anybody good with computers?

[DravensBird02]

my hard drive is about to crap out on me, according to my computer (Compaq). Thing is, I've never worked on computers before. But from what everyone tells me, it's not that hard to swap out a hard drive for a bigger/faster one.

The problem is, my computer is about 4 years old. I ordered it custom from Compaq. It has a pentium III w/733 mhz. 128 MB SDRAM and Windows 98SE. I'm wondering what kinds of problems I would face, updgrading to Windows XP. I read somewhere that I don't have to buy the full version, just the upgrade if I have my original Win 98 disk. However, I don't have that disk. I have the recovery disk that comes with the computer that has win 98 on it.

Basically, here's what I want to do and I was wondering if anyone could help me out:

1)New internal Hard Drive with more memory.
2)Install Windows XP Home Edition
3)And, use my existing, preinstalled programs/hardware on my computer such as my Sound Card, Graphics card, DVD, CD-RW, Floppy, Zip Drive, Modem.
4)Install new video editing programs (I basically want to turn my computer into a Video Editing Studio)
5)And add a DVD burner. (All I have is a player.)


What kinds of conflicts can I expect? What are some good books that I could read that would help? Any input would be appreciated.Thanks Y'all.

[epic]

Windows XP Home Edition will recognize about 95% of the hardware previously installed on your system. A better bet would be to check out microsoft.com and use their tool to detect if your system is up-to-par.

In terms of a Hardrive, I wouldn't go with anything smaller then a 40GB drive. Most likely, you're running ATA100, so I doubt ATA133 would serve a purpose for you unless you start modding your computer.

You should also get two 256MB SDRam chips, if you want to maximize how your computer performs in terms of loading. Windows XP is known to hog many more resources when compared to it's older versions for obvious reasons.

A DVD Burner will run you about $100-$200 depending on where you purchase it. Check out www.vcdhelp.com and click DVD Writers to figure what drive best suits your needs. I'd recommend reading customer reviews rather then reading biased computer-magazine reviews where they get paid to talk up a sponsor.

NOW if you plan on doing video editing - buy a new computer. There's no way that thing will do what you want it to do without a major rehaul. I financed mine through Gateway and I love the thing. I don't do videoediting, but I know if I want to - this thing will handle it. If you're tight for cash, I'd go with financing a computer.

That's what I think atleast...

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

You can easily run windows XP home, just add more RAM to be safe side.

You *might* not be able to use some of your hardware after upgrading the Win XP. For example i had 98 SE and i upgradedt to WinXP and i cant use my scanner now, also i had to uninstall some software that wasnt compatible with WinXP.

Basiclly if you just want to upgrade from SE, the install keeps the 98SE core files, so the install should take long as if you were doing a full install.

[DravensBird02]

thanks for the info. Yeah, a lot of people have said that i would need a whole new computer for video editing. So that's what I'll do. I've been looking at Sony's computers. Expensive as hell but maybe worth the price of admission.

I will definitely updgrade my computer as much as possible but use it mainly for basic home office stuff I guess. Thanks again for the info. Also.....NICE FREAKIN' CAR EPIC!! WOW!!!!

[Tyler]

if you want video editing.. go with the apple g4, or whatever the latest one is..

my friend is a video/multimedia major, and compared to his apple, the latest and greatest PC's are horrible.

[DravensBird02]

what's your friend going to do with his major (degree)once he graduates?

[ June 04, 2004, 04:37 PM: Message edited by: DravensBird02 ]

[hawgs]

Originally posted by DravensBird02:
what's your friend going to do with his major once he graduates?

Probably frame it... thats what I am going to do. With a nice frame too, something dark but classy, perhaps a nice mahogany frame would work. I am not sure yet.

[Tyler]

he will frame it and most likely get a job.. lol

i dont know i'll have to ask him

[DravensBird02]

Originally posted by hawgs:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by DravensBird02:
what's your friend going to do with his major once he graduates?

Probably frame it... thats what I am going to do. With a nice frame too, something dark but classy, perhaps a nice mahogany frame would work. I am not sure yet. </font>[/QUOTE][img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img] nice

[Zell]

I'm running 2.8 gig processor and xp still slows ones in a while, it is a system hog and will probably run slow on 733megs. If you want to pay for another computer I would definately recommend you do that for what you are trying to do. The toshiba satellite will give you very few problems if you want to go portable.

[hawgs]

I have a P3 667 mHZ and running XP fine. I also have 256 mb of ram though.

[DravensBird02]

Then should I just stick with Win 98 and save up for a new computer?