECOMMENDATIONS BASED UPON OUR EXPERIENCE WITH WINDOWS XP SYSTEMS.

• PC with 300 MHz or higher processor (recommended); 233 MHz minimum required (single or dual processor system);* NOTE: I recommend at least a 500MHz or higher processor. (LINK TO PROCESSOR PRICES) Intel Pentium 3/Celeron family, or AMD K6-2 or AMD Athlon (Thunderbird)/Duron/XP family recommended.

• 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features). NOTE: I recommend at least 256MB of RAM, 512MB preferred. We advise caution in using more than 768MB of RAM in a Windows XP system as we have encountered issues with systems using 1.0GB of RAM in an XP system. (LINK TO MEMORY PRICES)

• 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available (FREE) hard disk space* (LINK TO HARD DRIVE PRICES)

• Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher-resolution video adapter and monitor. NOTE: I recpmmend at least a 32MB Video Card or greater for Windows XP. (LINK TO VIDEO CARD PRICES)

• CD-ROM or DVD drive. (LINK TO CD-ROM'S AND DVD'S)

• Keyboard and Mouse. NOTE: Optical mice are affordable and work great.

Additional Items or Services Required for Windows XP Professional Features

NOTE: MY THANKS AGAIN TO THE MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP TEAM FOR PROVIDING THIS INFORMATION ON THEIR SITE SO WE COULD BRING IT TO YOU AS WELL.

• Internet access:

  • Some Internet functionality may require Internet access and payment of a separate fee to a service provider.

  • 56 Kbps modem, or DSL/Cable Modem (Preferred). NOTE: I recommend the NETGEAR product line over LINKSYS, D-LINK, ETC. This is not a paid endorsement. This is based on our experiences with Routers.

• Networking:

  • Network adapter 10/100 LAN card.

• Instant Messaging, Voice and Videoconferencing and Application Sharing, required by both parties:

  • Microsoft .NET Passport and Internet access or instant messaging account and network access (some configurations may require download of additional components).

• Voice and Videoconferencing, required by both parties:

  • 56 Kbps modem, or a network connection.

  • Microphone and sound card with speakers or headset.

• Videoconferencing, required by both parties:

  • Video conferencing camera.

  • Windows XP.

• Application Sharing, required by both parties:

  • 56 Kbps modem, or a network connection.

  • Windows XP.

• Remote Assistance:

  • Both parties must be running Windows XP and be connected by a network.

• Remote Desktop:

  • A Windows 95 or later–based computer, and the two machines must be connected by a network.

  • NOTE: I recommend at least Windows 98 SE.

• Sound:

  • Sound card and speakers or headphones.

• DVD video playback:

  • DVD drive and DVD decoder card or DVD decoder software.

  • 8 MB of video RAM. NOTE: I recommend at least 32MB video RAM.

• Windows Movie Maker:

  • Video capture feature requires appropriate digital or analog video capture device.

  • 400 MHz or higher processor for digital video camera capture. NOTE: I recommend at least 500MHz.

* Actual requirements will vary depending on your system configuration, as well as the applications and features you want to install. Additional hard disk space may be required if you are installing over a network.

Note   If your system does not meet the requirements for Windows XP, several manufacturers offer Windows XP Ready PCs, which offer the best upgrade path to Windows XP. See the list of Windows XP Ready PCs.

BY THE WAY, DID WE MENTION THAT WE BUILD WINDOWS XP READY SYSTEMS AS WELL?

NOW HERE ARE OUR SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO PROCEED WITH  PREPARATIONS BEFORE INSTALLATION BASED UPON OUR OWN ExpERIENCE WITH INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING WINDOWS XP HOME AND PROFESSIONAL EDITION. IF YOU FOLLOW THESE STEPS, YOUR ExpERIENCE WILL BE A PAINLESS AND PLEASANT ONE.

• NOTE: THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE BASED SOLELY UPON OUR ExpERIENCES UPGRADING TO WINDOWS XP. YOUR INSTALLATION ExpERIENCES MAY VARY, BUT I DOUBT IT. MICHAEL C. HAYDEN TECHNOLOGY SERVICES IN NO WAY ASSUMES ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY PROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE FROM YOUR INSTALLATION AND/OR UPGRADE OF WINDOWS XP, WHICH INCLUDES DATA LOSS, HARDWARE/SOFTWARE CONFLICTS, ETC. THIS WEBPAGE OUTLINES THE STEPS WE TOOK TO SAFELY AND SECURELY UPGRADE TO WINDOWS XP.

