Hi. I have a Gateway computer with the following: 1) a 1400-MHz
Pentium 4 processor, 2) 256 MB of RAM, and 3) 40 GB of hard-drive
space.
The computer is running Windows Millennium Edition (ME).
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I've had this computer for years, and I never bought a printer for it.
Now, I am interested in buying a printer. Unfortunately, I have found
out that some printers that are currently on the market may be
incompatible with the Windows ME operating system.
So, my first question is the following: Which printers currently on
the market are compatible with Windows ME?
There are many, but I have no idea which. Check the printer
manufacturers's web sites. Or in Windows Me, go to Control Panel |
Printers | Add Printer, and you will find a long list of supported
printers. Then Google them to see what you can buy.
If no printers are compatible,
That is *certainly* not true. There will be *many* compatible
printers.
then that leaves me with two other
options:
1) Upgrade my Windows ME operating system to Windows XP Home Edition.
This would involve buying the UPGRADE version of XP Home, NOT the full
version.
No. You *can* buy either the Full Retail or Upgrade versions. You
*should* however, buy the Upgrade, since it's much less expensive and
would meet your needs.
A friend has told me that installing the upgrade version would mean
that the XP Home would be installed on top of the ME.
Your friend is *not* correct. You could do that or you could clean
install the Upgrade.
The requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a previous
qualifying version's installation CD (with an OEM restore CD, see
below), not to have it installed. When setup doesn't find a previous
qualifying version installed, it will prompt you to insert its CD as
proof of ownership. Just insert the previous version's CD, and follow
the prompts. Everything proceeds quite normally and quite
legitimately.
You can also do a clean installation if you have an OEM restore CD of
a previous qualifying version. It's more complicated, but it *can* be
done. First restore from the Restore CD. Then run the XP upgrade CD
from within that restored system, and change from Upgrade to New
Install. When it asks where, press Esc to delete the partition and
start over.
This would
result in two operating systems being on one computer,
No, it doesn't mean that at all. You can do a clean installation or an
over-the-top upgrade. Neither results in two operating systems being
on the computer. The upgrade results in XP replacing Me, and very
little of the old Me is kept.
You *could* also do a side-by-side installation, which would result in
both being there at once, but it doesn't at all sound like that's what
you want.
which would
mean an unstable computer.
Nope, not at all. None of the three options (clean installation,
upgrade, or side-by-side) should result in an unstable computer.
2) Format my hard drive, thereby erasing the hard drive. Then install
the full version of XP Home.
This is what my friend recommends. However, I feel that this solution
is a little extreme.
Your friend is very much wrong. The Full version is not required to do
this, as I said above. If you do decide to go to XP, buy the Upgrade
version and do an upgrade installation. Although many people will tell
you that formatting and installing cleanly is the best way to go, I
disagree. Unlike with previous versions of Windows, an upgrade to XP
replaces almost everything, and usually works very well.
My recommendation is to at least try the upgrade, since it's much
easier than a clean installation. You can always change your mind and
reinstall cleanly if problems develop.
However, don't assume that doing an upgrade relieves you of the need
to backup your data, etc. before beginning. Before starting to
upgrade, it's always prudent to recognize that things like a sudden
power loss can occur in the middle of it and cause the loss of
everything. For that reason you should make sure you have backups and
anything else you need to reinstall if the worst happens.
One more point: if you do decide to upgrade to XP, be aware that your
computer is close to the bottom range of hardware that will support XP
adequately. How much RAM you need for good performance varies. You get
good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using
the page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most people
running a typical range of business applications find that somewhere
around 256-384MB works well, others need 512MB. Almost anyone will see
poor performance with less than 256MB. Some people, particularly those
doing things like editing large photographic images, can see a
performance boost by adding even more than 512MB--sometimes much more.
So, depending on your needs, you may find that you need to upgrade
your RAM. Also note that a 40GB hard drive is *tiny* these days, and
you may quickly outgrow it if you run XP.
Finally, if you need to buy more RAM, a new hard drive, and a copy of
Windows XP, you may find that the best and least expensive way to do
this is to buy a whole new inexpensive computer from a vendor like
Dell or Gateway.
But if you are happy with your current computer and operating system,
clearly the easiest and least expensive way to go is to buy one of the
many available printers that will work with Me.
