Jenny said:
Hi,
I'm absolutely hopeless with computers so i'm looking for
a website that will EXPLAIN (not just give
dry "engineerese" instructions) any or all of the
following:
This newsgroup is a good place to ask. But I never had 2000, so I don't think
I can help much. I am not am expert, but I'll try.
As far as sites - do a search in Internet Explorer for specific words. You'll
find lots of sites to choose from that may answer your questions. Like use
in the search field "upgrade windows 2000". The sites listed first will have
more of the words in your search than the one's listed farther down. Then you
just click on the links from the list and take a look, one at a time.
1. How to go from Windows 2000 pro to XP. (Is this an
upgrade? do I need to back up all my 2K Pro files first?)
Since Windows 2000 is a Pro version, I do not think you can upgrade to XP home
version. So if an upgrade CD is possible to buy, you'd have to go XP Pro
version. Upgrades are not cheap either - cheaper than buying XP outright, but
still not cheap. if your computer is working well enough, consider staying
with Win 2000. I think you are looking at like $170 for a pro upgrade.
2. How to decide which drive (partition is same meaning?)
to install programs on. I have 2 drives and some programs
are duplicated on both -- it's a mess!
Your operating system should be on your C: drive, just to avoid any probs that
might crop up. A partition is using the same Hard drive, but splitting it up,
so to your operating system, it looks like 2 hard drives. If you do end up
getting XP, don't bother with any partitions of a hard drive. It won't help
anything. In fact I don't think you can so it unless you use some 3rd party
software. But if you have two hard drives, and are going to keep win 2000,
there is no reason you should have duplicated software on the 2nd, unless it
was being used for backing up your C; drive, in case it ever crashed. Also,
it is best to do a clean install of XP. So you better back-up stuff like
movies and music. Have you saved copies of every program you've downloaded
and installed? This is a good idea to get in the habit of doing.. If you do
have a 2nd hard drive and not a partition, you could copy this stuff to the
2rd drive, then install XP on the C: drive.
3. Which files to back up
personal stuff, movies, pictures, music, text files. I save every program I
have ever downloaded into a folder on my C: drive. I have an external that I
only turn on to copy this stuff over. if you are on broadband, it is not too
time consuming to download this stuff again and install it, but if you are
dial up, you are screwed if you didn't save these programs in the
pre-installed state, because it is going to take time. And at dial up speeds,
windows XP upgrades will take hours. I remember being on dial up and having
to get service pack 1 - took 4 hours.
4. What's a partition? What does "boot" mean? What else do
I need to know if I want to install an OS?
partition I hope I answered already. Boot - that's like start-up. Boot your
system (start-up your computer),
See what I mean? Hopeless!
You are not hopeless - it takes you to reach a certain level of learning this
stuff, then all of a sudden everything starts falling into place in your mind
and it becomes fun when you learn something new. But getting going - getting
to that 'comfort' point, takes some self-teaching. Keep reading stuff, and
clicking on titles here in this newsgroup to se what's up. I have been
computing a little over a year now and still learn here. But I have gotten to
the point where I have even put up my own website. (It is very cheap to do).
Thanks so much to anyone who can help!!!!!
Maybe some?
...D.
