Old laptop

[thedelbwa]

My mate is due to give me an old laptop with Windows Millennium Edition on it....how easy would it be for me to install XP, clear the cr*p off it and get a good broadband connection on it? I suppose this would depend on the memory, etc....some advice would be appreciated. Ta

[Paulst30]

How old is the laptop?

Can you post the specs here to see whether its worth it, if its Windows ME i'm guesing pretty old, however they might just like that OS and i could be wrong.

XP machines need at least 512Mb of memory to start with and a little gerbil in a ball to save battery power (joke)

[vehelpfulguy]

XP needs a far more powerful machine than ME ever did.

If the laptop came out when ME was current then I doubt that it will be able to run XP.

Also remember that laptops often need special hardware drivers, and these may not have been written for XP for your laptop.

[Ethel]

I have an ME laptop which is fine for browsing the internet and wordprocessing.

It hooks up to my wireless network no problem - but there is no way it would run XP. It's 6 or 7 years old.

[ACtheTROLL]

Quickest way to resolve the problem
how much RAM? - if less than 128Mb ... probably not (without buying more anyway)!

Next go to the manufacturer's website and look for XP drivers ...
if there are some ... it will probably work (could be very slow though)
if no drivers ... and you have the original recovery disc ... try it out .. all it will cost is time ...

if no recovery disc ... just learn to live with your new free friend.

Lots of retailers - currys, comet etc sold laptops bundles very cheap - they were re-badged and came with a "capped" oem version of ME - in this case the cap was based on the machine's chipset hardware .... and the contract was that XP drivers wouldn't be made available (to force ppl into buying again rather than upgrading)

(it is sometimes possible to find alternative drivers .... but could tke many hours searching the bulletin boards)

[ACtheTROLL]

Sorry ... missed the broadband bit .... this could cause another problem.

If it's an ME machine it will almost probably have USB1 not 2 which could affect using a broadband modem

If it does the best (only?) option would be to use a router + a PCMCIA ethernet adapter

more RAM + router + ethernet ....you are edging up the bill with every "must" (get some prices BEFORE you start.)
a cheap new lappy will have everything you need .... and could well last longer.

Here's What You Need to Use Windows XP Professional
� PC with 300 megahertz or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233 MHz minimum required (single or dual processor system);* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended
� 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)
� 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available hard disk space*
� Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution video adapter and monitor
� CD-ROM or DVD drive
� Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

[thedelbwa]

Thanks for all your help - may be just as easy to kindly turn down my mate's offer, and buy a current, up-to-date laptop, capable of running everything I need, without too much fuss.