Windows XP install

Post by **boo** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:26 pm

Im trying to install windows XP onto a machine with 32mb of ram and it wont let me.
When ever i try to install it, I get "windows xp needs 64mb of memory to install" blah blah.
Now, ive tried editing the txtsetup.sif blahblah file changing it from 64mb to 1mb and such and it didnt seem to work.

Dont ask questions like why do you want to do it and such.... and why not get more memory. Well, I cant, Im completely skint and being unemployed doesnt help.

And i dont want to istall anything else because I want to network it wirelessly and windows XP is the best. I tried 2000 but it couldnt copy some of the files of the CD for whatever reason and it turned into a fucked installation. I tried windows ME and it was to big of a headache.

How ive done it is, ive got 2 hard drives. Ive got the main one with ME on it, and the second with the I386 folder of the windows XP cd and the edited txtblah.sif file

I reboot into dos using the windows ME boot disk and run the winnt file in the I386 folder and it goes through and gets to the bit where it says "Please wait while setup copies files to your hard disk"

Well, ive think ive probably been waiting nearly an hour, the light on the main hard drive is on and it randomly clicks occasionaly.

Is there any other way to do it?

Post by **FragaGeddon** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:43 pm

The amount of ram that they recommend is 512.
If you have an OS on that computer than you can put in the XP cd and it will have a compatibility program you can run.

Post by **blood.angel** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:04 pm

It wont be worth it, believe me.
Even opening notepad will be fucking long.

Post by **Tormentius** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:46 pm

Minimum requirements are 64MB but it doesn't really run smoothly unless theres 512MB or more in the machine. As BA said, it won't be worth it. Any system only sporting 32MB of RAM is in dire need of an upgrade. If that isn't an option for you then run an appropriate OS such as Windows 98.

Post by **boo** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:13 am

Only want to know how to do it or if its possible. How quick it will be wont matter. There are various things that I can do to it to speed things up slightly and there wont be alot of software on it at all either.

Post by **blood.angel** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:21 am

I had a laptop with 64MB of RAM. First I put on XP and found that starting up took longer than my oldest machine did starting, even after stripping the OS to its fastest.
Then I put on 2k, cut down the junk, and it worked acceptably fast .

Post by **Dr_Watson** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 12:56 pm

i'd just use 2k...
but i suppose if you really had a hard-on for xp you could borrow 32mb of ram from someone for the install, then go back down to 32.
or you could plug the hdd into someone elses machine, install xp... then put the hdd with installed xp into your machine.

Post by **boo** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 2:38 pm

Ive got 2k but when it copys the files from of the CD it couldnt copy some of the files ending up with a knackered install.

I would stick with ME but its got problems networking wirelessly...

I want it to connect to my main comp with windows xp on. It connects, gets an IP but theres no throughput whatsoever... its annoying.

Post by **Tormentius** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:53 pm

boo wrote:
I want it to connect to my main comp with windows xp on. It connects, gets an IP but theres no throughput whatsoever... its annoying.

Consider this when you are judging throughput: All newer PDAs and even some cell phones outstrip the machine you're trying to run XP on for both memory size and processing power. A system like that is just too slow to expect XP to work with.

Heres some advice people will almost never hear from me: Have you thought about using Linux for this task?

Post by **boo** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:38 pm

Nah, when i say no throughput, i seriously mean NO throughput. Theres just enough to automaticaly assign an IP and thats it. It had no problem finding the network or connecting to it. It logged in the password, found the shared folders. However, when I tried to open a shared folder or even access the internet, nothing!

Whereas, If I connect it via crossover cable, its there, its working very quickly. Acessing folders, files, shared documents as fast as any normal computer. Its got a 413mhz proc o/c from 366mhz.

If it can handle 100mbit lan, im sure it should be able to handle 11mbit wifi.

Post by **Tormentius** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:56 pm

You realize that SDRAM is quite cheap online now right? Check out Ebay, an upgrade would cost less than you might think

Post by **boo** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 6:00 pm

yeah, i know ram is cheap. about £3+ for 64mb. Im waiting on the friend who i got the parts off though, he said he might be able to get me 128mb for free

The geezer down the road... wanted £8 for 64mb pc100!!!

Any ideas about the wireless? Or should I post another topic about it. This one seems a bit dead

Post by **boo** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:16 pm

Oh what the fuck.

This is a different install of ME, and I go to network it with the main XP comp, and its absolutely flawless. Can even connect with the laptop to the main XP comp. Even share files across from the ME comp to the laptop. Its a brilliant little network. Im rather chuffed setting it up by myself being only 17 and completely self taught

:icon14:

Post by **Dr_Watson** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:48 am

Tormentius wrote:
boo wrote:
I want it to connect to my main comp with windows xp on. It connects, gets an IP but theres no throughput whatsoever... its annoying.

Heres some advice people will almost never hear from me: Have you thought about using Linux for this task?

honestly... thats probably not a bad idea.
slow systems that need to be networked seem to be one of the few times i think linux is an ok desktop OS.