Frugal XP
Jeff
that will need vista or XP.
I've heard that sometimes you can get oem licences with some hardware
but have not personally seen this. Any ideas on getting a frugal copy of XP.
Jeff
Just A User
XP. I used to run an XP powered desktop, but switched to a Vista powered
laptop aand it's a much more stable operating system. I have been
running the laptop now for about 10 months and have not had a single
issue. Where as on my XP desktop I had it crash (hard) every couple of
months.
Jeff
I've heard quite a few complaints about driver issues and some
software not running on Vista. Particularly with DVTV. With that said, I
have a new MB, new video card and new DVTV tuner and they all claim to
be Vista compliant.
Jeff
Just A User
previous version of windows using program settings. I think you can
change that option in properties section of Vista.
Al Bundy
I could kick myself for not purchasing XP from Office Depot when it
was on sale for $30 with a $30 rebate as Vista was coming out. Now you
can find it for about $80 somewhere and even less on Ebay with
supposed valid licenses. Personally, I'd prefer to stay with XP over
Vista because VISTA won't run some of the old printers I use. I have
also run into situations where Vista just doesn't do what it supposed
to do. It's not a crash, just non performance. If they were giving
Vista away for the same price as XP, I'd probably take it though.
Dennis
Personally, I'd stick with XP. However, if you are interested in
using Windows Media Center for your HTPC, I've read some good things
about the Vista incarnation (but have not used it myself).
Newegg.com has XP Home OEM for $90 , XP MCE OEM for $115 and XP Pro
OEM for $140. You might be able to beat that on some kind of
sale/rebate offer, but I haven't seen one for XP software in a while.
Dennis (evil)
--
The honest man is the one who realizes that he cannot
consume more, in his lifetime, than he produces.
sarge137
I bought an OEM copy of XP Home SP2 from a vendor on Ebay about 2
years ago to install on a computer I was building. It cost about
$80.00 including shipping. At the time full retail copies were going
for just under $200.00 plus sales tax at Micro Center and CompUSA.
It installed, registered and activated with no problem. It regularly
updates itself at the Microsoft web site. Clearly the license that
that came with it is valid. In fact, I've since upgraded the mobo and
graphics card on that computer and was able to reinstall and
reactivate the same copy.
Regards,
Sarge
Dennis
Hmm, that's odd (not doubting you, just surprised). I thought that
was one of the nastier restrictions on the OEM licenses -- that they
can't be transferred to another machine.
sarge137
>
> - Show quoted text -
The way it was explained to me is that licenses can be transferred to
another machine, so long as the original machine is taken out of
service. That's all part of the validation program that's required to
get updates - it compares hardware profiles to activated licenses. If
it's been over 180 days since the original installation was activated,
you can reactivate online. If it's less time than that you have to
call a 800 number where they'll ask if the os has been removed from
the old computer before they give you an activation code. Of course
if the old machine reaches out to Microsoft for any reason it'll be
deactivated in favor of the newer installation. I guess it would be
possible to use two or more machines on one license so long as only
one is connected to the Internet, but what's the point?
Regards,
Sarge
Jeff
This is roughly what I've done. I bought a "salvage" licence on a
machine that is out of service from my favorite used computer store. I
was asked if this was a clone, so I have the disk and the original
hologramy serial number off the old box. $35.
Dennis, here is where I'm at with the HDTV. Fry's had some specials.
Avermedia AverTVHD Volar ($9 after rebate)
BE-2300 AMD dual core (boxed with fan) with a ECS NFORCE6M MB - $58 -
no rebate
VisionTek X1550 with 512 of DDR2 ($39 after rebate)
2Gb DDR2 Corsair 800MHz ($35 after rebate)
I think that's all mid range stuff. The CPU is on the lower end of
current (3 Gig Intel dual core rough equivalent ~2 gig clock) but might
be hackable as it is a low power chip.
I think that should do 780P and 1080i. What do you think?
Jeff
Gordon
news:13kkrkt...@corp.supernews.com:
First check if you really need to get XP.
Go to the hardware vendor's web site and see if they
have a driver for Win2000 available for download.
Logan Shaw
> It might not be as frugal as XP, but I seriously recommend Vista over
> XP. I used to run an XP powered desktop, but switched to a Vista powered
> laptop aand it's a much more stable operating system. I have been
> running the laptop now for about 10 months and have not had a single
> issue. Where as on my XP desktop I had it crash (hard) every couple of
> months.
