Minimum specs for WinXP

[Pafet]

I want to install WinXP on my server. It's P150-MMX with 1.2 Gb HD.

I figure I'll need a new HD right? will there be a problem installing on such an old rig? (I've seen somewhere 486 with XP but I know windows checks hardware first so...)

[mrsabidji]

Well, you'll need some RAM too. I installed XP Pro on a PC with 128MB memory and it ran fine. I'd say you'll need at least a 3GB HD too. The slowest PC I installed it on was a 650 PIII, so I can't help you there.

mrsabidji

[netviper13]

Aint gonna happen man...I ran XP on a PII 450 machine w/ 512 megs of RAM here and even with all eye candy turned off it chugged.

Can you get ahold of Win2k Pro? If so, that would certainly be a better chocice than XP for a machine that old.

[saturnotaku]

Originally posted by Pafet
I want to install WinXP on my server. It's P150-MMX with 1.2 Gb HD.

Not a snowball's chance in hell XP will run on that. If you can get a hold of 2000, that should work, although it will be painfully slow. I would even see if I could get a hold of NT4 to run on a machine that old.

To be perfectly honest, that sounds like a perfect machine with which you can get your fingers dirty with Linux. Ask in the forums here, I'm sure at least one member will be happy to assist you with possible distros, how to set it up and get it to communicate with your Windows machines, etc.

[Pafet]

thanks for the replies guys :)

I dont care how my server chugs cause it doed absolutly nothing but stay connected 24/7. I dont plan on restarting it much so loading time aren't important too. It's more of "have you tried it, is it possible" question.

The problem is I have many problems right now with program that need certain ports open which the Win98 ICS (the connection sharing protocol) won't allow. I also ran to some problem with the ICS itself, stoping for no reason. I also believe the XP net support is much better and faster.

about linux.... I have a feeling it'll take too much time for me to try and figure it out and everyone will just "well, is it ready yet? why cant you fix it? i need internet NOW, it's all your fault" :rolleyes: ya know?

[saturnotaku]

Then you best stick with 2000. Get Service Pack 4 and all the updates, and you should be good to go. Now that everything has been straightened out at my house, we haven't needed to reboot our Windows 2000 server in quite some time.

[Pafet]

Cool. tnx very much saturnotaku.

[saturnotaku]

And also FYI if you're still uneasy about 2000, in our house we have our server running 2000, and it's connected to an Apple Airport base station, with my PCs and his Macs running in perfect harmony. :)

[ragejg]

I found XP to be slow but fully functional on a P2/233 with 96mb SDRAM...
... almost acceptable on a P2/333 with 192mb SDRAM...
...and plenty responsive on a Celly 566 with 256mb SDRAM @ 66mhz...

... my $0.02... :)

[B&R]

The slowest comp I have installed xp on was my friends comp. His specs:

P3 500---> OC'ed to 575Mhz.:bleh:
128mb and S3 vid card.

It works fine but ram is a real imp thing if u have very slow processor.

[mrsabidji]

Right. XP really likes RAM. Ideally, you should set up a special HD/partition just for swap and avoid installing any useless peripheral. A server only needs a good network adapter (3com makes marvels there), a basic video card with small drivers (I use an old RageIIc in my workplace's second server (365/24 no trouble at all), works fine so far) and that's all. You won't need XP's ugly new interface either and a 8bit mode desktop is highly sufficient in my opinion (saves some little RAM). Don't forget to shutdown that useless function which automatically backs up your system and I can't remember the name, auto-updates and all those stupid features.

mrsabidji

[Pafet]

:afro: maybe i'll find another old computer that isn't that old... I guess XP isn't an option

[mrsabidji]

Like others said, you could give Win2k a try... it's not that different from XP (win2k=NT5.0;XP=NT5.1). The only real difference I noticed when upgrading from 2k to xp was I could then play games without having to mess around for hours with configuration files.

mrsabidji

PS : I was thinking, you could also try installing NT4.0 instead. I think it would run just fine on your P150MMX.

PPS : or Novell Netware... :rofl
No, seriously, you should try either 2k or NT4

[B&R]

Originally posted by Pafet
:afro: maybe i'll find another old computer that isn't that old... I guess XP isn't an option


hmm yeah win2k or win98SE.

[Smokey]

I hear all the time XP likes ram, and Im not saying it doesnt, but I was really suprised when I installed XP on the wifes old pc which was;

Celeron 433
64mb sdram
TNT
7.5Gb HDD

It did run fine, I ended up unistalling it due to the games she wanted to play, but it ran fine on that system.

One thing to keep in mind is that XP needs about 1Gb of HDD just for the install.

[B&R]

Originally posted by Smokey
I hear all the time XP likes ram, and Im not saying it doesnt, but I was really suprised when I installed XP on the wifes old pc which was;

Celeron 433
64mb sdram
TNT
7.5Gb HDD


WOW!!:eek: yeah it might jus barely work but when you use more than one application.. thats when it starts giving problems.

[Smokey]

Hah, wifes pc was playing up, tried many things, ended up building another pc up just for the moment.

PII 233@300
256mb ram
Matrox G100 4mb
3Com NIC (ISA)
7GB and 25GB HDD

Ive installed XP without any problems, its not even slow booting :eek: thought I would have probs maybe with the ISA NIC, but is working fine.

This is just tying her over, I think her other motherboard is faulty maybe.

[Shion Uzuki]

I have my network machine running this:

Pentium 2 350MHz
Asus P2B
192MB PC100 SDRAM
Wireless NIC (USB)
5GB HDD
Matrox Millennium G550
AOpen AW840 sound
Hooked to 27" TV

Excellent system. Handles basic networking tasks quite well. Starts very fast, and loads apps reasonably fast. Only thing I wish is to get a good monitor to enjoy the Matrox 2D goodness. :p Problem with Marox G-series is they don't display anything on TV if you are not in Windows (i.e. DOS)

So never bothered to install FreeBSD/Linux OS because I doubt they will display anything :rolleyes:

Ok, off topic :p

I'd go for a 5GB+ HDD for XP. I won't worry about the CPU. If you have neither +64MB or a spare HDD, I won't bother installing XP on that machine.