Flasche Posted January 20, 2014 Posted January 20, 2014 Very recently I found both of windows xp installations disks. Of course I still have to update the ram and all, but this pc has no OS installed on it. Out of necessity which one would be better for it.
Guest Posted January 20, 2014 Posted January 20, 2014 Pro, without question. Home has nothing to differentiate it from Pro except for being crippled by comparison.
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted January 20, 2014 Posted January 20, 2014 Pro is better. But are they OEM or retail discs? Look for the Dell or Compaq or whatever printing on the distribution disc. Microsoft discs have hologram graphics. You see, if the computer is an OEM machine ( e.g., Dell ) then you really should use the version that came with it ( specified on the sticker ) so that you benefit from the pre-activated state ( usually ) and the lack of hardware change worries that the retail and system builder versions of Windows XP included. Naturally the WinXP discs might be RTM ( or SP1 or SP2 ) so there's something else to worry about, particularly if the computer has a recent large HDD which I believe cannot safely partition the drive. So there are some things besides version to consider.
Flasche Posted January 20, 2014 Author Posted January 20, 2014 (edited) I have both OEM and retail disc versions for both versions of xp. Weirdly though it wont except the activation code.EDIT: Both are SP1 Edited January 20, 2014 by Flasche
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted January 20, 2014 Posted January 20, 2014 Don't take this the wrong way, but the discs need to be legal of course, preferably the distribution disc. The retail version ( and system builder ) will come with an activation code. The OEM discs that came with OEM computers do not have a code which leads to the question of what code would you even enter for that one? Normally you don't need a code ( on retailed purchased OEM system ) since the disc install routine installs with a generic key you never see and when you go to activate it picks up the OEM status and proceeds without prompting for a key ( the disc routine verifies that the proper string exists in the computer BIOS ). I guess there must be other variations but that's the most painless way possible. Maybe you are using the wrong disc for the computer? Actually you haven't said enough to make any real suggestions. Type of computer, real description of the discs, Windows XP sticker on the computer. A homebuilt computer requires a legal retail or system builder version of Windows XP ( comes with a hologram disc and sticker and code ). Any exception to that rule would and should never be discussed here. You *will* need to enter the long code during install unless you create a pre-activated disc using your own legal code ( and later service pack and whatever customizing, see Nlite ). A manufacturer computer has a sticker and came with a corresponding re-install distribution disc ( at least early on, but later that might not be true ). Many times I have had to locate the equivalent OEM disc ( sometimes this is easy as many Dells are interchangeable, sometimes not so easy ). In that case the first concern is Home or Pro ( see the sticker ) and secondarily the same date, or perhaps newer ( because they may have changed the generic key, and may have expanded their allowable list of BIOS coded systems that a later disc can install on legally ). This reminds me of all the warnings Microsoft received about going down this path in the first place with Office XP and then Windows XP. We knew they were going to mix up versions ( Home/Pro SKU hell ) and methods ( WPA hardware voting versus BIOS SLP ) and then you add in Service Packs and multinational concerns ( then finally 32/64 and Win2k3) and you have this kind of fun. Yay. Not content with the relatively small selection in XP they went hog wild in Vista+, but at least they squeezed all the SKU's onto single disc ( keeping 32/64 separate though ).
