Stuart,
I also have a PBell (MM955) PC, with a 333mhz CPU w/128mb RAM, and this PC did not run well with XP, to say it nicely. Before upgrading to XP from Win98. The minimums that MS state on their website, may be appropriate for new machines. But I feel that they are not accurate.
Consider the following:
1. You will need to have at least 256mb of RAM, 512mb or more, is preferred. So if your motherboard doesn't support at least 256mb, you should not upgrade to XP, or you will need a motherboard upgrade.
2. You should also have a PC with at least 500mhz cpu on it. Only my personal opinion.
3. You should upgrade your HDD, to at least 20GB, based on the way XP handles the "pagefile" (swapfile) & system restore features of XP. You will see the "free space" disappear quickly, on a 6GB HDD.
--
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The Windows XP CD is bootable and contains all the tools necessary
to partition and format your drive. Follow this procedure and allow
Windows XP to partition and format your drive:
NOTE: It would be best to physically disconnect all your peripheral hardware
devices, except for you mouse and keyboard, before installing XP.
1. Open your BIOS and set your CD Drive as the first bootable device.
===> Accessing Motherboard BIOS
===>
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm
2. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot your computer.
3. You'll see a message to boot to the CD....follow the instructions.
4. The setup menu will appear and you should elect to delete the existing
Windows partitions, then create a new partition, then format the primary
partition (preferably NTFS) and proceed to install Windows XP.
5. Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]
6. After Windows XP is installed, visit the Windows Update website
and download the available "Critical Updates".
7. After installing the critical updates, be sure and visit the support website
of the manufacturer of the computer to download and install any
available Windows XP compatible drivers, such as video adapter
and audio drivers.
--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
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| Hi
| I have a tired Packard Bell Win 98 400MHz with 6 GB hard drive system.
| The PC has become very tired and sometimes I recieve the blue screen
| of death!!! I want to reformat my computer and have read various
| guides and tutorials that tell me how to do it. I know that have to
| create a boot disc and backup important files. But I want to install
| Windows XP and need to know if I need to create a Win 98 boot disc or
| just insert the XP CD. If I just insert the CD, will the drivers be
| there for the CD drive
|
| Any pointers from someone who knows more about this than me would
| greatly appreciated.
