Win 2k/XP Pro/7Pro

[enslow]

I came across an old thread that luckily for everyone I could not resurrect (not that I would) regarding the difference between 2k and XP Pro. I always liked win2k because it was rock solid. I rarely had a crash that I could not recover from without rebooting the computer, which was not the case with the old Win98. I understand that a lot of that was because win2k was built on winNT which was a true operating system in itself and not one built on top of MSDOS like win98.

I have been given an Aspire E500 desktop with win XP Home. Already, the virus checker destroyed an important file from the e-recovery, and I've had several problems where the system could not even be shut down. I cannot find anywhere what XP Home is built on. Is it just another version of the MSDOS based Windows? Or is it built on the same platform as Win2k? Or am I completely out to lunch?

Given that XP Home/Pro systems are no longer supported, and probably unavailable, what is the story with Windows 7 and 7 Pro? Is it worth me upgrading or will I be taxing the resources of the Aspire E500? I believe this computer was purchased in 2005.

[oracleguy]

XP, Vista and 7 are all based on the NT line. The MSDOS based Windows line died with Windows ME.

What are the specs on the laptop? Especially how much RAM does it have? Windows 7 might work ok on it, it depends.

[enslow]

Thanks for your reply. I'm pleased to hear that all XP versions are based on the NT line. As for Windows 7, the Microsoft site recommends at least a Gig of Ram and this machine is under that. I think several things have been happening. First, my father was using Kaspersky for a virus checker. I'm sure it works well if you are careful. My first night with the machine I tried using the eRecovery and Kaspersky quarantined an autorun file. It seems quite trigger happy. I've used Avast! for the last few years without any problems, so I'll probably switch back to that.

The second issue is that he had a ton of programs on the machine, some of which he stopped using long ago, and many of which I won't be using. In my experiences with Win2k, a fresh install onto a formatted hard drive really speeds up the computer. Since I will not be using most of the programs on this machine, I'll go ahead and reinstall his Win XP.

Some have said that if you don't use the 2nd disk, you can leave off the media centre stuff, which wil also keep Windows from disabling some of the Pro features. I will try that, but I'll have to figure out what Acer disk to finish with to achieve the same.

[enslow]

hmm, i like win 7


That's fine as long as it's compatible with all your software and hardware. My father's Cannon scanner won't work with Win 7 and there are plenty of discussions about trying different drivers, none of which seem to work.