• IF YOU HAVE THE ORIGINAL CD'S FROM ANY SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS THAT FAILED THE ONLINE WINDOWS XP TEST, UNINSTALL THOSE PROGRAMS AND TRY TO REINSTALL AFTER UPGRADING TO WINDOWS XP.  NOTE: SOME USB PC CAMERA SOFTWARE SUCH AS LOGITECH QUICKCAM DO NOT YET HAVE THE QUICKCAM SOFTWARE THAT IS WINDOWS XP COMPATIBLE, HOWEVER, THE DEVICE DRIVERS ARE NATIVE TO WINDOWS XP. LOGITECH IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON WINDOWS XP COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE. PLEASE CHECK THEIR WEBSITE PERIODICALLY FOR THE DOWNLOADABLE XP SOFTWARE.

• UPDATE ALL DEVICE DRIVERS THAT YOU CAN, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE XP COMPATIBLE.

• RUN A COMPLETE SCANDISK AND DISK DEFRAGMENTER (DISK DOCTOR AND SPEED DISK IF USING NORTON) OF YOUR SYSTEM.

• UPDATE ALL VIRUS DEFINITIONS AND RUN A COMPLETE SCAN FOR VIRUSES ON ALL REMOVABLE MEDIA AND HARD DRIVES.

• PURCHASE NEW ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE THAT IS COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS XP. NOTE: I PERSONALLY RECOMMEND NORTON ANTI-VIRUS 2002 WHICH SUPPORTS WINDOWS XP.

• UNINSTALL ALL ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE PRIOR TO INSTALLING WINDOWS XP.

• PURCHASE NEW UTILITY SOFTWARE SUCH AS NORTON UTILITIES, ETC. NOTE: I PERSONALLY RECOMMEND NORTON UTILITIES 2002 WHICH ALSO SUPPORTS WINDOWS XP.

• UNINSTALL ALL UTILITY SOFTWARE PRIOR TO INSTALLING WINDOWS XP.

• PURCHASE LATEST VERSIONS OF CD-BURNING SOFTWARE (EASY CD CREATOR 5, CLONE CD, NERO, ETC.) AND CONFIRM THAT THEY WILL WORK WITH WINDOWS XP. EXAMPLE: CD CREATOR 5 WITH 5.02c UPDATE WILL WORK WITH WINDOWS XP. CLONE CD V. 3.3.2.1 WILL ALSO WORK WITH WINDOWS XP.

• UNINSTALL ALL CD-BURNING SOFTWARE PRIOR TO INSTALLING WINDOWS XP.

• PURCHASE NEW FIREWALL SOFTWARE (ZONE ALARM, BLACK ICE DEFENDER, NORTON PERSONAL FIREWALL, ETC.) THAT IS COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS XP. EXAMPLE: NORTON PERSONAL FIREWALL 2002 AND ZONE ALARM 2.6.357 WILL WORK WITH WINDOWS XP (BLACKICE DEFENDER 2.9 cai NOW SUPPORTS WINDOWS XP. NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A DSL OR CABLE SERVICE, I PERSONALLY RECOMMEND A NETGEAR DSL-CABLE ROUTER, AVOIDING THE NEED FOR FIREWALL SOFTWARE. 

• UNINSTALL ALL FIREWALL SOFTWARE PRIOR TO INSTALLING WINDOWS XP.

• IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING WINDOWS MILLENNIUM, CREATE A RESTORE POINT BEFORE YOU CONTINUE.

• CLOSE ALL APPLICATIONS AND INSERT WINDOWS XP CD-ROM INTO YOUR CD-ROM DRIVE.

• FOLLOW THE ON-SCREEN INSTRUCTIONS AND INSTALL WINDOWS XP.

• ONCE THE UPGRADE IS COMPLETE, INSTALL THE ANTI-VIRUS, UTILITY, CD BURNING AND FIREWALL SOFTWARE WHICH WAS UNINSTALLED PRIOR TO THE WINDOWS XP UPGRADE.

• NOTE: ONCE AGAIN, THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE BASED SOLELY UPON OUR ExpERIENCES UPGRADING TO WINDOWS XP. YOUR INSTALLATION ExpERIENCES MAY VARY, BUT I DOUBT IT. MICHAEL C. HAYDEN TECHNOLOGY SERVICES IN NO WAY ASSUMES ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY PROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE FROM YOUR INSTALLATION AND/OR UPGRADE OF WINDOWS XP, WHICH INCLUDES DATA LOSS, HARDWARE/ SOFTWARE CONFLICTS, ETC. THIS WEBPAGE OUTLINES THE STEPS WE TOOK TO SAFELY AND SECURELY UPGRADE TO WINDOWS XP.

Send mail to mchts@mchts.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1999 Michael C. Hayden Technology Services
Last modified: 02/27/02