That's sort of an apples and oranges comparison. Not just the OS is
different but also the hardware. Even if the desktop hardware was fine,
it could easily be that a device driver for the desktop hardware was
buggy, causing crashes. Since the laptop would have different devices
(almost entirely -- different motherboard chipset, different video card,
etc., etc.) you wouldn't be running the same device drivers on the
laptop as on the desktop.
As much as I despise Microsoft[1], I have to credit them with finally
developing a stable operating system that doesn't really crash unless
something other than the operating system is faulty. XP is basically
stable. Vista may be stable as well, but I think if you had problems
with XP, it might not have been XP itself, but some other related issue.
- Logan
[1] and for that reason have not bought and do not use Windows,
at least at home.
Just A User
Well the desktop was all original, no hardware was ever changed, and it
was 5+ years old, but I had problems with it from the day it was bought.
After doing price checks on new / upgraded hardware for the desktop, I
decided it was more cost effective to move to a new pc rather than fix /
upgrade the pc, but now that I have done it, I don't regret it at all.
Dennis
> Dennis, here is where I'm at with the HDTV. Fry's had some specials.
>
> Avermedia AverTVHD Volar ($9 after rebate)
> BE-2300 AMD dual core (boxed with fan) with a ECS NFORCE6M MB - $58 -
>no rebate
> VisionTek X1550 with 512 of DDR2 ($39 after rebate)
> 2Gb DDR2 Corsair 800MHz ($35 after rebate)
>
> I think that's all mid range stuff. The CPU is on the lower end of
>current (3 Gig Intel dual core rough equivalent ~2 gig clock) but might
>be hackable as it is a low power chip.
>
> I think that should do 780P and 1080i. What do you think?
Looks like it should fine for HDTV (IMHO). Let us know how it works
out.
Dennis (evil)
--
I'm behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve, riding the wave,
dodging the bullet and pushing the envelope. -George Carlin
Dennis
<rboot...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>The way it was explained to me is that licenses can be transferred to
>another machine, so long as the original machine is taken out of
>service. That's all part of the validation program that's required to
>get updates - it compares hardware profiles to activated licenses. If
>it's been over 180 days since the original installation was activated,
>you can reactivate online. If it's less time than that you have to
>call a 800 number where they'll ask if the os has been removed from
>the old computer before they give you an activation code. Of course
>if the old machine reaches out to Microsoft for any reason it'll be
>deactivated in favor of the newer installation. I guess it would be
>possible to use two or more machines on one license so long as only
>one is connected to the Internet, but what's the point?
My understanding was that is true for retail licenses, but not OEMs.
OEM licenses are meant for integrators who put together hardware and
software and resell it as a package. For example, if you buy a PC
from Dell or HP with a copy of Windows installed on it, it comes with
an OEM license. I thought the OEM licenses came with the restriction
that the SW cannot be moved to another PC . Perhaps I was wrong.
Dennis (evil)
--
I'm a hands-on, footloose, knee-jerk head case. -George Carlin
sarge137
> On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:04:31 -0800 (PST), sarge137
>
Good point, Dennis.
No, you aren't wrong. That was/is Microsoft's intent with OEM
licenses. The language in the license of the OEM copy I have says
it's to be distributed with hardware. A rather broad and nonspecific
requirement, that left a loop hole open. My copy came with a small
chip of unknown origin and no value whatsoever. Technically it was
"hardware".
The source I bought from was openly doing so on eBay for several
months before I bought mine, and still is (or was as recently as two
months ago). He even explained the disc would come with that chip to
fulfill the hardware condition of the license. If they cared, I'm
sure they would have shut him down in short order. I suspect
Microsoft isn't thrilled with this practice, but so long as they're
selling legitimate licenses they're still making plenty of money on
them. They could fix it easily enough by simply rewriting the license
to limit distribution to fully functional computers rather than just
"hardware". They'd probably rather spend their time keeping hackers
from using the same copy on multiple computers.
Another aspect of OEM software is that the publisher has no after
market support responsibility If I had needed some sort of tech
support they'd have told me get in touch with the people who sold it
to me. If one is the type who needs tech support to get software
installed, configured and kept running, OEM is certainly not the way
to go.
Regards,
Sarge
sarge137
>
> - Show quoted text -
P.S.
Never had any problems from Microsoft in transferring OEM Windows
licenses to newly built, or subtantially rebuilt computers so long as
the old one is out of service. Don't know about brand name desktops
as I haven't owned one of those since early Windows 95 days. I think
they mainly come with recovery discs which don't work on anything but
the hardware they were shipped with.
