Prepare your PC for Windows XP

Windows XP is just around the corner, but does your PC have the muscle to tackle this behemoth of an operating system? Check your stuff against our hardware and software requirements and prepare yourself to meet XP.

Thinking seriously about that upgrade to Windows XP? The new kid on the Microsoft block is strutting its stuff, and, between controversy and general buzz, it's all up in your face.

But is your PC ready? This OS makes for a hefty upgrade and might leave you feeling like Fear Factor is a walk in the park. To minimise the upgrade risks, make sure your hardware, peripherals, and software are ready. Follow ZDNet's easy-to-use guides to prepare your PC for a new eXPerience.

Prepare your hardware
Does your system have what it takes? Get the minimum requirements here.

Prepare your software
Will your apps still run under Windows XP? CNET has the answer.

Prepare your hardware
Windows XP is a cat's cradle of all the Windows versions that precede it. Some of its features and functions mimic Windows 95/98 and Millennium Edition; some act like Windows 2000; others are all new. As a rule, however, this OS does everything on a big scale. It demands higher system requirements than we've seen before for a consumer or business desktop OS. Any newish PC--one less than two years old--should certainly meet or exceed the minimums. In fact, if you're currently running Windows Me, you can probably squeak by with a slower-than-recommended CPU, but Windows XP setup will not proceed without the required minimum processor, memory, disk space, or video capability (640x480 is not an option). Not sure if you have what it takes? Read on.

Meet XP's minimum requirements

Obviously, more is better; exceeding these recommendations will only improve your system's performance. Your CPU's speed and the amount of RAM you have is usually shown on the screen when you turn on your PC. Based on our experience, your disk drive should support Ultra-ATA66 or ATA100 IDE and have a fast average seek time of 10 milliseconds or less with 256-512KB of on-drive cache buffering.

Your video card should be a PCI version with 4MB or more of video RAM; AGP is even better. Your CD-ROM drive should be a late-model ATAPI device providing 8X, 12X or 16X performance. Your sound card should also be a late-model, name-brand PCI version.

The specifications for your CD-ROM or hard drive are usually printed on the label on the drive itself. The drives included with most systems built since 1999 should meet these specs just fine. You can look up the specs for your devices by their model numbers on the equipment manufacturer's Web site. Don't know the make or model of the hard drive, CD-ROM drive, or video or sound card you have? You can look these up through Start > Settings > Control Panel > System; select the Device Manager tab, then double-click the devices in the list.

Older I/O cards that use the ISA I/O slots (usually the longer black connectors on your system board) will perform slower than cards that use PCI (typically white connectors) or AGP (typically green connectors) I/O slots on your system board, and could make it harder for Plug and Play and Windows to configure your system. System boards with built-in video and sound features already use the PCI bus, so they're as fast as they are going to get.

Like Windows Millennium Edition, NT, and 2000, XP does not load DOS or real-mode drivers and programs before Windows start-up. If XP recognises your hardware, it will try to use its own new drivers, but if you have a very old (say pre-1995 or 1996) CD-ROM drive or an ISA-bus sound card that required drivers to be loaded in your C:\config.sys and C:\autoexec.bat files, XP may not support those devices. For performance reasons, you probably want newer hardware anyway.

Hint:We've found that, in many cases, if your hardware or peripherals lack XP driver support, you can download and install Windows 2000 drivers for the devices, and they will work just fine, although you may get a pop-up message from XP telling you that the drivers you are installing are unsigned (not registered with Microsoft) and therefore not proven to work. Fortunately, you can use XP's System Restore feature to keep track of things before and after you try them and back out if you need to.

Additional hardware requirements
Now that you have the baseline requirements, here are a few items you'll need to fully take advantage of Windows XP.

Check with hardware companies
Windows XP should recognise and run on any hardware that supports Windows 98 or Me (again, excepting any device that requires a DOS-level driver). This includes your PC's motherboard, BIOS, and chipsets. Since XP is based on Windows 2000, most, if not all, Windows 2000 hardware drivers should work with XP.

If in doubt, or if a Windows 2000 driver doesn't work, check your system's and device manufacturers' Web sites or Microsoft's list for information about compatibility. Microsoft's XP Web pages also list dozens of XP-ready PCs, and the company has publish a downloadable copy of Upgrade Advisor, a tool that tests system and software compatibility. The Windows XP CD also contains several vendor-specific text and HTML files in the i386compdata folder that indicate precautions and exceptions for many vendors' devices that may or may not work under XP. Be prepared for some disappointment: it's up to manufacturers to decide whether they can or want to create new drivers for their older products. Some manufacturers did not update their drivers for older (1994-1999) hardware to work with Me or 2000; they may not create new drivers for XP, either. This could apply to products just a year or two old, leaving your relatively new toys to become doorstops or flea-market stock.

Prepare your software
Since Windows XP is based on the Windows 2000 kernel, your 32-bit Windows 98 and Me software should run on the new OS. Even with newly developed compatibility and DOS Virtual Machine features, however, you may have trouble with older games, 16-bit Windows apps, and software that runs older peripherals such as scanners and external disk drives.

Microsoft has tested more than 1,200 popular applications under Windows XP. Plus, the OS automatically configures itself with specific compatibility parameters so that it can run older apps that haven't been tested. If Microsoft hasn't tested the specific older applications you need to run, such as an old Windows 3.x version of Peachtree accounting software or something your IT department wrote back in 1996, XP prompts you to select a compatibility mode (specifically, which version of Windows) you think the program will run under; check the product requirements to know which mode to choose.

Many utilities and virus-protection apps won't run correctly or at all until patched. For example, Norton SystemWorks 2001 requires that you install a Windows 2000 patch before its automatic monitoring and event-scheduling features work under XP.

XP will not allow you to install software that runs background operations that could interfere with the operating system's own built-in, system-file-protection features. This means that hackers trying to replace your TCP/IP Internet communications drivers should fail. XP also warns you if you are about to install drivers not authenticated with a Microsoft digital signature. We've installed unsigned drivers that work fine, but expect driver signing to become the norm.

Microsoft's application compatibility tests
Microsoft plans to post its Upgrade Advisor compatibility tool on the Windows XP Web site; it will let you check your present system and software for incompatible devices or applications. The tool should check your hardware as well, and, unlike the old Windows 2000 compatibility program, this one dynamically updates itself over the Internet each time you start it up on a Net-connected machine (so that if, for instance, Microsoft adds driver support, the checker will know). So far, Microsoft hasn't posted a list of troublesome applications or notes about specific software.

Ask the manufacturer
Even if your software doesn't appear in Microsoft's list of compatible software, it may still run under XP. Call your software maker or look on its Web site to find out about known bugs or compatibility problems. If XP compatibility isn't discussed anywhere on the vendor's Web site or on FAQ lists, you should check for any information concerning Windows 2000 that may also apply to XP. If the app causes problems on 2000, it will likely stumble with XP as well. Call technical support if you have more questions or concerns.