Max out 256 MB. A New Motherboard ???.

A

AIMHIGH520

I max out all 2 three years old computer's MB, but want to change OS to XP Pro. from Win. 98 SE. What do I do apart from buying a new machine ?. A new motherboard is the only option ?. Also will the following specs. be able to handle XP Pro and Tradestation 7 ?. Sony Vaio PCV R547DS with 600 mhz P3, 27 GB ATA hard drive, 128 MB PC 100 SDRAM, max out to 256. And Sony Vaio PCG F390 notebook with 500 mhz P3, 12 GB hard drive, 128 MB SDRAM, max out to 256.
I know clean install is the way to go in terms of upgrade, how do I get the hard drive clean and fresh ?. Is there a software I can buy or is pure manual ?. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

Jonas.
 
xp should run on those ok. if you want a clean install you have to wipe the hd.

1. insert a win 98 start up disk and reboot.
2.at the prompt type. format c: /u
3. then reinstall new os.
 
My advice =

Hire a professional - or a local pc shop to set it up for you. The fact that you don't seem to know the term *format* tells me that you will be likely be much better off hiring this work out to a pro and you will have less time away from trading as a result of getting a pro to do it as opposed to doing it yourself.
 
Quote from plumlazy:

My advice =

Hire a professional - or a local pc shop to set it up for you. The fact that you don't seem to know the term *format* tells me that you will be likely be much better off hiring this work out to a pro and you will have less time away from trading as a result of getting a pro to do it as opposed to doing it yourself.
More...

I am normally a big fan of do-it-yourself, but in this case I suspect PlumLazy is correct. I know my way around computers pretty well, and it still takes me about 8 hours if I do a major system change (like swap mainboards) and reinstall all the software.

A lot of this you can do yourself, but I advise you to consider having somebody else install the hardware and OS.

Also, I encourage you to get more RAM - I'd suggest 512 (I run a gig).
 
They're cheap. Plus, you can avoid downtime if you get a "file copy" program to copy the programs from your present machine to the new one. (I use LapLink, but I'm sure you can find a free file copy utility somewhere on the web.)

If you've never replaced a MB or reinstalled a system from scratch, there's LOTS and LOTS of work and time involved... and more time if things don't go perfectly smoothly (which, they usually don't).

New machine, file copy is you easiest course. If you want to budget, get a Celeron on Athlon machine with a big rebate at one of the big local retailers. Keep your old, fully functional machine as a backup. (It's not worth much as a resale anyway.)
 
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