Regards again,
Sarge
Dennis
<rboot...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Never had any problems from Microsoft in transferring OEM Windows
>licenses to newly built, or subtantially rebuilt computers so long as
>the old one is out of service.
Good to know. I like to keep legal (my paycheck comes from software
too), but sometimes following the licenses to the letter seems too
restrictive for normal legitimate use.
>Don't know about brand name desktops
>as I haven't owned one of those since early Windows 95 days. I think
>they mainly come with recovery discs which don't work on anything but
>the hardware they were shipped with.
I once used the Windows XP OS disk that came with a Dell PC to install
on another (model, year) Dell PC when I misplaced the disk that
originally came with the second PC. Worked fine with no complaints.
It would not install on another non-Dell PC, however (I was curious
:-).
Dennis (evil)
--
webs...@cox.net
>
> As much as I despise Microsoft[1], I have to credit them with finally
> developing a stable operating system that doesn't really crash unless
> something other than the operating system is faulty. XP is basically
> stable. Vista may be stable as well, but I think if you had problems
> with XP, it might not have been XP itself, but some other related issue.
>
> - Logan
>
> [1] and for that reason have not bought and do not use Windows,
> at least at home.
I've had lots more fun with the Linux stuff than with usoft. I have
three computers at home, and I'd like to not have to purchase several
copies of whatever usoft puts out. You can get the Linux for free if
you are geeky, for modest prices in distributions if you are less
geeky.
Both the XP and Linux boxes have been stable. I use the Open Source
office software on the XP with no problems at all. I don't have OS
loaded on the Linux box because I keep blowing up the Linux box for
lab purposes in classes.
I was able to purchase a copy of XP Pro for under $20 a couple years
ago from a local community college because I was taking classes
there. You might be able to get a windows (or other) class and a low-
cost copy of some version of windows if you are lucky enough to be
near a community college.
JL
> I've had lots more fun with the Linux stuff than with usoft. I have
> three computers at home, and I'd like to not have to purchase several
> copies of whatever usoft puts out. You can get the Linux for free if
> you are geeky, for modest prices in distributions if you are less
> geeky.
The Ubuntu or Kubuntu versions of Linux are absolutely free. And they
will even mail you free copies of either on CD. You don't have to be
too geeky to install Ubuntu/Kubuntu; it's automatic. About the same as
installing Windows. The only hard part in using Linux used to be adding
new software to it, but Ubuntu/Kubuntu has a package installer to do
this automatically. You don't even need to learn the command line
stuff, but of course it helps.
I install Ubuntu on a lot of friends' and family members' computers.
When their PC's are virused up and they can't find their Win 98 or ME
discs. The average Grandma type who just wants to open a browser to
send email to their grandkids won't even notice much difference while
using Ubuntu over Windows.
> I was able to purchase a copy of XP Pro for under $20 a couple years
> ago from a local community college
I bought a used copy of Vista Home Basic on ebay for $30 a few months ago.
Logan Shaw
>> I've had lots more fun with the Linux stuff than with usoft. I have
>> three computers at home, and I'd like to not have to purchase several
>> copies of whatever usoft puts out. You can get the Linux for free if
>> you are geeky, for modest prices in distributions if you are less
>> geeky.
> The Ubuntu or Kubuntu versions of Linux are absolutely free. And they
> will even mail you free copies of either on CD. You don't have to be
> too geeky to install Ubuntu/Kubuntu; it's automatic. About the same as
> installing Windows. The only hard part in using Linux used to be adding
> new software to it, but Ubuntu/Kubuntu has a package installer to do
> this automatically. You don't even need to learn the command line
> stuff, but of course it helps.
I'm using Ubuntu to post this, and I like it a lot (I'm a pretty big fan
of Unix and Linux in general), but there is one area where you are going
to, if my experience is any guide, have endless headaches: ATI video
cards. I have one, and after numerous attempts that have involved arcane
stuff like extracting archives and manually tweaking shell scripts so the
right set of files get installed, I *still* don't have accelerated video,
and my monitor also won't go into power-saving mode ever (unless I type
"xset dpms force suspend").
This all might have something to do with the fact that I installed the
amd64 (64-bit) variant, so I'm a tiny bit out of the mainstream. But
really, it's still kind of sad.
Having said all that, overall the distribution basically works great.
All of my other hardware has been supported seamlessly, OS installs and
upgrades really are as simple as a few mouse clicks, and the system
prompts me to install security and stability patches, which all so far
have worked without issue. And installing extra software is easy when
you use Synaptic Package Manager. The interface is a bit goofy since
the distinction between installed software and available software is
too subtle, but once you get used to that, it works great.
- Logan