Flasche Posted January 20, 2014 Author Posted January 20, 2014 Don't take this the wrong way, but the discs need to be legal of course, preferably the distribution disc. The retail version ( and system builder ) will come with an activation code. The OEM discs that came with OEM computers do not have a code which leads to the question of what code would you even enter for that one? Normally you don't need a code ( on retailed purchased OEM system ) since the disc install routine installs with a generic key you never see and when you go to activate it picks up the OEM status and proceeds without prompting for a key ( the disc routine verifies that the proper string exists in the computer BIOS ). I guess there must be other variations but that's the most painless way possible. Maybe you are using the wrong disc for the computer?Actually you haven't said enough to make any real suggestions. Type of computer, real description of the discs, Windows XP sticker on the computer.A homebuilt computer requires a legal retail or system builder version of Windows XP ( comes with a hologram disc and sticker and code ). Any exception to that rule would and should never be discussed here. You *will* need to enter the long code during install unless you create a pre-activated disc using your own legal code ( and later service pack and whatever customizing, see Nlite ).A manufacturer computer has a sticker and came with a corresponding re-install distribution disc ( at least early on, but later that might not be true ). Many times I have had to locate the equivalent OEM disc ( sometimes this is easy as many Dells are interchangeable, sometimes not so easy ). In that case the first concern is Home or Pro ( see the sticker ) and secondarily the same date, or perhaps newer ( because they may have changed the generic key, and may have expanded their allowable list of BIOS coded systems that a later disc can install on legally ).This reminds me of all the warnings Microsoft received about going down this path in the first place with Office XP and then Windows XP. We knew they were going to mix up versions ( Home/Pro SKU hell ) and methods ( WPA hardware voting versus BIOS SLP ) and then you add in Service Packs and multinational concerns ( then finally 32/64 and Win2k3) and you have this kind of fun. Yay. Not content with the relatively small selection in XP they went hog wild in Vista+, but at least they squeezed all the SKU's onto single disc ( keeping 32/64 separate though ).No offense taken man and I can assure you these discs are legit they got the seal on them. Now about me sorry if I'm confusing but I'm no IT professional. Click this link so you can understand me better and maybe help me their too http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/170857-greetings-and-help-request/ . Any way though I recently found my discs in a nice case in my basement. (discs state for distribution with a new pc) Now about the pentium 3 I have no idea about it, heck I didn't even know we had one till I locked in the basement. The reason why the activation code didn't work was because I accidentally used the one for home edition instead of pro *embarrassment* but the code on the case worked.
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) Well that disc "for distribution with a new pc" describes an typical factory OEM distribution disc ( of various colors and *no* hologram ). It is labeled with the manufacturer of the PC it came with ( you haven't mentioned this OEM name yet, somewhere on the disc will be Hewlett Packard or Compaq or Dell etc ).The service pack of the disc is not that important if it is at least SP1 ( which you said it is ) because that one or newer will work on later HDD's ( except for SATA which is another different concern ).You also need to provide more details about this computer. Since you said "no idea" I am assuming it is NOT an OEM system at all ( they are prominently branded ), so it must be a home-built unit ( unless someone stuck a Dell or HP into a 3rd party case? ). To find out what you have you'll need to examine the motherboard, look for large lettering right on the board itself and takes some photos and maybe someone can identify it for you which should lead you to the proper drivers.Keep in mind that working from all these assumptions, I'm sorry to say that it does NOT look like you can use this disc for this computer in any way. As homebuilt computer will simply not contain the information in the BIOS that the OEM disc requires ( and any discussion of bypassing this is not allowed ). So you would need to get yourself either a legal Windows XP "full retail" or "System Builder" version ( it must include a hologram disc AND a sticker AND a code or else it is likely counterfeit so be careful ).Furthermore, there are several hardware issues you should be aware of. Pentium III processors ( except for the absolute last few over 1 GHz ) are going to be painful with Windows XP. In general Win9x and Win2k are a much much better fit ( even the first generation Pentium 4 Willamette sucked on Windows XP! ).Also, the BIOS and chipsets of this era were IMHO crappy. Although some disagree, I cannot recommend the i810 and i815 or any Via models. I use year approximately 2001 as the cutoff for systems I can tolerate, after the Y2k fixes were made and after the HDD UDMA transition was complete. We went through several HDD issues in the BIOS's pre-2000 and all *except* for the LBA issue were pretty much solved around Y2k. IMHO, at i845 the computers got more reliable