posted on May 3, 2002 02:20:10 PM
My husband says it's time for me to upgrade to Windows XP (now have Windows 98). We've been checking to make sure all my current "stuff" will work all right on XP.
Have you had any problems with Windows XP regarding launching on AW or on eBay? Thanks in advance. Adele
posted on May 3, 2002 02:23:38 PM
I would like to know too !!
I have had it for 2 months or more and keep putting off installing ~ afraid I will have problems !!
Do you just update your system with that .. you know like over ride 98 ??
posted on May 3, 2002 02:51:07 PM
I upgraded in October when it first came out. You will need to make sure that the drivers for all your peripherals are XP compatable. ( My printer required downloading an updated driver. My digital camera's driver was not upgradable but worked anyway. My web cam is shot. My cable modem's driver is not certified but works. My scanner is incompatable and not upgradable and the new scanner I bought to replace it doesn't work right either even though the driver is XP certified. The list goes on and on. )
On the other hand, the system seems to be less crash prone. It has a software compatability wizard which allow XP to emulate Win 98, 95, ME, or NT/2000 if your software ran better on that OS.
Some games have problems on XP that the compatability wizard cannot fix. ( "The Sims" for example may experience sound problems amoung other things ) But there are usually work-arounds available - you will just have to contact the various tech support people.
Lotus Approach does not run on XP unless you have the new version. Microsoft Works will work but there are quirks. WordPerfect runs fine as does Quatro Pro.
Bottom line: Would I upgrade? Yes. But I would not upgrade when I did.
posted on May 3, 2002 04:41:11 PM
I've been using XP since Jan. I haven't had any problems with upgrades. I used XP as an excuse to purchase a new scanner. My printers are all supported. I always use a usb flash reader for my digital cam.
I can tell you I have yet to get that oh so wonderful blue screen. My system has been quite stable.
I haven't encountered any problems with eBay. I use Mr.Lister and it works the same as it always did.
posted on May 3, 2002 06:45:07 PM
I have both Windows XP and Office XP (aka Office 2002) on a Pentium3 machine. No problems with either. I needed to update my ZIP disk software to fix a very minor glitch, and it took a while to get an XP-updated driver for my Epson scanner (I used a backup W98 computer for scanning until this was resolved) but all my software works. No crashes, starts up quick even with 512 RAM, closes quickly, and there are some nice little features that previously needed a separate app (such as much better image handling than W98). It has a nice look compared with W98 (I don't know how the interim versions looked). I'd say "Go for it."
posted on May 3, 2002 06:48:54 PM
A big thanks to all of you for your informative answers! I appreciate it very much. I guess we'll go through with it.
posted on May 3, 2002 06:50:14 PM
PS to gina50 - You have a choice of installs. You can do an upgrade of W98, which leaves existing files untouched, or you can do a compete installation, which apparently wipes out everything. The upgrade install went fast and smooth. Just make sure you don't choose the wrong one!!
posted on May 4, 2002 03:18:10 PM
I bought my mom a new computer about 18 months ago and it came loaded with ME. Everytime she'd call me and tell me she couldn't get it to work right, I'd tell her, "go to such and such and ...". That's when I found out that ME and 98 are so different I couldn't help her at all over the phone.
My new Dell came preloaded with XP and I was anticipating the same problems. I had NO problems. First thing I did was buy the XP for Dummies book, and I had it read and highlighted before my computer even got here.
I transferred all my data over and a few programs, "Office 2000", several Financial software programs that ran well on my 98 and still run well on my XP.
The Dummies book talks about when you have older programs that just won't work on XP, you can put them in their own section of the hard drive, and trick XP into letting those older programs think they are running on the version of Windows that they need. I think XP is the greatest, it's like they finally fixed all the bugs on all the other versions and XP is the result. I wouldn't touch ME if the computer was free.
Not my name on ebay.
posted on May 4, 2002 10:44:11 PM
So far everything that I have connected to my PC with XP has worked, the drivers were there and I didn't even have to use the software that came with the peripheral.
I was really surprised when I plugged in a 2 year old joystick, and it worked without installing the drivers.
One thing I don't like about XP and you will not realize without a firewall is that it seems that XP and every application on the PC tries to access the internet for "upgrades" everytime you start the PC or access the internet. If you don't have a firewall, you won't even realize that the applications are accessing sites. I call it the ET syndrome, the applications keep trying to phone home. It may slow down your surfing if you have a dial up access.
Also, any MS software you have, you better have the keys to it or it won't install on XP. I have MS Street Finder from about 3 years ago and couldn't find the key if my life depended on it. XP will not allow me to use the Street Finder CD on the XP PC.
Other than the things mentioned, I have no complaints.
posted on May 5, 2002 07:09:20 AM
I have window's XP,and i have no problem's it was much different them window's 95 when i work on the windows xp comp. its now so easy and when i work on the windows 95 that i avoid that's a different story. after experimenting with little things i love windows XP .it takes the guess work out of loading pictures compared to windows 95 and hunting for them , and Well worth the investment .i have no problems yet and i've been using it as of jan.
