MinMe to XP....I need advice people....

[Guest abent]

Well after a long mental debate I have decided to investigate the plausibility of an OS upgrade and here is my reasoning. I have been told, by a number of people, that WinMe cannot use anything over 512 RAM. Well, what with all the lovely add-ons I'm using - DF734, RCv.3, ActiveSkywxRE and FSFlightMax, I'm kinda getting down on RAM and it shows occasionally. At least I think that's what's causing problems. I actually once got a message to the effect that my system was "dangerously" low on resource. That was scarry!Can I just copy my existing files over to a new HD with a different operating system - I mean, can I get a computer tech to do it?This would allow me to put in more RAM. Do you think I will see a frame rate increase from the change from WinMe to XP. One guy I talked to recently said that WinMe sucked and XP would make my sim a lot faster. I'm in the dark about this. Generally I like WinMe and really haven't had any problems to speak of until now.Anyway I'd appreciate your thoughts on the matter.Happy Holidays all, :-wave Adam

[Guest Andy_YXU]

I do not believe that Windows XP will make your flightsim faster.. I do not think so at all. however I think that they are a lot better then any windows ever I do not think there might have beed more then 2-3 times I pressed the reset button on my computer due to freeze or etc. and if i have then because i was impatient about what winxp was doing and thinking so i just cold booted it.anyways i highly recomend winxp i own it and i am very happy with it.that winME that is soemthing like Microsoft Flight Sim for Win 95 there was a version like this came out some time ago just before FS98 some joke or whatever revenue scam it was :-) heheAs for copying files i believe you have to install a lot of software all over again, that is no doubt, but you can have 2 harddrives connected in your computer and copy what you need slowly in time with windows explorer easliy, but most of the stuff you will have to install all over again and it would only be the smart thing to do.You could begin to run your computer in somehting called doubleboot so it will always give you an option to boot in XP or winME and untill you done copying what you need you can format your old HD and use it for whatever you like.I hope it helps a bitAndy

[Guest ccgr]

Windows XP is better than Me by far. However don't change out your hardware too much, or else you'll have to re-register with MS.

[Guest Stratus_Fractus]

XP is great. Fast and absolutely no crashes from the OS, you can contain almost any program crashes.

[michal 44]

>Do you think I will see a frame rate increase from the >change from WinMe to XP. Absolutely not. You will be more immune to system crashes. I suggest you read extensive article on tomshardware how Win98/WinMe/XP compare for games.Michael J.http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

[Guest kilo_sierra17]

I went from 98 to XP, did a reformat of HD, I am one of those people who always leaves there computer on and I have not had to restart (Except for new software install) for about the last 5 weeks, XP is unbelivably stable, even if something freezes you can always recover.

[Cpudan80 0]

I have to agree, XP is much better and it never crashes! I would highly recommend it. My Win 98SE used to crash once a day or so, now my WinXP crashes once every 6 months if that.Cpudan80 :) :+

[Guest]

>>Can I just copy my existing files over to a new HD with a >different operating system - I mean, can I get a computer >tech to do it? >This would allow me to put in more RAM. >>Adam It's a little more complicated then that.All roads lead to Rome, so that means there are many ways to accomplish the same task.Here is the one that I think is best.Install your new hard drive and make it the master drive (C:)Set up your old as slave drive (D:)Format C: and install WinXP with the NTFS partitionInstall SP1 and all other XP updatesMake sure you have the newest drivers for your hardwareDownload prime95 and 3DMark2002Run prime95 over night and tweak your system however you want, if it is stable you're all set.This gives you the peace of mind that your basic installation is all good to go and if software you install gives you problems, it is a good chance that the software is your problem and not the OS.At this point I always do a full system backup of my new setup, you can do this in XP onto your D: drive (it will save you time if you'd ever install another new HD or need to start from scratch).Now install your software to Win XP, in this example FS2002 Copy D:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFS2002 to C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFS2002Say yes to overwrite all filesYou now have all your add-ons etc on your new drive.This works with most software, the only problem you'd have is, if you installed an update to software that installed new files like DLL's to a different directory like Windowssystem32 and/or modified the registry.In this case you would have to install the update to your new drive.If you ever get a message like "couldn't find blabla.dll in windowssystem directory, all you have to do is; go to your D:wondowssystem directory and find blabla.dll and copy it to your C:windowssystem directory etc. etc.I would suggest to leave the D:drive in its original state for as long as possible, until your new drive has everything installed and you're sure that everything works correctly.In case of an emergency you could always enter the BIOS at bootup and make the D: drive your primary boot device and have everything the way you have it right now.This is also very useful to export your contacts etc. in Outlook and so on.I know it sounds like a lot, but it is well worth it and will save you many headaches in the future.Ohh, one more thing.To access the websites your used to go to, don't forget to copy your favorites and cookies etc.I hope this helps