because of all the fixes, the chipsets did much more onboard and the software drivers simply got better. The consequence of this is that the earlier the chipset, the lower the probability that a newer HDD would even be recognized or be used at its faster speed ( you don't want to be stuck in PIO mode on a UDMA HDD, it is like running a modern computer stuck in SAFE MODE or "Compatibility Mode" slow motion ).And there's more. The older the chipset the less RAM they could manage. The best case scenario is that the system you have uses plain old SDRAM ( DDR came later, I think 2003 ) and as if that's not bad enough, there were limits on RAM size per slot ( one computer could use up to 32 MB per stick, another 64 MB, another 256 MB ), mixing and matching was also a hit or miss possibility. The reason this is important is that most people will agree that Windows XP requires lots more RAM than originally specified to run well, I would say a minimum of 512 MB personally. Less than that means more disk swapping and combined with a possibly slow HDD means the whole experience will simply be horrible.So you just might wind up successfully locating a legal WinXP retail disc but not even be able to use it. Totally my opinion, but I would suggest you try to find nothing older than an i865 system with USB 2, socket 478 Northwood CPU or newer, and at least 80/120 GB HDD ( again, SATA adds a new but not impossible headache for Windows XP ). Such systems are typically thrown away here in the USA, even later ones, I'm sure there must be a way you can obtain something better if you want to play with Windows XP.Unless you have some more info we haven't seen to change these assumptions then it's probably best to keep that old board for Win9x or Win2k. Edited January 21, 2014 by CharlotteTheHarlot
Flasche Posted January 21, 2014 Author Posted January 21, 2014 Thanks for your replies and help. I found out that Pentium 3 was and i865 system with 256 mb of ram. It has a logo on the front which has the letter VTC in it, but I will take your advice and save it for Win2k. On other note I will be testing the Installing discs in a virtual machine to try and figure out what OEM it is. (disk said it was an OEM but didn't say the company) As for installing windows XP, well I still have two more computers (both not Pentiums and custom built for windows XP) I can try, but if I have issues with them I will post them.I will now start my hunt for the Windows XP retail disc and I thank you for your help I really apreaciate it. ( If I causing you any trouble please tell me since I'm new to forums )
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 Thanks for your replies and help. I found out that Pentium 3 was and i865 system with 256 mb of ram. It has a logo on the front which has the letter VTC in it, but I will take your advice and save it for Win2k. On other note I will be testing the Installing discs in a virtual machine to try and figure out what OEM it is. (disk said it was an OEM but didn't say the company) As for installing windows XP, well I still have two more computers (both not Pentiums and custom built for windows XP) I can try, but if I have issues with them I will post them.I will now start my hunt for the Windows XP retail disc and I thank you for your help I really apreaciate it. ( If I causing you any trouble please tell me since I'm new to forums )How did you determine i865 ( or was it a typo ) ?i865 is not a Pentium III era chipset. Can you get photos of the motherboard? To identify this properly you should get a wide shot photo of the whole board, closeups of the text lettering, and one of the back I/O panel. Also a photo of one of the RAM sticks.How did you determine the CPU is Pentium III? Is the CPU a slot mount or normal socket mount? There are many Celerons ( and all kinds of early pre-2004 chips ) that do not read correctly in CpuZ and require the Intel DOS utility ( can't remember the name now ).
Flasche Posted January 21, 2014 Author Posted January 21, 2014 Thanks for your replies and help. I found out that Pentium 3 was and i865 system with 256 mb of ram. It has a logo on the front which has the letter VTC in it, but I will take your advice and save it for Win2k. On other note I will be testing the Installing discs in a virtual machine to try and figure out what OEM it is. (disk said it was an OEM but didn't say the company) As for installing windows XP, well I still have two more computers (both not Pentiums and custom built for windows XP) I can try, but if I have issues with them I will post them.I will now start my hunt for the Windows XP retail disc and I thank you for your help I really apreaciate it. ( If I causing you any trouble please tell me since I'm new to forums ) How did you determine i865 ( or was it a typo ) ?i865 is not a Pentium III era chipset. Can you get photos of the motherboard? To identify this properly you should get a wide shot photo of the whole board, closeups of the text lettering, and one of the back I/O panel. Also a photo of one of the RAM sticks.How did you determine the CPU is Pentium III? Is the CPU a slot mount or normal socket mount? There are many Celerons ( and all kinds of early pre-2004 chips ) that do not read correctly in CpuZ and require the Intel DOS utility ( can't remember the name now ).Yes that was a typo, though since I'm not very profound in hardware or software I could of easily made a mistake of determining what it is. As for the photos I can not do that today but I can get you them and post them tomorrow if that is ok.
submix8c Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 If you have actually been able to install XP on it, you could maybe run CPUz/CPUid on it -or- Belarc (all free). Odd that the discs didn't say the OEM.
Flasche Posted January 22, 2014 Author Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) Sorry if its a late post but a promise is a promise.If you have actually been able to install XP on it, you could maybe run CPUz/CPUid on it -or- Belarc (all free). Odd that the discs didn't say the OEM. Well unfortunaently I didnt think of that at the time but oh well. *embarrassment*Here are the pics https://plus.google.com/photos/104106276303758772879/albums/5971573098173679217You can post comments on my Album their too. I will respond to google plus.EDIT: If you want any more pics I'll add them to this album Edited January 22, 2014 by Flasche
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted January 23, 2014 Posted January 23, 2014 In the last photo ...- The left disc, does it match this one? If so it is Full Retail Pro and *can* be used on any computer ( one at a time naturally! ).- The right disc is very hard to see, does it match this one? If so it is probably Home Edition OEM System Builder and for all practical purposes can be used the same way.The Motherboard...- You need a wide shot showing the whole board. All I can see for sure is "Made in China", it has ATI Rage graphics ( 128 MB ), Award BIOS, and PCI Slots. With a full board photo ( take a few ) we can tell where the motherboard stenciling is and then you will later need to zoom in on that and get another closeup ( none of your existing photos shows it ). BTW, the CPU is also not shown, or the RAM or the back I/O panel.But at least you *do* apparently have two useful copies of Windows XP which could be useful if you have a decent computer ( one fast enough to be tolerable ). Naturally you would want to use the Pro copy.
Flasche Posted January 23, 2014 Author Posted January 23, 2014 (edited) In the last photo ...- The left disc, does it match this one? If so it is Full Retail Pro and *can* be used on any computer ( one at a time naturally! ).- The right disc is very hard to see, does it match this one? If so it is probably Home Edition OEM System Builder and for all practical purposes can be used the same way.The first nearly matches it only difference are the SPs and its an upgrade. (not a problem I have plenty of other legit windows install discs I can use to get to xp) And the other one is not home edition both discs I showed are Pro editions. Though I do have more than 3 of those exact Home editions discs you showed.The Motherboard...- You need a wide shot showing the whole board. All I can see for sure is "Made in China", it has ATI Rage graphics ( 128 MB ), Award BIOS, and PCI Slots. With a full board photo ( take a few ) we can tell where the motherboard stenciling is and then you will later need to zoom in on that and get another closeup ( none of your existing photos shows it ). BTW, the CPU is also not shown, or the RAM or the back I/O panel.But at least you *do* apparently have two useful copies of Windows XP which could be useful if you have a decent computer ( one fast enough to be tolerable ). Naturally you would want to use the Pro copy.You want a picture of the whole board... shure. I removed it from the case just to take those pictures. I shall update the ulbum momentary and post a link to the updated one . ( It has two 256mb of ram (sdr?) why you need the io panel beats me but ok.But at least you *do* apparently have two useful copies of Windows XP...Why are you doubting my pics if its the date that only because im using an old sony mini cd camera unfortunently it likes to reset ifs self every time I turn it off. (still use it cause my dad spent a lot of money to get professional lens for it) If I have to I can post a picture of myself with the hardware.EDIT: Updated album here *note* if a picture is blurry check for a caption (description) https://plus.google.com/photos/104106276303758772879/albums/5971573098173679217 Edited January 23, 2014 by Flasche
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